Mountaineer charged after ‘leaving girlfriend to freeze to death’ on mountain
Tributes are pouring in for a climber who was allegedly left to freeze to death by her partner on Austria’s highest peak.
The woman who was allegedly left to freeze to death by her boyfriend near the summit of an Austrian mountain has been identified.
Kerstin Gurtner, 33, died less than 45 metres from the summit of Grossglockner mountain on January 19 — both led and left there by her experienced mountaineer beau Thomas Plamberger, the Daily Mail reported.
The Salzburg native described herself as a “winter child” and a “mountain person” in social media profiles, according to the report.
Plamberger, 39, now faces negligent homicide charges for the night-time, winter excursion that saw Gurtner, an inexperienced climber, trek in - 20 degrees conditions up toward Austria’s highest peak.
“At approximately 2am, 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.
“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,” according to a statement from the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office.
The couple were effectively stranded from 8.50pm onwards — but Plumberger did not make an emergency call or give out any distress signals when they saw a police helicopter fly nearby at 10.50pm, according to prosecutors, local outlet Heute reported.
Webcam images showed the couple’s camp near the peak of Grossglockner, where Gurtner was found dead.
Plumberger only called Alpine Police officers at 1.35am and then put his phone on silent, prosecutors alleged.
About a half-an-hour later, he left Gurtner to die on the icy mountain — even neglecting to cover her with available emergency blankets, according to the report.
At 2.30am he was spotted by a trail cam descending the mountain, with Gurtner left far behind near the summit.
Plumberger reached out to emergency services again at 3.30am, prosecutors alleged, according to the report from Heute.
Lawyer Kurt Jelinek, who represents Plumberger, maintained his client’s innocence and insisted Gurtner’s death was a “tragic, fateful accident,” according to The Daily Mail.
Tributes poured in for the inexperienced hiker on a memorial page for Gurtner.
“Rest in heavenly peace,” one commenter wrote.
“Behind the tears of grief lies the smile of remembrance,” another chimed.
Another said, “Deeply saddened to learn of this death, I wish to express my condolences. Impossible to find the right words.”
Plumberger was charged on Friday with his trial expected to kick off in February.
If convicted, he could be sent to prison for up to only three years.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post
More Coverage
Originally published as Mountaineer charged after ‘leaving girlfriend to freeze to death’ on mountain
Protesters deface Crown Jewels in wild stunt
