Tom Ballard Visiting Rockies for Mixed
Tom Ballard, the strong U.K. climber who established A Line Across the Sky D15 in Italy, is visiting the Canadian Rockies for some hard mixed climbing.
So far, he’s climbed two test-piece mixed routes. The first being Man Yoga, a now-classic 250-metre M8 up the Stanley Headwall. First climbed by Jon Walsh and Jonny Simms in 2011, Ballard climbed it this week with local crusher and Jon Lauchlan Award Recipient Alik Berg.
In the Ghost River Valley, Ballard teamed up with Simon Parsons for a lap of Nophobia M10 next to Cryophobia WI5+.
Nophobia is a five-pitch climb established by Will Gadd, Will Mayo, Pat Delaney and John Freeman. It first went at M9, M10+, M8, M9 and M8 WI4.
In December 2014 Jen Olson and Raphael Slawinski made the second ascent and both sent. In 2015, Katie Bono and Sarah Hueniken climbed it.
As well did Damian Granowski and Jędrzej Jabłoński. They graded it M9, M10, M7, M9 and M7+ (+ WI4 if there is ice). Then two weeks later, Tim Emmett and Klemen Perl nearly flashed it.
Tom Ballard was born in the Peak District of England in 1988 before moving to Scotland in 1995.
He started climbing young and rose to fame in 2014/15 when he soloed the six great north faces of the Alps defined in Rebuffat’s Starlight and Strom.
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