text: Tom Ballard plans to climb K2, 20 years after his mother died descending from its peak . A climber has set his sights on the summit of K2 - the second highest mountain in the world - 20 years after his mother died attempting the same feat. Alison Hargreaves, 32, was swept to her death in 260mph winds on her descent from the Himalayan mountain in 1995. Now her son Tom Ballard, one of the world's most accomplished climbers, plans to conquer K2 himself. Mr Ballard, 26, told The Times that he saw it as his destiny to follow in his mother's footsteps. He said: 'I think it must be. At one stage I thought I would go and climb mountains for her. Then I realised that was actually a bit stupid because she had already climbed them herself. I realised I was climbing for myself. That's how I've gone on.' Last month Mr Ballard became the first to solo climb all six of the great north faces of the Alps in the winter season - and now he is training for K2. The climber was just six years old when his mother died while descending K2, which is regarded as more difficult to reach than the summit of Mount Everest, with dozens dying during attempts to reach the top. Days before her death, Mrs Hargreaves sent a fax to her son and his sister Katie. It read: 'Tom and Katie, We have arrived at our base camp. The trek was difficult — it snowed every day. The mountain I have come to climb is called K2.' Attached was a drawing of the 28,251ft mountain which would later claim her life. Mr Ballard's mother was a revered figure in the climbing world and was only the second person to climb Everest without sherpas or bottled oxygen. Alison Hargreaves (pictured with Tom and his sister Katie as children) was swept to her death in 260mph winds on her descent from the Himalalayn mountain in 1995 . K2 is regarded as more difficult to reach than the summit of Mount Everest, with dozens dying during attempts to reach the top . Mrs Hargreaves, pictured with her husband Jim and thier family, was only the second person to climb Everest without sherpas or bottled oxygen . Tragic: Mr Ballard was just six years old when his mother died on her way down from the summit of K2 . Her decision to take on dangerous climbs while raising a young family was criticised by some, but she shrugged off the flak, saying that fathers who went climbing did not face the same scrutiny. When she climbed the north face of the Eiger, in the Swiss Alps, in 1988, Mrs Hargreaves was pregnant with her son. Mr Ballard said he had clear memories of clambering over rocks as a child and had always known climbing was his calling. 'When I grew, I was always scrambling around on little rocks underneath the crags where my mum and dad climbed. A child, playing,' he said. 'At primary school I had something like an epiphany. Suddenly I decided that all I wanted to do with my life was just to climb. Since then that's pretty much all I have done.'
target: Alison Hargreaves, 32, was killed in 1995 as she descended from K2 .
  Now her son Tom Ballard plans to conquer treacherous mountain himself .
  His mother was swept to her death by 260mph winds atop the mountain .
  At 28,251ft, K2 is considered more difficult to climb than Mount Everest .