Mountaineer Charged with Negligent Homicide After Allegedly Leaving Girlfriend to Freeze to Death on Austrian Mountain By Christine Pelisek

A mountaineer has been charged with grossly negligent homicide after he allegedly left his girlfriend to die atop Austria’s tallest mountain.

Thomas Plamberger and his 33-year-old girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner were climbing Grossglockner, the second highest peak in the Alps, on Jan. 18 when she began suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion below the summit, according to the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office.

Plamberger allegedly left his girlfriend around 2 a.m. on Jan. 19 to find help — but by the time help arrived, she had frozen to death.

Prosecutors said since Plamberger, 36, “was already very experienced with alpine high-altitude tours and had planned the tour, he was to be considered the responsible guide of the tour,” according to a statement from the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office.

The Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office accused him of making several errors on the climb, including not carrying adequate emergency equipment, allowing his girlfriend — a less experienced climber — to use boots and a splitboard that were unsuitable for the conditions and terrain, and failing to make an emergency call before nightfall.

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The prosecutor’s office also said that because of the strong gale-force winds and below freezing temperatures, Plamberger should have turned back at an area known as the “breakfast spot.”

Plamberger also failed to “signal the presence of a police helicopter when it flew overhead at approximately 10:50 p.m., waiting until 3:30 a.m. to contact the rescue services,” per prosecutors.

He also allegedly failed to move his girlfriend to a sheltered area to protect her from heat loss and not giving her an available emergency blanket.

Plamberger submitted a written statement about the incident and denied any wrongdoing, per
the public prosecutor’s office.  

Plamberger paid tribute to Gurtner on since deleted Instagram posts, stating her death was “hurting so much.”

“I miss you so much. It hurts so incredibly much. Forever in my heart. Without you, time is meaningless”, he wrote on social media, per the Independent.