Son follows mother's footsteps with K2 bid

Tom Ballard, 21, is preparing to scale K2, the "Savage Mountain" known for having a more treacherous approach than Everest.

The young mountaineer says that he feels his mother has left something with him that has driven him to follow the same path that she did.

He said: "I think I need to climb mountains. It's inside. I just feel that she's there somewhere, not necessarily present, but always there. Some of it must have rubbed off on me.

"I don't think I'm making the K2 climb because of her, but it's no different to how it would be if she had died in a car crash. I would still travel around in a car."

His mother was the first woman to reach the summit of Everest solo and without the use of oxygen, but she died three months later while descending from the summit of K2 in 1995.

At the age of just 32, she became one of the 77 climbers to have died climbing the mountain to date, after being blown off it in a storm. Her body was never discovered.

An experienced climber already, Tom Ballard moved from his home in Fort William to the Swiss Alps with his dad, Jim, and sister, Kate, last year to get in training ahead of his attempt to scale the 28,000ft peak.

Jim Hargreaves said: "Any parent should support their children in their ambitions … I think Alison would be very proud."

Tom's K2 ascent will be documented by award-winning film-maker Chris Terrill.