The climbers missing on Aoraki Mt Cook have been named as 56-year-old Kurt Blair, 50-year-old Carlos Romero from the United States, and a Canadian national. Photo: Supplied
Drones are joining the search for three climbers who have been missing at Aoraki Mt Cook since Monday.
Bad weather has prevented the search for most of the week, but it was able to resume on Friday morning during a limited clear weather window.
Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, from the United States, and a Canadian national were intending to summit Aoraki but failed to meet their flight out.
Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said a helicopter was sent at first light during a break from the harsh weather but was unable to spot the climbers.
"The purpose [for the helicopter flight] was to conduct an initial search and also to bring up two drone pilots to create a staging area for them to operate a drone as part of the search.
"We have completed that initial helicopter search and we are now looking to place the drone operators into the alpine environment.
"Our search teams have been hampered by ongoing treacherous alpine conditions. It has been too windy for helicopters and simply too dangerous to put teams in the environment.
"As our highest peak Aoraki Mount Cook, it is challenging. It's a technical climb and with countless crevasses and hazards."
Even if was safe to put searchers on the ground, she said it would take them about a day to reach the area of interest.
MetService said scattered showers were expected to develop on Friday with some heavy and possible thundery before clearing in the evening.
Alerts were in place for thunderstorms, wind and wind chill as mountain weather hazards for the national park.
"The window of opportunity to survey this area is small and we'll continue to assess any new information that we've gathered from the mountain," Walker said.
Police were thinking of the men's families.
"The families of the men are desperate to understand and understandably distraught and desperate for answers," Walker said.
"It's a deeply distressing time for the relatives and my heart and my team's heart goes out to them."
This type of work could also take a personal toll on staff especially if they weren't getting the outcome they hoped for, she said.
Gear believed to belong to the men was found during the initial search.
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