HIS first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger was completed whilst he was still in the womb, so perhaps it is no surprise that Tom Ballard has earned a place in history by repeating the feat as an adult.

His mother, legendary climber Alison Hargreaves, successfully scaled the peak whilst six months pregnant with him.

Twenty years after his mother's death, Ballard, who grew up in Fort William but now lives in the Swiss Alps, has repeated the climb.

In doing so, he became the first person to complete solo climbs of all six of the so-called classic North Faces of the Alps in winter.

The project, named Starlight and Storm, involved Ballard climbing Cima Grande di Lavaredo, Pizzo Badile, Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, Petit Dru and the Eiger, in one season and without the help of a support team.

The 26-year-old set off on his challenge on December 21 and completed the last of his six climbs - the Eiger - on Saturday.

He said that he hoped his mother would have been proud of him. "I think she would have been, yes," he said.

He acknowledged that his mother's passion was a great influence on him as he spoke about the moment he knew that he wanted to follow in her footsteps

"One day when I was in primary school, I was about 10 or 11, I was lining up to go back in the classroom and I suddenly realised that what I wanted to do with my life was just to climb. And that's pretty much what I've done since then."

His mother completed the same six great north faces of the Alps in the summer before her death.

Before he set off last December, Ballard said: "I was with her during that period. Unconsciously that is where this scheme must have been born. Some of her energy and passion for this project must have been transferred to me."

Hargreaves was part of a group of seven climbers, all of whom perished while descending K2 in 1995 after being swept to their deaths by 260mph winds. Her body was never found.

Her death came months after she became the first woman to make it to the summit of Everest alone, unsupported and without artificial oxygen.