Climber 'left girlfriend to die' on Austrian Alps peak

A seasoned Alpine climber has been charged with manslaughter after he left his girlfriend on Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner, before she froze to death.

- SHWETA SHARMA

Thomas Plamberger and Kerstin Gurtner were just 50 metres away from the 12,460ft summit when she fell sick, suffering from exhaustion and disorientation, according to the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office.

Mr Plamberger decided to leave her at 2am on Sunday 19 January this year and descend to the nearest mountain hut to seek help, only returning six and a half hours later in the morning to find her dead.

Gurtner, 33, froze to death alone on the mountain after she was left in -8C temperatures, with winds of up to 45mph contributing to “feels like” temperatures as low as -20C.

Prosecutors undertook an 11-month investigation into the incident and examined the couple’s mobile phones, sports watches, and photographs of their climb, as well as commissioning an independent report from an Alpine mountaineering expert.

They have now charged Mr Plamberger with negligent manslaughter, arguing that he made nine key mistakes that led to Gurtner’s death, from not planning the expedition properly to failing to make contact with search teams and police.