ET-06. The Last Mountain

UK, Feature Documentary, 2021, 100 min

This is the shocking story of 30-year-old climber Tom Ballard and his climbing partner, Daniele Nardi, who disappeared on Nanga Parbat, one of the Himalayas’ most deadly mountains, in 2019. Using Tom's own extraordinary footage taken in the days before his death, the film explores what made Tom and Daniele continue their ascent after other members of the expedition turned back. Tom was the son of mountaineer Alison Hargreaves, who perished on K2 in 1995. Mother and son, two of the greatest climbers of all time, died at almost the same age, in the same mountain range, both doing what they loved best. Back in 1995, a grief-stricken Jim Ballard took his children, Tom (6) and Kate (4), on an expedition to K2’s basecamp to say farewell to their mother. The result was a BBC film, Alison’s Last Mountain. The Last Mountain follows Tom’s younger sister, Kate, on an eerily similar trip to say goodbye to her brother on Nanga Parbat, and to help in the search for the bodies. It’s an unforgettable story of a family who lived—and was prepared to die—for the love of scaling the icy heights of the world’s highest peaks.

Directed by Chris Terrill

US Premiere