The Last Mountain (2021) - full transcript

Well done. You're doing really well.
Keep it up.

We can see your every move now.
Fantastic!

Don't rush. There's no rush. Over.

It's amazing. Over.

Go on, Alison!

Yes, she's done it. She's there.

A 33-year-old mother has become
the first British woman to

conquer Mount Everest alone
and without an oxygen supply.

Alison Hargreaves from Torlundy,
near Fort William,

is the only British professional
female mountaineer...

Alison Hargreaves had nurtured
her ambition to conquer Everest



without oxygen
since her school days.

After a failed attempt last year,
driven back by appalling weather,

the 33-year-old finally sent word
back to her husband by fax

that she was on top of the world.

Alison, mother of two,
reached the summit of Everest,

8,848 metres,

13th of May, 1995,

at 12:08pm, Nepalese time.

Can you keep your heads up?
Heads up. Heads up. Heads up.

Kate. Heads up. Kate...
Go to your left. Go that way, Tom.

Just like as if we're going skiing.

Carry straight on. You're
a mother of two young children.

What did they think when Mum come home, world
record holder? Well, they don't really understand.

They know Mum's done
something special



cos people keep asking them
about what Mummy's just done.

But Mummy's always gone off
and climbed mountains,

so to a certain extent,
it's fairly normal.

Do you think Mum is very clever?

Yes! Why is your mum very clever?

Because she climbed Mount Everest.

And she climbed Mount Everest
all on... Her own.

Without any... BOTH: Oxygen!

And why is that clever?
Because it... Because it's clever!

Because it's very clever!

Shall we pump it up for your mum
because... Yeah! Yeah!

Three cheers for your mum
because she's a record breaker!

What's next?

In a couple of weeks' time,
I'm off to Pakistan to try

and climb K2, which is
the second highest in the world.

It's not so high, but maybe
a little bit more difficult.

So that'll be fun.

What drives you on? I don't know.
Something inside.

I love climbing mountains and
I love standing on top and to have

stood on top of the highest in
the world, for me, is unbelievable.

Conquering Everest

and K2 in the one season
without oxygen is unprecedented,

but as she prepares to set off,

Alison Hargreaves is
well aware of the dangers.

When we go climbing,
we obviously minimise the risks

and if we thought it was that risky,
we wouldn't go climbing.

Anybody who went off
thinking, you know,

that there was a very high chance
they wouldn't come back,

I think, is...

It's a very unfair thing to do,
especially with a young family.

Basically, you know, climbers climb.

We know our strengths
and our weaknesses and hopefully,

we can normally make the right
decisions at the right time.

Tom, what do you think
of your mummy?

She's very nice and she is very
clever, so she should do it.

PANTING

I'm a mole, I'm a mole,
and I live in a hole!

Hoo...
PANTING

I'm a mole.

CHILD SHOUTING

GIGGLING

I had the worst job that
any parent's ever going to

have in their life.

I sat the children down
in a quiet room

and, um... And told them that their
mother was more than likely dead

and they wouldn't see her again.

And she was lost in a storm in K2.

Um...

And Kate cried and shouted,
as small children will.

And Tom asked if he and Kate could
see their mum's last mountain.

And I didn't think for very long.

I gave them my promise that
they would see where their mum died

and more importantly,
their mum's last mountain.

Well, that's it, chaps.
That's the last of the bags.

Everything's packed now.
All we need is the station.

SNEEZES

Thank you. Take care, look after
the kids. I will, do not worry.

Take care. See you when I come back.

RADIO CHATTER

The passengers sitting on
the left-hand side can have a view

of K2, and the Broad Peak onto
the left of it is finally visible.

Where's K2? K2's the pointy one.
Straight over this guy's ear.

There. The big pointy one, your mum
stood on top of that and Everest.

Big pointy. Yup. That's the one.

Nobody knows how
life is going to unfold.

Nobody knew we were going to have
two smashing children.

But we did.

And the one promise we made to each
other that was totally binding

was that we would always bring our
children up in the wide open spaces,

in freedom, learning what
spirit's about, learning what

adventure's about,
enjoying, understanding

and accepting the wild
and beautiful places of this Earth.

I wouldn't like to see
Tom and Kate do anything

that people wanted them to do.

I'd only like to see Tom
and Kate have the opportunity to do

what they want to do,
be it bricklayer or brain surgeon.

But it would be an awfully hard act
for Kate to have to follow

the greatest woman climber.

And even more impossible
to follow as a boy.

But who knows?

The mountains,
I think, are magnetic.

There is some sort of force
that pulls you in.

It's the aura. It's the purity.

The open, vast sky.

You can see forever.

And the mountains have
this awesome power.

DISTANT BANG AND RUMBLE

You can't conquer them.

They were there before us

and after we've gone,
they'll still be there.

And so instead of
fighting against them,

you have to find a way
to work with them.

You have to be in harmony.

And sometimes, they let you
and other times, they won't.

But we're always sort of
pushing ourselves a little bit,

to see how far we can go, you know,

how far to the edge can we go
before we topple off.

Danger is very personal
to everybody.

Yes!

Pushing your own personal limits,

whether that's going
for longer, or higher,

or faster, or harder.

But never fighting against
the mountain, because you can't.

Because they'll always win
in the end.

ICE SMASHES LOUDLY

My relationship with
the mountains is, I would say,

not completely different to Tom's.

You know, our love
and our drive is exactly the same.

But he's got goals in mind,
he's got...

"I want to do this peak
and this peak and this peak,

"and I want to do this route on
this peak and this one on this one"

and he just strives to climb.

It's all he's ever wanted to do,
you know.

That's fine and that is
and has always been Tom.

Nobody knows why Tom is
the way he is, he's just a climber

and always will be.

Anyone that's ever seen
Tom on a mountain would say

how much like an ibex he is.

Just so sure-footed.

It's hard to explain.
I've never seen anyone like that.

I don't know what Tom's plans are,
I've got no idea.

But if he does take his climbing
to a higher level,

I definitely want to be
a part of it.

And while he's climbing,
I'm sure I'll be doing other things.

I adore to climb mountains,
don't get me wrong.

But I don't just necessarily want
to get to the top and down again.

But if I'm climbing with Tom,
it's like 200 million times easier

than if I was doing it
with anybody else.

Anybody else in the entire world.

Having Tom by my side is like having
protection, a helping hand,

or just...

..a nice person to have next to you
when you're on the mountain.

That's a nice thing for a sister
to say, isn't it, Tom?

It's very nice, yeah.
See? I can be nice!

Ah, OK. I didn't know.

Only a joke.

The time's 17 minutes to nine.

The climber Tom Ballard has just
completed a remarkable feat.

The six great north faces
of the Alps, all climbed alone,

in winter, in one season.

He's the son of Alison Hargreaves,

who did the same thing
in the summer season.

In 1995, Alison Hargreaves
was killed after reaching

the summit of K2, the world's...

The six great peaks of Europe,

climb the north faces
all in one winter.

Sounds an absolutely miserable
business to me.

How difficult was it?

The main difficulty is getting
the right conditions at the right

time and then, you know, I think
maybe 80% is more down to luck

with the weather and the thing is,
the mountains will always be there.

You just have to make sure
that you are.

It's just a shame that
climbing isn't an Olympic sport

because we'd be nailed on
for gold with you, surely,

wouldn't we?
Yeah, it would be nice, actually,

to have a nice gold medal,

instead of just a nice feeling
at the end of the day.

Well, Tom, lovely talking to you
and continued success.

I'm sure your mum would
be very proud indeed.

I think so too. Thank you very much.
All right. All the best.

That's Tom Ballard,
a world-beating British climber

and we are proud of him.
It's just gone 26 minutes past 11...

I genuinely believe,
like his mother had a talent,

Tom has a fantastic talent
and I believe that Tom,

up to this moment in time,
knows how to use that talent.

But I don't believe in omnipotence.

The problem is that the game
he's playing, particularly

if he transfers it to higher peaks,
goes from playing Russian roulette

with maybe no or one bullet in

to playing Russian roulette
with quite a lot of bullets in.

The search continues for a British
climber who's gone missing on Nanga

Parbat, a giant peak in Pakistan,
nicknamed the Killer Mountain.

Two military helicopters
are searching for Tom Ballard

and Italian Daniele Nardi, as
they lost contact over a week ago.

Tom Ballard, part of an East
Midlands mountaineering dynasty,

is regarded as one of
the world's finest Alpinists.

He posts regular updates
of his exploits

to his thousands of followers
online.

His last update was nine days ago.

"Life is like a holiday,

"while we wait for
that elusive weather window."

He hasn't been seen since Sunday.

So, we've got Tom and Daniele
somewhere high on the spur.

The comms aren't working.

And that's the last concrete
information we have.

Kate is in South Africa, and
she said, "How long, Dad? How long?"

And I said, "Look," you know.
I said, "You know me,

"I'm not given to snatching
at things in the air,

"nor am I given to, you know,

"letting my emotions run away,
but seven to ten days, no problem.

"You know, the boy will be cold,
he might have a bit of frostbite,

"he'll certainly be
really bad-tempered,

"but that's the thing
we have to remember."

But, Jim, do you...?
PHONE RINGS

Hi, Kate. Hello? Can you hear me?
Yes, I can hear you.

I was just talking to Luigi,
that's Daniele's other brother,

and he said if I was going
to call you, then maybe

I could just update you.
That'd be very nice, Kate.

So, helicopter's took off
this morning to go have a look

at a possible sighting.

Um...

What they saw,
they can't see clearly,

but what they could see
is that the two...

The two bodies, and they are bodies
because they're not moving,

if they are bodies,
80% sure they are bodies,

one is wearing orange,
one is wearing blue.

They can't be 100% sure, but like
I say, they're not moving, so...

OK, dear. OK.

And...
So that's what he just told me. OK.

So, how are you bearing up
with that?

SHE SOBS

It's heartbreaking, Kate,
and I'm sorry.

You know, I wish I could say
something that could make you

feel better at the moment.

Um...

KATE SNIFFLES

You...you...you really do need
to try and find something to do

and help that...that
takes your mind off it

so that you can...you can go back
to...to...to trying to remember

the good times,
the great times, and, um...

I don't want to talk...
Dad, as far as I'm concerned,

I'm not willing to talk
and think about the good times!

And any, like, any, er...

I'm not... Until we find Tom,

until the rescue is called off,

I'm not going to think of
this situation like Tom is dead.

I don't...I'm not willing
to...accept it

until the rescue has been called off
one way or the other.

So I'm not willing to... OK, OK.

..listen to anyone that has...
OK...anything to say about Tom being dead.

Because quite frankly,
I know Tom so well

and I know that he can
get himself out of any situations.

OK, Kate, let's... So if that is
perhaps Tom lying there,

then as far as I'm concerned,
he's still alive

and we need to go and get him.

Yeah. Well, I'm sure there's
a lot of people feel that,

the same as you do, Kate.

Do you want to talk later?
Shall I ring you later?

I'll talk to you later. OK, dear.

OK? Lots of love... Bye.
..lots of hugs. Talk to you later.

Au revoir. Lots of love.

Au revoir. Au revoir, dear.

CALL DISCONNECTS

Well, that's how some people cope,
and unfortunately,

it seems to be the way
Kate is coping,

and it's not a happy experience,
because there's nothing I can say.

I suppose what is frustrating Kate
is the fact is

it is out of her control.

Probably, we will not know very much

about what was found on the mountain

until the search is finished.

But, you know...
there is still a chance.

NEWS PROGRAMME THEME

Hello, a very good evening to you.

Rescuers have found the bodies
of the missing British mountaineer

Tom Ballard and his Italian
climbing companion,

Daniele Nardi, in Pakistan.

Contact was lost with the pair
almost two weeks ago

during an ascent of one of
the world's highest mountains,

Nanga Parbat, in the Himalayas.

Mr Ballard is the son
of Alison Hargreaves,

who died on the mountain, K2...

After hours of searching
from Pakistani helicopters

and special teams from Spain,

the Italian ambassador to Pakistan
announced the search was over

as the bodies had been spotted.

Alex Txikon was part of
the search team

and was one of the first to climb
Nanga Parbat in the winter

just three years ago.

Not so good news.

We spotted the bodies of
Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard.

They are in quite a difficult
and high-altitude area,

which is impossible

for us to reach there.

Really super-risky to attempt
any...any...any rescue missions.

They will stay
for always on Nanga Parbat.

You know,
it's a very, very sad moment.

Tom Ballard's mother,
Alison Hargreaves,

was killed in a storm while
descending from the summit of K2,

the world's second-highest mountain,

about 100 miles away
from where Tom died.

POIGNANT INSTRUMENTAL

This is your captain.
I welcome you on board Flight 3451.

After another two to three minutes,

people sitting on the right
will be able to see Nanga Parbat.

And we'll commence our descent...

FAINT TRAFFIC DIN

It's six months since we lost Tom.

He and Daniele are still up there,
at peace, on Nanga Parbat.

I've been to collect Tom's passport.

That's a big relief,
to have that small red book

back in the family's possession.

But it's...

it's papers, you know,
it's not...it's not actually Tom.

So it's just paperwork.

The most important thing now for me

is to meet the Italian Ambassador
of Pakistan.

He supervised over
the search and rescue efforts

after Tom and Daniele went missing.

So he'll have more information
about what actually happened

to Tom and Daniele.

What happens on Nanga Parbat,
apparently,

is, on that...on the, um...

..on that route, is that snow
comes down, and it snows heavily.

Then it kind of freezes
and accumulates.

And when it's too heavy,
it just goes down. OK.

And that happens
every three to six hours.

So one idea is that there may have
been a ice avalanche,

a serac, which hit them.

It was certainly not a snowstorm

because a snowstorm
would have wiped out everything.

And, er...Alex Txikon,

who we enlisted
for the rescue operation,

inferred from
the position of the bodies

and the general conditions
of how they were found,

that they may have died
a different way.

Which was, er...as
they were coming down,

they were still roped, and, er...

Tom was possibly...

Because he's...
he's kind of hanging...

..in a...in an awkward position
in the ropes.

He might have gotten tangled
in the ropes.

Daniele was going up to try to...

to cut the ropes or, you know,
get free of the ropes.

And they may have been victim
of a climate of minus-50 degrees,

and may have died that way.

"Ha sido una muerte cruel."

Alex Txikon used those words.

"They have died a cruel death."

I'm sorry, I thought
you actually were...

..aware of all these... No,
no, no. Not aware of that at all.

HORN BLASTS

We've... Of course
we don't...didn't ever think

we knew exactly what had happened,

but the story that
we took on board was that...

..they climbed,
they went to bed in their tent,

probably very cold
up at that altitude,

and sometime during the night,
while they were peacefully asleep,

probably dreaming about climbing,

that a serac from high above them
broke off

and the force...just ripped them
straight out of their tent

and threw them off the mountain.

And they would have died immediately
on impact from the force,

just as...just as we believe
happened to Mum.

That you wouldn't have felt anything,
it just happened so suddenly...

that you don't...

And that he was asleep. That was...

So that was
kind of reassuring for us.

And that's been, for the last however
many months since the accident,

that's what
we have thought happened.

And now, today, to have heard...

..that they were hanging,
dangling, dying slowly...

..fully aware of
what was going on, um...

And that...and, er...

his exact words were
that it was a...a cruel death.

TEARFUL: That's...
that's really big news.

I could be happier and live easier

knowing that he was...at peace.

But to hear that he could have been
really suffering for a long time,

and we couldn't get to them, is...

..heartbreaking.

CLOCK CHIMES

FAINT BARKING

BIRDSONG

When I wake up in the morning,

I'm perfectly well aware

that since that day, er...
when the news came through,

my world would be
completely different.

Because...

..I never saw a way in which Tom

would come to grief
on mountains early.

It goes right down
the side of Chile.

It still doesn't seem
real sometimes.

You know, I don't...I don't think
it isn't real,

but it is difficult
to see it as real.

FAINT CHATTER

I think you just have to accept

that Tom is not coming back...

..just like his mum didn't,

and you have to work out a way
of living with it.

The last floods, Tom, were,
er...just after your mum died.

And it was like the mountain
shedding tears for her.

It just rained and rained
and stormed and stormed.

And it washed all the roads out.

Your mum's spirit's still here.

It's only your mum's body that's
gone. That doesn't matter, Tom.

Your mum's spirit's
in all these mountains.

She's probably just coming back
from a good day's climbing today.

There'll be no rest for anybody in
heaven if your mum's around. Oh, dear!

In 1995, Dad brought Tom and I here,
for a journey to K2,

which was Mum's last mountain.

But now, the most important thing
for me is

I'm going to trek to
Nanga Parbat basecamp

to visit Tom's last mountain.

It's kind of history
repeating itself.

I was only four at the time.

And, yeah, so the only part
of the trek I remember

is that I had a minder.

I had Big Ibrahim, as we called him.

And...I...I remember his smell.

I remember...
A nice smell, not a bad smell.

Just a warm, safe smell from...

Cos I think I slept a lot
on his...on his neck.

I just remember him
always looking after me.

IBRAHIM WHISTLES

I want to go across the bridge!

You want to go across the bridge?
Yeah.

You going to cross the bridge
with Ibrahim?

I think you can
go anywhere with Ibrahim.

CHEERING AND WHOOPING

I feel a little bit nervous.
SHE GIGGLES

Not nervous,
but I've got butterflies.

It's been 25 years
since I've seen him.

Very excited!

Here. Look! Ah!

That's him! Yeah.

Welcome!

OK, leave it down here.

Hello! Hello. How are you?

How are you? Good!

KATE CHUCKLES EMOTIONALLY

Good? Thank you for having me here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Welcome. Looking well.

FAINT CHATTER

You're well? Yes.

Yes? You well? Yes.

FAINT CHATTER

KATE CHUCKLES
Welcome!

Long time. Yes.

I'm big now.
THEY LAUGH

Still smaller than you.

Good? Yes. Just to translate, yes?

It's good to be here. Yeah. Yeah.

IBRAHIM SPEAKS

He cannot feel his express.
He cannot feel his express.

He's so emotional. Same.

IBRAHIM AND TRANSLATOR CONVERSE

He feels very guilty because
somehow, it is very nice to see her,

but some...at another point,
it's very sad to see her

without her brother
because she was...

he was carrying her
as a, like, child

and with her brother, and now
it is so...so hard to see her.

Yes. Yeah.
KATE SNIFFLES

He said, I always hoped
I would see her again.

OK! Well done. Thank you, Ibrahim.

Are we there, Daddy?
This is it, love, yep.

Thank you.

I also brought for you...

Because it's my favourite
photograph.

IBRAHIM LAUGHS

Yes.

Can you remember,
was Kate heavy on your shoulder?

Yeah, a little heavy.

No!
THEY LAUGH

But...

SHE CLEARS THROAT

..I'm happy Tom and my mum are here.
Yes.

If anywhere they could be...

..it's the most beautiful place
in the world.

And it's where they wanted to be.

CHILDREN CHATTER

Oh, look at the mountains, Dad!
Look! They're stunning!

I know. The sun's come on it again,
hasn't it?

It's licking the top of that.
That's 6,400 metres above sea level.

CHILDREN CHATTER EXCITEDLY

Big Ibrahim,
he's welcomed us into his home

and we've had tea and biscuits,

and now he'll join us
on our trek to Nanga Parbat.

CHILDREN GIGGLE

Bye-bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye!

IBRAHIM CHATS

STRING MUSIC

FAINT WHISPERING

THEY PRAY

Somehow, the stars have aligned

and we will, God willing,

see Nanga Parbat today.

And actually,
it's a very special day today.

It's Tom's birthday today.

Tom would be 31 today.

Happy birthday, Tom.

POIGNANT INSTRUMENTAL

Even before I was born,
I climbed, er...the Eiger.

Inside my mum's tummy.

She was, um...six months pregnant
with me.

I think she found it a bit difficult
with her bump to squeeze through.

And then, when I was first born,

I was always exposed
to this environment.

Um...and so, that must be...

I mean, mountains are
in my blood, I guess.

Mummy? Oh, good lad.

Good job you're going, isn't it?
Good job. Mummy?

Mind out of the way, camera,
cos you're going to get treaded on.

I'm going to count them!

I think you've always got that thing
inside you that says, you know,

whether you want to be a footballer
or...or anything like that.

Inside you, you know
what you want to be

and you know what you want to do.

It's kind of your calling,
if you like.

So then I had kind of...you know,
I had a vision, of, you know...

And I knew what I wanted to do then.

So, it's not just a physical thing,
but quite a spiritual experience?

Very much so, yes. Mm.

Definitely. Yeah.

So, when you're on the mountains,
when you're climbing,

you're in touch with something
deeper within you? Yes. Yes.

But you never know quite what it is.
It's just...

You know, it just feels right.

You can tell that
he's totally in control.

Totally at peace with himself.

You know, he's now about 70,
80 feet above the floor and...

I mean, I know, as a realist,
that if he falls off now

or certainly fell off higher up,

the chances are, he's going to
get very seriously hurt.

I've always thought
there is quite a definite line

between good adventure and danger.

And the trick is to make sure

you've always
got your feet on the line,

and you don't step over it.

When he's older, it's up to him

how far he takes himself

to the edge of that line.

Do you remember?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah?

I carried you...

You carried him also? Yeah!

THEY CHUCKLE
You carried both.

This is Kipper, and this came
from...this came from my mum.

IBRAHIM SPEAKS
So it's always with me.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know how much I remember
of my mum

and how much I know of my mum

from her appearance in film

and magazines and newspapers...

It's only a camera...and my stories
that my dad has told me.

It's difficult to differentiate
what's my true memories

and what's come from outside.

Although her physical form
is not here,

I feel her...in every way.

And especially in the mountains.

Now, with Tom also being lost here,

it's like I'll have to spend
even more time here

because it's where they are.

Phew!

Now, look! This is Nanga Parbat!

Big lump of a mountain.
Yeah, it is, isn't it?

It's ginormous,
and we're still very far away. Yeah.

It's...it's breathtaking.

I can understand why he wanted to
climb it. I want to climb it, too!

Tom was a mountaineer
through and through.

He was born to be on the mountains.

He got all of mum's gift
for mountaineering...

..and I didn't.
SHE CHUCKLES

Woohoo!

In my teenage years,

I found myself
very jealous of Tom's genius.

Yeah, nice! Brilliant!

Of how talented he was.

Not only that, but also, his drive

and how passionate he was
about a certain thing.

And I was always,
liked this, liked that,

enjoyed this, enjoyed that,
loved this, loved that.

Hey-hey-hey!

Tom, there was one thing,
and it was mountaineering, climbing.

Argh!

And that, I envied.

Because he just knew.

Ah! Argh!

Oh! Fucker!

FUCK!

Oh!

WIND BLOWS

FAINT CHATTER

This is the kitchen.

Um...food is hanging up
from various places

so it can't be attacked by
any animals, wild animals.

Mainly me. Um...
CAMERA OPERATOR CHUCKLES

We have the stove, er...all
the implements.

Just a normal kitchen, really.

Also, sort of partly living room.

Er...quite open-plan. Um...

Plenty of fresh air,
good ventilation. Nice view.

Er...a stone's throw away
from the...the river. Yeah.

And show me where you sleep.

Er...I sleep in the van.

The big tent,
my father sleeps in there.

Also, we keep a lot of stuff
in there. OK.

And I sleep in the van.

Obviously,
it's full of climbing gear and...

Er...comfortable?
Yeah, it's very comfortable.

Yeah, very comfortable.

In winter, it's a bit cold.

And do you miss living in a house
with a bedroom and all the mod cons?

Er...not especially, but...

No, not especially, no.

You're used to this now? Well, yeah.
I've been living like this,

or even just without the kitchen,
just with the van, er...

Yeah...for the last
four or five years, so...

Yeah, yeah.
It's quite normal for me now.

MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO

There is something very simple
and very primeval

about having only one thing to do.

We had nothing else to do
but climb the routes

that Tom wanted to climb.

We just had enough money.

We just had enough equipment
in the early days.

And that's what we did.

Which is what made Tom what he was.

His training was like
you would train for an Olympics.

Today, dry tooling. Ah!

Training for the winter.

In summer! Yeah.

THEY CHUCKLE

This is not winter,
we're not...we're not tough.

Virtual ice, virtual snow.

Yeah. You have to imagine
it's cold, there is ice.

Yeah. There is snow.

When I'm climbing, I become
a part of the mountain itself,

and that becomes part of me.

Um...like, for instance, I'm...

I'm a moving rock or a piece of ice.

You're becoming more...more
in tune with the mountain.

It's a completely different
experience.

Because of my sort of circumstances
and my...the way I am personally,

and the fact that
I prefer to be on my own,

I prefer to be away from people,

and the way we sort of live
in camps,

I think that's actually helped me
because I've become fitter.

Always training, he never stopped.

He had a super energy.

I always thought he wasn't, er...
he wasn't part of this world.

He was like, er...an "alian".

You say an "alian". An alien.

An alien. An alien! Yeah, yeah.

SHE LAUGHS

He wasn't human.

WAVES CRASH

GULLS CRY

How did I fall in love with Tom?

Er...I liked him, first of all,
because he was different.

He had a completely
different lifestyle.

Out of the ordinary, you know?

No, he was cool.
I mean, because he was authentic.

He was a...pure person.

He just liked to climb,
to be in nature.

And to live as he wanted
was important for him.

Of course, he made room in his life
for me because we climbed together.

It wouldn't have been possible
if I wasn't a climber.

It wouldn't even have started.

I liked my life with him because
we could have adventures together,

we could share things.

And that's the most important thing.

The first time, actually, we kissed,

it was when we climbed
the first route,

the first ascent of, er...Baptism
of Fire, actually, he called it.

And, yeah, we were both 26
when we met.

Now tilting your head.

SHUTTER CLICKS

TOM CHUCKLES
It's funny? Yeah, it's funny.

But with the... Like this? Yes.

When I first knew him,
he wasn't well known.

All proper climbers, eh?

But the project
that made him stand out,

it was the six North Faces.

He was called to do lectures.

They made a film of him.

And so, I think his life changed.

And everybody wanted to know him,
for sure, somebody so special.

Hello. Nice to see you.
Nice to meet you.

I met your mother a few times. Mm.

In the...in the '80s.

And I did a book on women climbing.

Yeah, Women On Top.

And in this book, I say openly,

she was the greatest
mountaineer ever.

Yeah, I think that's true.
She's not yet...

No, nobody's even close, I think.

Nobody's even got close. Yeah.

THEY CHATTER

And you're now becoming
a professional mountaineer?

Yeah. OK.

OK. All the best.

Thank you very much. After you.

Ah, thank you very much.

You are very, very figo.

SHE LAUGHS

Everybody loved Tom.
Everybody loved Tom.

My mum was in love with him.
Oh, my God!

Everybody was in love
in my family with Tom.

My brothers loved him.

Grazie. You're welcome.

He was simple.

He was simple and very nice
with everybody.

OK. And you, too. Grazie mille.

Have a nice evening. Ciao. Ciao.
One more. One more shot.

But then, of course,
he couldn't judge people.

And, like a child, you know,

that you give him a sweet,

he takes it,

even if it's not good.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Daniele always wanted to be
recognised

as a good mountaineer.

He said he felt

like he was always an outcast

because he...he came from the south,

because he was not...

He told me, "For...for most people
in Italy, I'm not credible".

He wanted to be credible
as a mountaineer.

Because all the important,
the biggest mountaineers,

Italian mountaineers,
are from the north.

Here, people take the boat
and go to sea, you know?

They don't climb the mountains.

So he was...he was an outcast,
but he was also a real fighter.

WIND GUSTS

Whoo! Windy!

He was 42, so he was much older
than Tom.

An impressive...Himalayan record.

Climbed some big peaks.

But I'd never met the guy,

I'd never heard of him
until Tom told me

that Daniele had suggested
they become climbing partners.

And I think that Daniele realised

what a tour de force
Tom was capable of delivering.

Soft snow, huh?
Yeah. It's not very nice.

DANIELE CHUCKLES

The first time we met Daniele
was in Chamonix, 2016.

He went climbing with him.

And, yeah, for sure,
he had some experience, Daniele.

I won't say no.

But for sure, he wasn't even
close to as talented as Tom.

Tom, he was how we say in Italian,
we say, "cavallo di punta",

he was one of the best in the world.

Tom? Tom, yeah!

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha! Yeah!

Daniele told me that
Tom was very strong,

very technical and very focused.

And Daniele thought that
he could be a good companion.

The best companion, maybe.

I wasn't happy about him
going there,

and I tried to convince,
to persuade him not to go.

But then I also thought, "OK, I
can't really, because it's his life

"and if he wants to go, he must go".

This expedition was going to be

Daniele's fifth attempt
to the summit,

but through the Mummery Spur.

He always told me at the beginning,

"I'm not going to Nanga Parbat,
I'm going to the Mummery Spur.

"The Mummery Spur
is the challenge for me."

There are various routes
up Nanga Parbat -

the Kinshofer route
and the Messner route.

But Daniele wasn't interested
in those.

He wanted to go up Nanga Parbat
through the Mummery Spur,

which has still not been climbed.

He loved that route
because he told me

that it was the most direct
to the top

and it was...it was
the most elegant.

If you look at the mountain,
it's like a finger

pointed to the top.

And he was in love with this fact.

He was in love with
the elegance, you know.

WIND GUSTS

But we talked also about
the fact that

the Spur could be very dangerous.

WIND GUSTS

Super-dangerous. Super-dangerous.

It's one of the craziest places that
I ever been in my life, believe me.

WIND GUSTS

It's much more dangerous and risky

than...than...than hard
and technical.

It's so dangerous.
I will show you right now.

Look at here.

These seracs, it's totally crazy.

This is huge, great blocks of ice?

Yes. Yeah, yeah. All this ice.

And it's more than 100 metres high.

When this serac fell down,

even the avalanches
reached to the basecamp,

and...and...and...and
this is like a big explosion.

This is huge!
It's massive! It's giant!

LOUD RUMBLING

So when you heard that... Yes.

..Daniele and Tom... Yes.

were to climb the Mummery Spur,
at that time of the year...

I wasn't scared.
This 7th of January wasn't scared,

because I knew that
Daniele has the experience.

But with Nanga Parbat, sometimes I
think climbers will become obsessed.

And I think Daniele was a little
bit obsessed with Mummery Spur.

For me, Mummery is
the best dream I can imagine.

So I use all my energy and my power
to do it for three years.

Daniele Nardi was with us on the
attempts on Nanga Parbat 2014/15,

15/16.

THEY CHAT

He knew very well that we showed
to the world that Nanga Parbat

was possible in winter
by the Kinshofer route.

But for Daniele, that's not enough,
the classical route.

Daniele Nardi wants to show
my opinion to the world

that "I'm here, I'm Daniele Nardi,
and I will try for Mummery route".

HE CRIES OUT UNHAPPILY

Daniele was a good climber,
but I think was drunk on ambition.

But for Tom...

..you know, if you are driving
in a car,

OK, I'm... How you say in English?

Say, "Hi", when you are...
Hitchhiking. Hitchhiking,

and the car stops to you, "Hello",

but you are with a man
that is totally drunk,

and you take the decision
to go with him,

and then you crash,
and both of you died, you know,

you take your decision.

Climbing, alpinism is not
for heroes, is not a right thing

that you must be there
in danger for months.

It wasn't Tom's style.

I mean, it was completely stupid.

THEY LAUGH

Before he left, he left some stuff
here, in Fassa Valley, my house.

And I thought, "Fuck, this maybe
is the last time he is here."

I had that feeling it was
the last time I would see him.

Strange. Premonition, you call it?
Yeah.

Mm-hm.

Stay in touch. Be connected to our
Facebook profile because we send

you photo to the Instagram place.
Every hour.

Follow us,

Nardi and Ballard,

to Pakistan. Be connected.

Yeah. Ooh!

Think we're nearing our bridge.

Used to be the starting point
for our trek.

I just feel so happy from inside.

Can't stop smiling, even though
obviously it's horrible...

..circumstances, but it doesn't
take away the beauty and the joy

of the mountains in this place.

I think for Kate it comes down
to a trip of two halves.

I think, first of all, there's
the joy of meeting with Big Ibrahim.

Then I think she'll enjoy seeing
where Tom lies and covering

the terrain that Tom covered.

Except, of course, it will be
entirely different in the sense

that she's there in autumn
and he was there in deep winter.

# You're in the Army,
you're not behind a plough...

# You're in the Army now

# You're not behind a plough... #

Yeah.

It's great, I love it.

Yeah, I just feel so natural.
It's nice. Happy. Happy?

He's happy that I'm walking
and not on his shoulders.

THEY LAUGH

You know? Yeah, yeah.

I don't think that the roles
have changed in any way.

He's most definitely still
my minder, and looking after me,

but I'm very conscious
of his health as well.

It's slightly worrying a little bit
how heavy he's breathing.

He had to stop a lot.

And he just doesn't seem like
he's in the best of shapes.

He's retired,
so it's understandable.

But we're walking together
the whole way,

so we'll take care of each other.

Nice snow.

You are enjoying?

Yeah, it's good fun. Not so easy
with these boots but...

..better than walking.

Sure. With no shoes.

THEY LAUGH

I spent with them three weeks
going to the base camp.

Then I spent some days there
and then I came back

and I had the feeling that
Tom was really, at the beginning,

was really excited to be there.

And they were really nice
together, really nice.

They took care of each other,
in a very tender way.

They were like brothers

and they just could

look at each other and understand
what they were thinking

and what to do.

I don't know Tom so well.

He was so sweet.

But I think there was anger.

Like a knot of anger that can
explode sometimes and...

Yes. And sadness. Yeah.

I think he also felt the pressure
of being Alison's son.

All these stories about his mother,

how great she was, how extraordinary
she was. She was an inspiration,

but she was also
a very heavy heritage.

The way she died put her in a place
where now she's untouchable.

HE SHOUTS

Higher, higher, higher.

Bit right, bit right.

Not good.

Right hand to hold. Easy.

Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Go! Go!

THEY LAUGH

I don't know how you organised
this expedition

without beer, without wine,

without vodka, without...

HE SIGHS

..whisky.

No brandy.

Karim, really, I do it
because you are Pakistani...

Come on, man! You didn't ask us!

Because I said, "They are Islam.
They pray five times a day."

Islam is moderate, Islam now!
More? Yeah!

We can drink. Really? Yeah.

I love it!

At the beginning, it was, you know,
it was the first time with them,

four of us, you know,
we had a good relation,

we were understanding each other.

We were learning
from each other, you know.

We had a good team, I think, yeah.

Here, Mr Rahmat.

And...Tom wants to try
some wall hangings.

Wow. Great, man.

Tom was the youngest in our team.

He was a really great person

and I thought, "This is
a good partner," you know?

It snowed all day yesterday,
so I'm breaking the trail to Camp 1.

We've got to find
a new way across the glacier,

because the way that we came last,
the serac is falling down.

Very cold today.

Very clear.

Absolutely amazing.

RAHMAT AND KARIM DISCUSS

It's very cold.

We're going to stay here tonight

and move up to Camp 2,
or even Camp 3 tomorrow,

depending on the snow conditions.

Hopefully there'll be some
avalanches tonight, clear the snow.

Otherwise,
it's going to be hard work.

AVALANCHE ROARS

WIND HOWLS

I have seen huge, huge crevasses
there which were...

I didn't see before.

ICE CRACKS, RUMBLING

It was terrifying and we have
emotions to reach higher and higher.

But if something happened
while climbing there,

you wouldn't survive.

ICE CRACKS, RUMBLING

WIND BLOWS

The weather's not the best today.

But, uh...
HE SIGHS

..it's hard work,
on the way to Camp 3.

Soft snow...

..so spindrift.

Fortunately, not too cold.

HE SIGHS

Cold enough.

Hard work.

Three days, four days, five days.

Sometimes seven days' snowfall.

It destroyed the trail,
it destroyed the camps.

HE EXCLAIMS

It's gone. Yeah. Well,
I'm sure it's still there. Yeah?

And I think everything inside
will be fine, but, you know,

the tent, I don't know, maybe it's
broken, the poles may be broken.

Isn't that the place...?

Somewhere underneath
the snow is the tent.

From this col, it's come down,
you know? Yeah. Yeah.

That line leads to the tent.

Somewhere underneath the snow.

It was just stupid. I mean...

He should have been organised
one month before.

It didn't take much
to think about that.

If you know that's
it's very snowy in February...

I mean, it's not snowy like here.

Also here you can
die from an avalanche.

But there, why you want to be
there in February?

HE STRAINS
Yeah!

I don't understand.

I mean, you lose your life,
you're playing with your life.

I didn't thought that
Tom was so reckless.

I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know.

OK, two hours to find the...
The tent. The tent.

One tent.

We need to find also the other one.

Under one metre of snow.

I think the yetis stole the tent.

Do you think
we'll find another tent?

Tomorrow?

We have to find.

If we don't find it, we no have more
crampons for you and for Rahmat.

Yeah, that's a big problem.
It's a big problem!

So, we arrived to Camp 3,

but it doesn't exist any more.

Camp 3 is buried
underneath the snow.

We dug three holes, three tunnels.

Can't find anything at all.

Um...

And now the wind is picking up high
up, some very interesting clouds.

So...time to go down.

We have to go back into
base camp, reorganise

and then, when the weather is good,
try again.

In this moment, in this moment,

I decided to stop climbing here.

Because I felt this is a signal
to leave the mountain.

I told Daniele, "Look, Daniele,
it's time to go out."

And what he said - "Karim,
I know this mountain very well.

"I want to reach the summit."

I said, "It's up to you.

"I don't want to lose my life here."

And I told him...

.."I want to go."

And he said, "Are you scared?"

I said, "No, I'm not scared.

"I'm not scared. But I can
come back, I can climb again."

When Tom brought my gear,
which I left in Camp 2,

and he brought his harness...

..I thought he would abandon
the expedition and join me

to return to home.

Of course, he was listening
the mountains

and watching the weather,
watching the dangerous conditions.

I don't know why he didn't listen
at the end, at the last moment,

at the last chance.

That he continued...

This, I didn't understand.

And they had to stay almost
20 days after me in base camp.

They didn't realise
the danger from the mountain.

I think Daniele convinced Tom
that they can reach the summit.

I don't know. I think that guy...

Mm-mm.

Tom, he never judged people,

he never said even
half a bad word about anybody.

He couldn't even see if
a person was using him in any way.

And I'm really scared to accuse
that he, that guy manipulated him.

For sure, I can tell you that
Daniele didn't manipulate Tom.

It was not manipulation.

Tom was really much
smarter than this.

It was like saying that
he was a little bit...

..dumb, you know?

A little bit stupid.

Tom was brilliant.
He was not stupid, not at all.

You don't go to Nanga Parbat if
you're not really, really committed.

I don't know why Tom was committed,
but he was.

HE SIGHS

What a fantastic evening.

Look at the light.

Incredible.

Absolutely stunning.

SHOUTS: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.

PRAYER CALL CONTINUES

PRAYER CALL CONTINUES

I'm a moving rock or a piece
of ice... To be in harmony...

Pushing your personal limits...
Never fighting against...

They will always win in the end.

..a way a work with them
and to be in harmony.

The mountain change you in a way
that if you don't experience it,

you cannot really understand it.

You are...
It can make you another person.

Things or decisions that here
you would never, never take,

there, they seem possible.

I think that after two months there,

probably, they were not like us.

Yes, for sure.

For sure.

They were functioning
in another way.

Because their body changed deeply,

strongly.

I think he was skinnier,
he lost weight.

He didn't look fine.

I don't know, I see sufferance
in his eyes. I don't know why.

I've never been anxious
about him that much.

I say, "No, stop it, come back."

I wanted to buy him
a ticket to come back also.

The last message I sent him was...

..that I'm not "happy
you're climbing"

and I said, "It's dangerous."

And he says, "Bha." No.

"It's my job.
If you don't like it, leave me."

And I said then, "Better."
I mean, because...

I don't know. I wasn't happy.

I don't know.
He sent me a broken heart.

That's it. We didn't
leave each other in a nice way.

It was very hard. And then...

..after a few days, I said,
"This has to be the end."

SHE CRIES

"Love of my life.
If I had never told you."

I was climbing on K2 at the time,
but was asked to lead

the search for the two men.

Daniele Nardi and Tom Ballard,

they had not made contact
with base camp for many days.

The last communication,
it was with Khalid.

They were on Camp 4, on the ridge.

Can you see the cave? Yes.
It's like a cave. Yes.

They were somewhere in that area.

All of the responsibility
from the families,

so I can't make any mistake

and I said,
"I must find. I must find."

I'm moving from one side
of the helicopter to the other side,

from one side...

And with one hand, with my camera
just recording for something.

But I was with my eye,
I'm totally focused,

I'm cleaning the window.

I press a little bit more for the
pilots to flew a little bit here,

but, "No, Alex, the fuel,
the fuel, the fuel, the fuel,

"it's too risky, too risky."

I told them, "Why we can't do
just here, here, here, here, here?"

For me, this 35 minutes,
they were eternal.

I saw something strange
in one small rocky point

and so I flew with the drone.

I saw first a pole, something like
black, and then something orange.

And I'm thinking in my mind,
"Oh, if avalanche crashed to them

"and they were in their
sleeping bags," it was like...

..a frisson in my body.

Uh... And I start
digging and digging,

digging, digging in the snow.

We find a Camp 2 tent from
Daniele and Tom totally destroyed.

Inside with one sleeping bags,

some Epigases, no mattresses.

Um... But you can see here, nothing.

No evidences of life.

Today ten days. Yes.

INDISTINCT RADIO REPORT

JIM: I think Tom would've found...

Well, I don't think.

I know Tom would've found
the organising rescues

and people leaping
in and out of helicopters

and all that
really, really offensive.

Tom would never expect anybody
to rescue him.

Nor would his mother.

They would've expected
to get themselves off.

If you can't get yourselves off

when you're playing
the game at the top...

..then you don't
deserve to come off.

You know, the hardest thing for me,
Chris, was that I walk in

their track, in their track that was
made by the foot of Tom and Daniele.

This was the hardest moment for me
in this rescue action.

It was like a message,
it was something like, wow...

So painful, this moment.

On 5th of March,
we continued climbing up.

We did twice, OK?

Up and down, up and down.

And we are here in the craziest
place that we can be there.

This time very dangerous, Mummery.

So...I think 200 metres
and then we are more safe, no, Ali?

But now we are not safe.

OK. Not sure.

If some seracs are down,
we are not safe. Not at this time.

MAN SHOUTS

MAN SHOUTS

We hear all the time the seracs,
how they were crashing, you know?

And we could not risk any more,

any single life or any single second
more in this crazy place.

So, we moved to the base camp.

We were there with the telescope
at this point, with the tripod.

I took the telescope and I said,
"Give me a chance."

Ali, Ali! Look...!

Come in, come in. Anchor there.
Rope. Yes, yes, this is rope.

And their bodies are here.
You see? Look down.

In less than 15 seconds,
I found them.

In 15 seconds.

Look, look, look, Alex, Alex, Alex.

I found the anchor here, I followed
down there, down there, down there,

and immediately here,
as you can see here.

This is Tom down there
on the fixed rope.

And up is Daniele.

When Alex Txikon found them
finally, at last...

..and I knew how they were found,
that they were close,

and linked with a rope,

I thought that at least
they were not alone.

They were together.
Yeah, they were together.

MAN SPEAKS SPANISH

It was his destiny.

I don't know, I don't know
if I believe in destiny.

We choose, it's our path,
and I can't blame anybody

about his death, because why?

It's not even fair to blame
the climber that he was with.

He chose to be there.

So, it's not fair, it was his
choice, and we have to respect it.

KATE: Tom was, above all, a solo
climber - that's where he excelled.

And I have found myself
at times thinking,

I wish he'd have just stuck
to solo climbing.

He could've been soloing,

it would've been
a different outcome for Tom.

JIM: Tom was a mountain warrior,
his mum was a mountain warrior.

You know, Tom will be 30 forever.

At the peak of his physical,

doing what he wanted to do,

where he wanted to do,

and if nature took him back,
there's nothing we can do.

Apart from raise our hats...

..to a life well lived.

JIM, IN ARCHIVE FOOTAGE:
Are you sad?

Hey?

Don't be sad.

Look, there's a little cloud
right against...

Can you see that, Tom?

There's a little cloud
right above the top of K2.

Do you think that's
your mum waving to you?

Can you see there's one little one,
look, waving?

Looks like an angel's wings.

Can you see it?
Is that Mummy?

It could be. Can you see it?
Right above the summit.

Yeah.

Is that Mummy, Daddy?

Well, I think it's a sign
that your mum knows you're here.

Can you see it, Tom?

She's always there, in't she?

That's right. She's always there.

I wanted to embrace the mountain.

I wanted to see what he'd seen.

Try and understand
what went through his mind.

And just try to get a grasp of how
he might have felt being here.

Nice snow.

And I have completely achieved that.

And I know what's happened,
I know where he's gone, I know

that his body's never coming back,
but his spirit will live on forever.

And it'll live on in me

and in the mountains and in
everyone that was ever close to him.

Do you want to turn
and give me a smile?

It's almost like Mum's cradling him
and they'll be together forever now.

I wish I could be with them.

But I've still got Dad...

..and Dad and I will
pull through this together.

And as hard as it is, we know...

..that they did
what they wanted to do.

Woohoo! Yahoo!

It is difficult to not dwell
on what's happened, of course.

And it's not something
that I'm over, in that sense.

It'll be an ongoing process,
I think, my entire life

and it'll get easier, hopefully,

in the years to come.

But there is only forward to look.

There's no point looking back -
I'm not going that way.

That's a wonderful thing
to hear, Kate. That's lovely.

I mean, I think since Tom died,

Kate and I have developed a bond

which is, I suppose,
really, truly spiritual,

and that's how I feel.

And the thing that
I never expected to do

was be able to share her adventures
and joys and sadnesses...

..in a way that gave me
unbelievable warmth and pleasure.

Coming from a climbing legacy,
I always felt just great pride.

But because
Mum and Tom were so extraordinary,

I almost have a duty to them

to be extraordinary too

and not just be the average Joe
and to be a little bit more special.

SHE TRILLS

My mum and brother,
the wind beneath my wings.

I can feel your heart beating.

It's wonderful.

Just like when I carried you
over to the window.

It was a windowsill I carried you
over to when you were born.

It was.

If I'd known what a nuisance
you were, I'd have taken you back!

THEY CHUCKLE

"Have you got one in blue?"

THEY CHUCKLE

Go, Kate, go!

Keep waving!

Ho-ho, well done, lass!

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