Climber’s body is found at 20,000ft on Killer Mountain
Tributes to Scot, 30, whose mum died on K2
THE body of Scottish climber Tom Ballard was found yesterday on the flanks of a Himalayan peak – in a poignant echo of the tragedy that claimed his mother’s life.
The 30-year-old, with his climbing partner, was attempting a new winter route on 26,660ft Nanga Parbat in Pakistan but lost phone contact two weeks ago.
After an international search operation, the pair were discovered yesterday among snow and rocks some 19,400ft up the peak known as Killer Mountain.
Using powerful telescopes, climbers searching for Mr Ballard and Italian Daniele Nardi were able to spot the bodies of the two men lying on a ledge just feet from their tent.
Although the exact cause of their death is not clear, the mountain is prone to massive avalanches and ice falls, and temperatures drop to minus 40C.
The remoteness and extreme terrain mean that it may not be possible to retrieve the bodies.
Mr Ballard is the son of Scots climber Alison Hargreaves, who died on a different peak in the Himalayas in 1995 when he was six years old. Her body, believed to be lying on the slopes of K2, has never been found.
Friend of the family Ian Sykes told BBC News: ‘Tom was doing extremely well and had done some amazing climbs in the Alps. I know that his family are very upset to have this devastating thing happen and for it to happen twice is extraordinary.’
Last night, Italian ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo confirmed Mr Ballard’s death.
In a tweet, he wrote: ‘With great sadness I inform that the search for @NardiDaniele and Tom Ballard is over as @AlexTxikon and the search team have confirmed that the silhouettes spotted on Mummery at about 5900 meters are those of Daniele and Tom. R.I.P.’ Alex Hinkes, who was the first Briton to have climbed all 14 of the world’s mountains over 8000m (26,246ft), paid tribute to Mr Ballard.
He told Sky News: ‘Although I’ve had this happen before with climbing friends, and sadly with his mother, I did feel despondent, because Tom was a fine young man. He was a lovely young man and had a really good future ahead of him as a superb climber. It was hard to come to terms with it.’
Mr Hinkes added: ‘I climbed the mountain in July, 20 years ago. And in winter it is a different ball game. If you go missing for any length of time you’re going to freeze to death pretty quickly. So certainly after a week there was very little hope. A very, very, sad poignant end. He was just a fine young man. And my heart goes out to Kate his sister and Jim his dad who were over in Italy I believe, and any other friends obviously, and Daniele’s family, too.’
Mr Ballard, who was born in Derbyshire but grew up in Fort William, was the first person to solo climb all six major north faces of the Alps in one winter in 2015.
Embarking on his latest adventure at the end of last month, he set out with Mr Nardi to climb Nanga Parbat via the Mummery Spur trail – named after Albert F. Mummery, who died in his pursuit of the mountain’s summit in 1895 – a trip that one world-renowned climber Simone Moro branded as ‘close to suicide’. Two Pakistani mountaineers who originally planned to scale the mountain with them turned back because they feared it would be too dangerous.
Mr Ballard and Mr Nardi reached the first camp at 15,400ft on January 7 and the second camp at 17,000ft just over three weeks later, documenting their ascent via Mr Ballard’s Instagram profile.
But on February 24 Mr Ballard and Mr Nardi lost contact with base camp. Pakistani military helicopters were scrambled to join the rescue effort, despite the Pakistani government shutting its airspace following an escalation in tensions with neighbouring India over the disputed region of Kashmir. On Monday, a team of four Spanish rescuers, led by Alex Txikon, were flown into the area loaded with 50 kilograms [110lb] of search and rescue gear including cameras and drones.
Describing the mission, Mr Txikon told a Spanish newspaper how the team had scanned the uneven surface of Killer Mountain for bodies using helicopters and drones.
Despite poor visibility and the risk of more avalanches, the team continued to put their lives in danger to ascend the peak to camp four, where contact was last had with Mr Ballard and Mr Nardi. Video footage shared by rescuers shows plumes of snow storming down the mountain as they tried to search for the pair.
At camp two, which had been
‘He said that he never wanted to die in his bed’
‘completely destroyed’ by an avalanche, they found a backpack and discarded belongings.
Reflecting on Mr Ballard’s fate, Mr Hinkes said: ‘He’s died doing what he loves doing, but you know, if you die, you die, whether you get run over by a bus or you do it doing what you love doing. He said he never wanted to die in his bed.’
Mr Nardi had attempted to climb to the Nanga Parbat summit in winter several times. His team wrote on Facebook: ‘We’re heartbroken. Daniele will remain a husband, a father, a son, a brother and a friend lost for a dream that we have always accepted, respected and shared.
‘We like to remember how you really are: in love with life, adventurous, scrupulous, courageous, loyal, attentive to detail and always present in times of need.’
A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: ‘Our staff are assisting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Pakistan.’
Two climbers were winched to safety yesterday after going missing overnight in Glencoe, sparking a search by mountain rescue teams and a Coastguard helicopter which spotted evidence of an avalanche.
Both men were suffering from hypothermia. Police Scotland last night said the older man was in a life-threatening condition at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, while the other climber was stable at Belford Hospital in Fort William.