Man's son missing on 'killer mountain' after wife died at same spot
The father of a British climber missing in the Himalayas has described how his disappearance has “taken him back” to when his wife went missing on the same peaks 24 years ago.
Tom Ballard, 30, was reported missing on Nanga Parbat – dubbed ‘Killer Mountain’ – earlier this week with Italian Daniele Nardi.
The pair last made contact on Sunday but have not been heard from since.
Tom’s mother Alison Hargreaves, who was the first woman to scale Everest solo, died on K2 in 1995.
Jim Ballard, Tom’s father, told The Times that his son’s disappearance: “takes me back to those days.”
He said the feelings were similar to those he had while waiting to hear for news about his wife.
Mr Ballard told the newspaper he knew that finding his son alive would be like “finding a green beer mat on the pitch at Twickenham”.
Earlier, Italian ambassador Sefano Pontecorvo said rescuers searching for the missing climbers are hoping for a miracle.
Mr Pontecorvo said Tom and Daniele had initially been joined by two Pakistani climbers who reached Camp 3 on the 8,126-metre mountain before turning back.
“Of course I’m hopeful of finding them, of course I might also realise it’s been since the 24th (February) until the 1st of March, there have been avalanches, there have been three days of very bad weather,” he said.
“Both Daniele and Tom are tough guys. We hope for a miracle… and just try our best to find them.”
Temperatures on the mountain are said to be at least minus 40C, with winds ranging from 190km/h to 300km/h.
