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What happened to climber Tom Ballard?

2021-09-24 00:00:00.0 太阳报-英国新闻原网页

A NEW BBC documentary follows the sister of Tom Ballard travelling to Nanga Parbat where he tragically died in 2019.

But who was Tom Ballard? Here's all you need to know...

Tom Ballard died while attempting to climb Nanga Parbat in 2019 Who was Tom Ballard?

Tom Ballard, from Derbyshire, was an experienced climber and the first person to solo climb all six major north faces of the Alps in one winter.

He had been living in Italy's Dolomites mountain range with his father for the last few years of his life.

He died while attempting to climb Nanga Parbat in 2019.

In an interview just before his death Tom said: “Since I was ten all I wanted to do was climb.

“Even before I was born I climbed the North Face of the Eiger.

“So I think it’s not much of a surprise what I do now.”

In his last Facebook post on February 19 he wrote: “Basecamp life is becoming almost like a holiday while we wait for that elusive weather window.”

He added: “Luncheon in the sun and afternoon skiing. What more could you want ?”

What happened to him in February 2019?

Tom Ballard, 31, was climbing Nanga Parbat with Italian Daniele Nardi, 42, when they lost contact on February 24.

They had not been heard off since they radioed in on Sunday February 24 to say bad weather was closing in as they made their way to the summit of 26,000ft Nanga Parbat in Pakistan.

An initial hunt by helicopter revealed their tent engulfed in snow following an avalanche and snow and high winds have prevented any further search attempts.

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain in the world and the pair were attempting to climb to the top via a new route in the winter but conditions are notoriously bad and dozens have been killed trying.

On March 9 rescuers found the bodies of two climbers missing for almost a fortnight.

How dangerous is Nanga Parbat mountain?

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain in the world, and one of 14 "eight-thousanders" - so-called because their height stretches above 8,000m.

It earned its nickname after dozens of climbers fell to their deaths while on the slopes.

Alison Hargreaves with her newborn baby, Tom Ballard in 1988 Credit: PA:Empics Sport Who are Tom Ballard's parents?

Tom Ballard was the son of Alison Hargreaves, who was the first woman to scale Mount Everest alone, without bottled oxygen.

In August 1995, just months after setting the record, she was killed as she returned from the top of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, at the age of 33.

Although Tom’s father Jim did not give interviews about his missing son during the search, in comments to The Times he indicated that the wait was similar to what he experienced more than two decades ago, while awaiting news of his wife.

He said: "This takes me back to those days. When the news broke, there was no helicopter and we couldn't get one to the base camp at K2."