A British climber, whose mother died on K2 shortly after becoming the first woman to climb Everest unaided, has gone missing on “Killer Mountain” in Pakistan.
Tom Ballard, from the Peak District, has been attempting to climb the notoriously dangerous Nanga Parbat with Italian Daniele Nardi but the pair have not been heard from since Sunday.
The 30-year-old and his climbing partner last made contact after reaching a height of about 6,300m (20,670ft) on the 8,126m (26,660ft) mountain.
The mountain is the ninth highest in the world and is nicknamed “Killer Mountain” because of the high number of deaths of people attempting to conquer it.
Plans for a search and rescue attempt were postponed on Wednesday after Pakistan closed its airspace amid tensions with India, Mr Nardi’s team said in a statement on Facebook.
It is hoped that permission to fly will be granted on Thursday.
Mr Ballard had been posting updates on his progress on Instagram before he went missing.
His last post on 19 February showed him on skis about to go down a narrow chute with the caption: “This should be fun!”
Mr Ballard previously posted about bad weather, including heavy snowfall, high winds and an avalanche the pair managed to avoid.
The accomplished climber has been following in the footsteps of his mother, Alison Hargreaves, by attempting some of the toughest mountains in the world since her death in August 1995.
She was 33 when she went missing on K2, which stands on the border of China and Pakistan, and her body was never recovered.
Earlier that year, the mother of two had made history by becoming the first woman to climb Mount Everest – the only mountain peak higher than K2 – unaided.
Mr Ballard has been living in Italy's Dolomites mountain range with his father for the last few years.
The Foreign Office has confirmed it is in contact with Pakistani authorities about Mr Ballard, who set out on his venture in December.
He and Mr Nardi reached the first camp at 4,700m (15,400ft) on 7 January and the second camp at 5,200m (17,000ft) just over three weeks later.
They last made contact with base camp on 22 February and the final word from Mr Ballard came on Sunday, when he spoke to his wife over a satellite phone.
