California climber missing on New Zealand's Aoraki is a NorCal mountain guide, Bay Area resident
One of three mountain climbers reported missing on New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki, is a Northern California mountain guide and San Francisco Bay Area resident.
Carlos "Kique" Romero is a resident of Livermore in Alameda County and a guide for SWS Mountain Guides based in Mount Shasta, Siskiyou County.
The 50-year-old Romero along with 56-year-old Colorado resident Kurt Blair and a Canadian man failed to return Monday from their climb on Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook.
Romero's bio on the SWS Mountain Guides website says he is a native of Mérida, Venezuela, and did postgraduate studies at UC Berkeley. Before joining SWS, Romero had a 15-year career as a program manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to his bio.
Romero has led multiple climbing expeditions to the Andes and is an accredited rock guide, alpine guide, and ski guide.
"With great sadness, we share that Carlos (Kique) Romero is among three climbers reported missing on New Zealand's Mount Cook (Aoraki)," SWS Mountain Guides said in a Facebook post Tuesday. "Our hearts are with their families, friends, and the climbing community as we await further updates. We continue to hope for clarity and hold Kique close in our thoughts."
"He was so gracious and sharing with younger guides, and sharing with all the guides to make them better guides and to make them safer guides," Timothy Keating, the company's CEO, told CBS News Bay Area.
When asked about the climb, Keating said, "Never second guess any type of accident like this…You are never in the same situation, you can't second guess somebody's decisions or their moves."
In a press release Tuesday, New Zealand Police said it had "grave concerns for the three men" and hoped to be able to resume searching for them once the weather clears. Search efforts were suspended because of deteriorating weather conditions.
"However at this stage it remains unlikely searching will be able to continue before [Wednessay]," the press release said.
The Canadian national was not identified because of family wishes, police said.
Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker says the terrain on the mountain was difficult to navigate and she praised the efforts of searchers so far. On Monday, searchers found several climbing-related items believed to belong to the men, but no sign of them.
A social media post from Silverton Avalanche School in Colorado said New Zealand authorities reported the climbers "appear to have taken a fatal fall from high upon the peak."
Part of the Southern Alps on New Zealand's South Island, Aoraki is 3,724 meters (12,218 feet) high and popular among experienced climbers. The climbing conditions are difficult due to crevasses, avalanche risk, changeable weather, and glacier movement.
Since the start of the 20th century, there have been more than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and the surrounding national park.
Kara St. Cyr contributed reporting.
