British climber missing on ‘Killer Mountain’
Fears for Tom Ballard, son of Alison Hargreaves, the British woman who conquered Everest
A BRITISH climber, whose mother died during an infamous attempt to reach the top of K2, has disappeared while ascending a peak in Pakistan known as “Killer Mountain”.
Tom Ballard had been tackling Nanga Parbat with Daniele Nardi, an Italian climbing partner, when the pair dropped out of contact on Sunday.
The 30-year-old is a distinguished climber and the son of Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to conquer Everest unaided.
She died alongside five others shortly after reaching the summit of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, in the Karakoram Range of the Himalayas, in 1995.
On Sunday, Mr Nardi’s ground team reported the pair had reached around 20,670ft (6,300m) on the 26,570ft (8,100m) mountain, the ninth highest in the world. However, they added: “The weather is not good, there was fog, sleet and wind gusts.”
It was the last communication the team were to receive from the men, who had maintained contact through satellite phone and radio. Initially the lack of communication was put down to weak signal, but no trace could be seen once the weather cleared. Mr Nar- di’s team said that alarm had been “growing” since Tuesday and a rescue operation was under way.
Plans to use a helicopter to sweep the mountain face were initially scuppered by the sudden escalation of tensions between Pakistan and India, causing airspace to close. Permission to fly was eventually obtained following an intervention by Stefano Pontecorvo, the Italian ambassador in Pakistan, but night had fallen before it could take off.
Ali Sadpara, a Pakistani mountaineer who successfully climbed the peak two years ago, has been drafted in to potentially assist with the search effort. Nanga Parbat is a notoriously difficult challenge for any climber and earned its “Killer Mountain” moniker due to the number of deaths on its slopes. Since arriving, Mr Ballard had posted updates on Facebook and said last week that base camp was almost “like a holiday” as they waited for the weather to clear. But on Jan 31 he wrote: “We’ve lost a lot of critical equipment involuntarily and two good friends voluntarily. However, we are more determined than ever. Our quest continues.”
The British adventurer, who grew up in Derbyshire, has previously spoken of “following in the family footsteps” by attempting many of the climbs his mother had completed before her death.
His first major accomplishment as a climber mirrored one of her own, when he became the first person to vanquish all six faces of the Alps by himself in one winter.
In 1993, Ms Hargreaves became the first ever solo climber to complete the six faces in the summer season.
The mother-of-two died three months after making history as the first woman to summit Everest unaided. She had launched an ill-advised assault on K2 in poor weather on Aug 13 1995.
Within hours of reaching the top, vicious winds had enshrouded the peak, killing Ms Hargreaves and five others.
The body of the 33-year-old was never recovered.