Webcam shows mountaineer allegedly leave dumped girlfriend to freeze to death
An experienced mountaineer has been charged with leaving his struggling girlfriend to freeze to death on Austria’s highest peak.
An experienced mountaineer has been charged with leaving his struggling girlfriend to freeze to death on Austria’s highest peak, with their fatal trek caught on webcam.
The 33-year-old woman was found dead roughly 160 feet (49 metres) from the summit of Grossglockner mountain back in January after she and her 36-year-old boyfriend had set off on the hike, local outlet Huete reported, per The New York Post.
The couple, who haven’t been identified publicly, were nearing the peak on January 19 at about 2am when the girlfriend apparently started struggling and couldn’t go any further.
Webcam images captured the couple’s headlights clearly visible on the side of the mountain during their ascent.
The boyfriend, who was a more experienced climber, then allegedly set off to find help – but failed to shelter his partner from the wind or wrap her in aluminium rescue blankets to protect her from the freezing temperatures.
“The defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 metres below the summit cross of the Grossglockner. The woman froze to death,” prosecutors said on Friday local time while charging the man with grossly negligent manslaughter.
“Since the defendant, unlike his girlfriend, 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.”
At the time, wind gusts were reaching speeds of 45 mph (72 km/h) and the temperature was roughly -8.3 degrees celsius.
The boyfriend eventually made contact with emergency crews at 3.30am, but then was unreachable, the prosecutors alleged.
“He put his phone on silent and stowed it away,” they said.
Prior to setting off, prosecutors said the woman had never undertaken a trek of the same altitude and difficulty.
“Despite the woman’s inexperience, as she had never undertaken an alpine high-altitude tour of this length, difficulty, and altitude, and despite the challenging winter conditions, the defendant undertook the alpine high-altitude tour to the Grossglockner via the Studlgrat with her in winter,” prosecutors said.
He was charged with grossly negligent manslaughter over his girlfriend’s death.
This story was originally published by The New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Webcam shows mountaineer allegedly leave dumped girlfriend to freeze to death
