This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Three of the world’s most accomplished and well known mountaineers have been killed after an avalanche in the Canadian Rockies.

The two Austrian climbers, David Lama and Hansjörg Auer, and the American Jess Roskelley, had been missing since going to attempt a climb on a remote face of Mount Howse in Alberta’s Banff national park earlier this week.

The alarm was raised by Roskelley’s father John, also a celebrated climber, after his son failed to call in, prompting an aerial search.

A rescue flight identified avalanche debris, climbing equipment and a partially buried body in the area where the men had gone to climb, with still dangerous conditions preventing a recovery effort.

A statement issued by the Canadian parks service made clear it believed there was no chance of finding the men alive.

“Further investigation is under way but recovery efforts are not currently possible due to additional avalanches and dangerous conditions at the scene,” the statement explains. “Based on the assessment of the scene, all three members of the party are presumed to be deceased.”

Steve Holeczi, who was one of the team that flew over the site of the accident, estimated the avalanche that swept the men away would have been strong enough to destroy a small building.

The route the three men were attempting, named M16, is regarded as one of the hardest Alpine climbs in Canada, first established in 1999 and very rarely attempted.

Parks Canada described the climb as a “remote and an exceptionally difficult objective, with mixed rock and ice routes requiring advanced alpine mountaineering skills”.

As news broke of the accident, fellow climbers from around the world paid tribute to the men and offered their condolences.

“The pain that is felt is indescribable,” tweeted brothers Eneko and Iker Pou, two of the world’s strongest climbers. “Hansjörg Auer, David Lama and Jess Roskelley. We still do not believe it … The loss is irreparable both personally and for the mountain [community].”

The American Alpine Club tweeted: “David Lama, Jess Roskelly, and Hansjörg Auer were among the best – each an incredible mountaineer, partner & friend who enriched our community immeasurably. They will be deeply missed; may we continue to find inspiration in their ideals & accomplishments.”

The sponsor of the three men, the outdoor clothing company The North Face, also issued a statement. “It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that David Lama, Jess Roskelley and Hansjörg Auer … were presumed caught in an avalanche on 16 April in Alberta, Canada.

“They are missing, and local search and rescue has assumed the worst. We are waiting to learn additional information as the search mission continues.”

The three climbers were regarded as among the very best of the current generation of mountaineers.

The son of a mountain guide from Nepal, Lama was a teenage prodigy and champion competition sport climber before he turned his attention to some of the world’s most difficult mountains.

Notably Lama had made the first free ascent in 2012 of the “compressor route” on Cerro Torre in Patagonia, one of mountaineering’s most famous objectives, not least for the controversy over its first ascent.

Last year Lama, 28, made the first ascent – climbing alone – of the Himalaya’s then highest unclimbed peak, Lunag Ri, solo after two unsuccessful previous attempts.

Auer, 35, had an equally high profile including for his ropeless ascent of “the fish” on the south face of the Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites in 2007.

His solo climb of the 3,000ft rock has been compared to Alex Honnold’s much more widely known ascent of El Capitan in 2017, the subject of the Oscar winning film Free Solo.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jess Roskelley. Photograph: Elaine Thompson/AP

Auer went on to make notable ascents of the south-west face of Pakistan’s Kunyang Chhish East in the Karakorum Mountains and the first ascent of the south face on Nilgiri South in Nepal.

Roskelley, 36, became famous as the youngest American to reach the summit of Everest with his father in 2003 going on to become one of the country’s leading mountaineers.

Roskelley’s father, John, disclosed the news of his son’s presumed death in a Facebook post. “As I write this, I know from speaking with the Park Service and rescue personnel yesterday that Jess, David and Hansjörg are presumed dead.

“It is with a heavy heart I have to say this, but they were hit by a massive avalanche off Mt Howse some time on Tuesday and there was visible evidence they perished. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.”

Describing the men’s objective, John Roskelley, said: “It’s just one of those routes where you have to have the right conditions or it turns into a nightmare. This is one of those trips where it turned into a nightmare.”

Describing the site of the avalanche he added: “It’s in an area above a basin. There must have been a lot of snow that came down and got them off the face.”

He added: “When you’re climbing mountains, danger is not too far away … It’s terrible for my wife and I. But it’s even worse for his wife.”

On Thursday he was preparing to go to Canada to gather Jess’s belongings and see if he could get into the area.