Tom Ballard: Body of missing British climber found on Pakistan mountain after two weeks

Climber had been following in footsteps of his mother, who is also believed to have died on a mountain

British climber Tom Ballard (pictured) and Italian Daniele Nardi went missing on Nanga Parbat nearly two weeks ago (Tom Ballard/Instagram)

The bodies of a British man and his Italian climbing partner who went missing on a mountain in Pakistan have been found, the Italian ambassador has said.

Tom Ballard, from the Peak District, and Daniele Nardi, from near Rome, were reported missing on a 26,000ft (7,900m) “killer mountain” almost two weeks ago.

The pair set off on 22 February and last made contact at an altitude of about 20,700ft on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas.

Four Spanish rescuers were flown to the area by military helicopter on Monday and were joined by the Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara at base camp.

On Wednesday it was reported that the search had been called off; it then resumed when “sillouettes” were spotted on a passage taken by the climbers.

Italian ambassador to Pakistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, later said the search team had confirmed the silhouettes were the bodies of the two men and that the search was over.

He wrote on Twitter: “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 5,900 meters are those of Daniele and Tom. R.I.P.”

He said the bodies were in a place that was difficult to reach but that everything possible would be done to try and recover them.

Mr Ballard, an accomplished climber, had been following in the footsteps of his mother, Alison Hargreaves, by tackling some of the toughest mountains in the world.

Ms Hargreaves made history by becoming the first woman to climb Mount Everest unaided when she was 33 in 1995.

Later in the same year she went missing on K2, which stands on the border of China and Pakistan, and her body was never recovered.

Mr Ballard had been living in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range with his father for the last few years.

In 2015, he became the first person ever to solo climb all six major north faces of the Alps in one winter.

Alison Hargreaves pictured with her children, Tom and Kate, shortly before she went to K2 (Rex) (Rex Features)

Mr Nardi was also an experienced climber and had attempted the Nanga Parbat summit in winter several times in the past.

His family posted a tribute to the two climbers on their official Facebook page.

They wrote: “The family remembers Tom as a competent alpinist and brave friend of Daniele. Our thoughts are with him.

“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.”

Searches for the two men began days after they last made contact with their team, but these were delayed after Pakistan closed its airspace amid tensions with India.

Additional reporting by PA