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NEWS: Tom Ballard and Daniele Nardi Confirmed Dead on Nanga Parbat RIP

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 UKC News 06 Mar 2019

British mountaineer Tom Ballard (30) and his Italian climbing partner Daniele Nardi (43) are missing and presumed dead after 10 days of no contact or sightings during their attempt at a first ascent of Nanga Parbat's (8126m) Mummery Ridge on the Diamir face in winter. A rescue mission was launched on 27th February after no contact with the pair had been established since the 24th February, when their last known position was somewhere around 6300m. Severe weather conditions and high avalanche risk over the past week hampered rescue efforts. Those involved in the expedition and rescue efforts believe that the pair were hit by an avalanche, which was audible to villagers within a radius of some miles.

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 Wft 06 Mar 2019
In reply to UKC News:

Very sad. Just re-watched the UKC 'Starlight and Storm' series, very poignant. RIP. 

 Smith42 07 Mar 2019
In reply to Wft:

Terribly sad news.  Since first hearing this several days ago, just kept hoping they are found or are just sitting the storm out but seems unlikely.  

*Nanga Parbat Winter Expedition Rescue - Epilogue:* Alex Txikon and his team with Ali Sadpara are in Skardu at the moment. Alex would be on his way to K2 BC tomorrow.

Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara (alongwith Imtiaz and Dilawar) took significant risks in looking for Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard. On the second day of his arrival at Nanga Parbat, Alex, Ali and Dilawar went up just above Camp-II. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to go any higher as the area was dangerous and avalanche-prone. Alex flew his drone from this point looking for the disappeared climbers. Unfortunately, a serac fell around 500 meters above and triggered an avalanche. The rescue team had to take evasive action to save their lives and in this process the drone got crashed. The team descended down to Camp-II and Ali managed to recover the crashed drone and they tried once again but couldn’t spot the climbers. Another smaller serac later fell as well starting a smaller avalanche. This basically assured the rescue team that it was extremely dangerous to keep on going up the Mummery Spur. From Camp-I, Alex Txikon used his telescope extensively but couldn’t find the climbers.

On the last day at Nanga Parbat (7th March), Alex made a positive visual identification of the bodies of the two climbers using his telescope from mid-way between Base Camp and Camp-I. The bodies are a little bit over Camp-III (roughly around 5900m). The reason the bodies couldn’t be identified from Camp-I was that the camp is just way too close to the Mummery Spur and the bodies were behind a rocky spur. The bodies could only be visually identified going away from Mummery Spur and looking at that spot from a different angle, which is exactly what Alex did. Various photos were also taken by Alex which also show the rope fixings around the bodies.

Given the current location of the bodies, any mission to retrieve the bodies would be an extremely dangerous endeavor. The weather has changed with temperatures rising which is resulting in multiple avalanches per day. The area between Camp-II and Camp-III is avalanche-prone as experienced personally by Alex and Ali, and would entail massive risk for any team to retrieve the aforementioned bodies. Unfortunately it won’t be possible before next Winter season.

My deepest condolences for family and friends of Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard. 

Shamyl.

In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

Thank you for your work in reporting on this, it won’t have been easy. 

So far so close so sad 

 Chris_Mellor 09 Mar 2019
In reply to Name Changed 34:

There is a Twitter note from @lamontañaqueveo

It reads: "Foto tomada por ⁦⁦@AlexTxikon⁩ y publicada por el embajador italiano en Pakistán ⁦⁦@pontecorvoste⁩ (con permiso de las familias), que ha permitido confirmar que estos 2 puntos son #Nardi y #Ballard #NangaParbat DEP .Vía ⁦@desnivelados⁩ Facebook"

The Google Translate translation is: 

"Photo taken by @AlexTxikon and published by the Italian ambassador in Pakistan @pontecorvoste (with permission of the families), which has confirmed that these 2 points are #Nardi and #Ballard #NangaParbat DEP. Via @ uneven Facebook"

The photo link is: https://twitter.com/lamontanaqueveo/status/1104430130301190150/photo/1

 Ridge 09 Mar 2019
In reply to UKC News:

Very sad news. RIP

 Timmd 19 Mar 2019
In reply to UKC News:

After losing Alison Hargreaves as well, his Dad must be having a hell of a time.  

RIP

Post edited at 01:15

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