The Last Mountain tells the story of climbers Alison Hargreaves and Tom Ballard, mother and son climbers, who both perished in the Himilayas.
The Last Mountain follows Alison's daughter, Kate Ballard on a trip to say goodbye to her brother on Nanga Parbat. Using archive footage from 1995 and Tom's own extraordinary footage taken up until the days before his death, the film explores what made Tom continue his ascent with Italian climber, Daniele Nardi after the other two members of the expedition turned back.
Combining 25 years of intimate, unseen family archive with footage of the family that director, Chris Terrill, has shot in the years since Alison’s passing, the documentary tells the 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 and explores what it is that drives people to pit themselves against nature at its most ferocious and unforgiving.
Patrick Holland, Director of Factual, Arts and Classical Music at the BBC says of the film:
"This is a deeply personal, deeply moving film about an extraordinary family and their passion to live life at the extremes. We are hugely privileged to be allowed on this journey, a pilgrimage into the mountains, following Kate Ballard as she says goodbye to her brother, Tom. I’d like to thank Kate and Jim for sharing their story and Chris Terrill for making this elegiac, awe-inspiring, and haunting film."
Watch The Last Mountain on the BBC.