Kellam Conover, known as Kelly, died in a fall on Aoraki/Mt Cook on Monday.

The heartbroken mother of a climber who died while trying to conquer Aoraki Mt Cook this week has described him as “extraordinary in many ways”.

Pamela Conover is grappling with the immense grief of losing her son, Kellam Conover, all while being on the other side of the world at
her home in North Carolina.

Kellam, from the United States, and his Wānaka-based mountain guide, Thomas Vialletet, were part of a group of four climbers trying to ascend Aoraki Mt Cook on Monday night.

The pair, connected by a rope, fell close to the summit.

Pamela Conover said Kellam, who she affectionately called Kelly, was an introvert, but he found it easy to navigate the world by “making good friends and being kind and thoughtful with them”.

She said climbing had not come naturally to her son, who suffered from altitude sickness as a child while trying to climb the Matterhorn with his father and brother.

Kellam never wanted to climb the highest peaks, she said. Instead, he found tremendous peace and joy in connecting with nature in some of the most beautiful and majestic mountains in the world.

As an adult, he decided to give climbing another try, and arrived in New Zealand.

He met Vialletet, who grew up in the French Alps and co-owned Wānaka mountain and ski guide company Summit Explorers, when they climbed together two years ago.