An accomplished climber who fell 300 metres to his death while abseiling at the weekend will be remembered as "a Godfather to climbing and outdoors in south-east Queensland".

Steve Turner, 50, became detached from the climbing rope and fell at Mount Barney, south-west of Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon.

He had been abseiling down a cliff face known as The Governor with two other people, a man and a woman, who were left stranded for several hours before being rescued by helicopter.

Authorities located Mr Turner's body on Saturday evening but were unable to retrieve it until Sunday night due to the rugged terrain.

Mount Barney, about 130 kilometres south-west of Brisbane. ( ABC News )

Fellow adventurer Henk Morgans said Mr Turner had decades of experience of climbing under his belt.

He said his death shook the small and close-knit south-east Queensland climbing community.

"No matter what it is, a small accident or an incident or a tragedy, it really affects our little group of friends and we're virtually a family so at this time we kind of come together and try and be supportive and lend a hand where we can," Mr Morgans said.

"Rock-climbing is actually quite statistically a safe sport it's just perceived that its dangerous from people who know exactly what goes on.

"The majority of the time we have no problems at all but when something goes wrong its normally quite severe and tragic."

He also said Mr Turner was a mentor to many climbers.

"He was almost like a Godfather to climbing and outdoors in south-east Queensland it's a huge loss for our whole little community," Mr Morgans said.

Mr Morgans said The Governor was "really steep and very undulated".

Mr Turner has decades of experience in climbing. ( Instagram: Epic Pursuits )

"It's fairly remote and not easy to get to at the best of times," he said.

"The climbing and abseiling that's there is extremely difficult … if anyone's heading to Mt Barney they've got a lot of experience and time doing rock climbing under their belt before even thinking about going there."

'He was doing something he loved'

Acting Inspector Warren Parker said Mr Turner's family was devastated.

"They have taken a little bit of solace out of the fact that he was actually doing something he loved when he did pass away," Acting Inspector Parker said.

He said Mr Turner was a seasoned climber.

"I'd actually describe the climber as very, very experienced, so experienced he knows that area very well he has actually performed rescues down in that area himself before … that is actually his employment, that sort of adventure climbing," Acting Inspector Parker said.

Mr Turner ran adventure company Epic Pursuits, but police said the climb was not a paid expedition.

"The three climbers are well known to each other, the three have climbed in New Zealand together before and two of the climbers have climbed together in Nepal before," Acting Inspector Parker said.

Mr Turner's two companions had to be rescued from the top of Mt Barney after his fall. ( ABC News )

Acting Inspector Parker said police were still investigating the cause of the fall.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.