Missing climber’s girlfriend: There is no hope any more
THE girlfriend of missing British climber Tom Ballard says she has ‘no hope any more’ after a search by rescuers was called off yesterday because of bad weather.
Mr Ballard, 30, disappeared a week ago while trying to climb Nanga Parbat, the Himalayan peak known as ‘Killer Mountain’.
Prospects of finding him alive faded rapidly over the weekend when a specialist team of climbers using state-of-the-art drones were prevented from searching amid heavy snowfall and temperatures of -40C.
Attempts to find Mr Ballard and his Italian climbing partner Daniele Nardi, 42, have also been hampered by the escalating tensions between Pakistan and India.
The climber’s disappearance on the world’s ninth highest peak echoes that of his mother, Alison Hargreaves, who conquered Everest in 1995 only to die months later descending K2, the world’s second highest peak. As bad weather suspended the search operation in Pakistan, Mr Ballard’s Italian girlfriend Stefania Pederiva said: ‘ It’s pointless. No hope any more. It is hopeless.’
Miss Pederiva, who last heard from Mr Ballard on February 22, added: ‘Tom was bored in base camp. He was quite happy to go. He does not take the phone with him. He was calm, fine. He had lost weight because of the altitude.’
The rescue effort was due to be led by Spanish mountaineer Alex Txikon, who abandoned his ascent of nearby K2 to help.
The team of four, including a doctor, were set to fly across Nanga Parbat. But their Pakistani military helicopter was forced to do a U-turn as it approached the mountain.
The rescuers will attempt to make the journey to the mountain again this morning.
The tension between Pakistan and India has led to airspace over the mountain range being closed after two Indian military planes were shot down. The threat of missiles also mean that search helicopters are unable to take off until they get authorisation from the Pakistani army.
Mr Ballard and Mr Nardi were three- quarters of the way up Nanga Parbat, which rises 8,126 metres (26,660 ft) above sea level, when they last made contact via satellite phone.
The dangerous mountain is 120 miles from K2, where Mr Ballard’s mother died when he was six years old. Mrs Harthe
‘Helicopters are expensive’
greaves, 33, and five other climbers were clinging to icecapped rocks on the south face when they were torn from the mountainside by hurricaneforce winds.
The next day, two climbers found one of her boots and her blood- stained anorak and harness.
Mr Ballard’s father, Jim, who brought up his children in Scotland after his wife’s death, said anxious wait for news had revived memories of his wife’s death 25 years ago.
He added: ‘This takes me back to those days.’ He said that finding his son alive would not be easy – ‘like finding a green beer mat on the pitch at Twickenham’.
Friends of the two missing climbers have raised £84,764 which will go towards the daily cost of the rescue mission.
Mr Ballard’s sister Kate, a ski instructor, said on Facebook: ‘To those beautiful humans that have asked how they can help.
‘Helicopters, especially in the high mountains of Pakistan are expensive. Anything you can [donate] will add flight time to the rescue.’
Temperatures on the mountain are said to be at least -40C, with winds ranging from 120mph to 200mph.
In an interview in 2015, Mr Ballard admitted that he was ‘following in the family footsteps’ with climbing.
In 2015, he became the first person to solo climb all six major north faces of the Alps during one winter.