Austrian Mountaineer Charged with Manslaughter After Girlfriend Freezes to Death 150ft from Grossglockner Summit
INNSBRUCK, Austria, Dec 7, 2025 (BNN Web Staff) –
A 39-year-old experienced climber from Salzburg faces up to three years in prison after being charged with manslaughter by gross negligence for allegedly abandoning his 33-year-old girlfriend to die of hypothermia just 150 feet (45 metres) below the summit of Grossglockner, Austria’s highest peak at 12,460ft (3,798m).
The tragic incident occurred in January 2025 during brutal winter conditions on the mountain. Prosecutors say the woman – described as a complete beginner in high-altitude mountaineering – was left “exhausted, hypothermic and completely unprotected” for more than six hours while her boyfriend descended alone to seek help.
According to court documents and police reports:
- The couple started their ascent two hours late and were severely under-equipped for winter conditions on one of Europe’s most dangerous peaks.
- The woman was wearing soft snow boots and a splitboard – gear suitable for snowboarding, not technical alpine climbing in ice and rock.
- They encountered 46 mph (75 km/h) winds and wind-chill temperatures as low as −20°C (−4°F).
- Despite clear signs of her exhaustion and the rapidly deteriorating weather, the man pressed on toward the summit.
- When she could no longer continue, he left her exposed on the ridge and descended alone, failing to call mountain rescue until 3:30 a.m.
- He allegedly **put his phone on silent, missing multiple incoming calls from emergency services.
- Rescue teams only reached the woman around 10 a.m. the following morning; she had already succumbed to hypothermia. High winds prevented an earlier helicopter evacuation.
Investigators emphasised that the 39-year-old, an experienced alpine climber, had planned the entire trip and effectively acted as the guide. Austrian law places a higher duty of care on the more experienced partner in such situations, making him criminally responsible for her safety.
“The accused ignored all objective danger signs, continued the tour despite his partner’s obvious inexperience and lack of equipment, and delayed the emergency call for help for hours,” the prosecutor’s office stated.
The defendant’s lawyer described the incident as “a tragic mountain accident” and insists his client did everything possible under the circumstances. He argues that the extreme conditions made an immediate rescue impossible for anyone.
The trial is scheduled to begin on 19 February 2026 at Innsbruck Regional Court.
The case comes just weeks after another high-profile alpine tragedy: Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, 47, died on Kyrgyzstan’s 7,439m Pobeda Peak when ferocious storms pinned rescue teams down for days.
Mountain rescue services across the Alps have since renewed warnings about the combination of inexperienced climbers, inadequate gear and late starts in winter can turn deadly within hours – even metres from the summit.
