A Climber We Lost: Kurt Blair

You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2024 here.

Kurt Blair, 56, December 1

It was the evening of my birthday when I got the news that my friend Kurt Blair had died in an accident on Mt. Cook in New Zealand. I was in Potrero Chico, Mexico, and it was pouring rain, as if the mountains were already crying.

I stepped outside and began sobbing loudly and uncontrollably; I was shocked, saddened, and devastated. Just a couple weeks before, Kurt was here with us, doing what Kurt did...