© Ballard Images
Tom Ballard, 26, has joined big wall climber Andy Kirkpatrick, mountaineer Jon Gupta and expedition photographer Martin Hartley, among others, as one of Montane’s sponsored athletes.
Tom Ballard is the first person to solo climb all six major faces of the Alps in one winter, a feat known as ‘Starlight and Storm’ which included the Petit Dru ‘Alain-Leiniger’ first winter solo and the Piz Badile ‘Cassin’ second winter solo ascent. Other recent highlights include second ascents of ‘Ironman’ D14+ and ‘Superman’ D13+ in Eptingen, Switzerland, and the first free ascent in winter of the 250m 8a Olimpia-Going for Gold in the Dolomites.
Tom was born in the Peak District in 1988 before moving to the highlands of Scotland in 1995 and is the son of British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves. He enjoys most of his climbing alone, and especially in the Italian Dolomites where he is currently based with his father. He has completed more than 250 routes in the area, including many winter ascents.
RELATED LINKS:
www.montane.co.uk