Three climbers from the United States and Canada who went missing five days ago on New Zealand’s highest mountain are presumed dead, authorities said.
Police said two Americans and a Canadian climber had planned to summit Aoraki on Zurbriggen Ridge, but they missed their scheduled flight on Monday.
Aoraki area commander Inspector Vicky Walker said in a statement on Friday afternoon local time that the search, which began on the same day, had been hampered by bad weather.
Investigators aboard the helicopter found a jacket and ice ax that appeared to belong to the man. Footprints and other evidence were also found where the group had planned to traverse the slopes below Zurbriggen Ridge.
“Based on the number of days the climbers have been missing, the lack of contact, the items recovered, and today’s reconnaissance, we do not believe they survived,” Walker said. . “We believe they fell.”
“This is certainly not the news we wanted to share today,” Walker said in a statement.
The three people, Kurt Blair, 56, of Colorado, Carlos Romero, 50, of California, and a Canadian whose name has not been released pending notification of next of kin, arrived on a flight Saturday. announced the police.
They were scheduled to leave at 8:30 a.m. Monday. If they did not arrive, the deadline was reported and a search began, Walker said.
Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, is 12,218 feet above sea level and is part of the Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island.
Walker said police will consider whether a recovery effort is possible and may reopen the search if more information or sightings from the climbing community or elsewhere are received.
“I would like to thank the team for their dedication to this search,” Walker said. “We all wanted this operation to be successful.”
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