Tom Ballard (born 16 October 1988; died 24 February – 9 March 2019) was a British rock climber and alpinist, who was the first mountaineer to climb the six major alpine north faces solo in a single winter season.

[9] This was followed in 2013 by a first free ascent in winter of "Olimpia – going for gold" on Catinaccio in the Dolomites, and a new route on the Agassizhorn in the Bernese Oberland that he named "If Gengis can, we can!".

[15] He attempted the previously unclimbed North East face of Link Sar in Pakistan with Italian climber Daniele Nardi [it] in 2017 but failed to reach the top.

[6][19] The rescue attempt, which began on 28 February, involved high-altitude drones, helicopters, and mountaineers on foot, but was hampered by heavy snowfall and the military standoff between Pakistan and India.

[23] The following day, Basque climber Alex Txikon, continuing the search, spotted the outline of two bodies in the rocky part of the Mummery Spur on the mountain.