Woman froze to loss of life on the Großglockner: boyfriend sentenced to 5 years probation | EUROtoday

As of: February 20, 2026 • 3:37 a.m

He left his girlfriend behind on a mountain tour on the Großglockner – and he or she froze to loss of life there. For this, a 37-year-old mountaineer was sentenced by a courtroom in Innsbruck to a five-month suspended sentence and a tremendous.

After a younger lady died from freezing on the Großglockner in Austria, her boyfriend and climbing companion was convicted of grossly negligent murder. The decide on the Innsbruck regional courtroom imposed a five-month suspended sentence and a tremendous of 9,400 euros.

The 33-year-old lady and her now 37-year-old boyfriend climbed the very best mountain in Austria in January 2025. The fully exhausted lady died that night time in icy winds slightly below the three,798 meter excessive summit whereas the person tried to get assist.

At Weather change reacted incorrectly

The decide justified his verdict as follows: The skilled alpinist had not taken under consideration the truth that his girlfriend had not beforehand performed such difficult mountain excursions within the winter. “She walked until she died,” he stated. Finally she was simply crawling on all fours.

The defendant additionally supplied his girlfriend with inappropriate tools, the decide added.

He did not react correctly on the mountain when the climate acquired worse and his girlfriend was barely capable of make any progress. He did not cease the tour in time. The decide additionally emphasised the tragic element of this case, which was adopted by many worldwide journalists. “No judgment in the world will bring their friend back,” he stated.

At the start of the trial, the defendant addressed the decide with an emotional assertion. He wished to say “that I’m incredibly sorry for what happened and how it happened.” However, he pleaded not responsible earlier than the Innsbruck regional courtroom.

Girlfriend stayed slightly below the summit

The public prosecutor accused the person of leaving his companion “unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented” slightly below the summit that night time.

From the prosecutor’s perspective, the alpinist made quite a lot of severe errors. The public prosecutor spoke of insufficient planning and tools, of a failure to show again regardless of icy winds, and of the emergency companies being alerted a lot too late at night time.

Ex-girlfriend makes severe allegations

An ex-girlfriend of the defendant testified that he as soon as left her alone on one other route on the Großglockner as a result of she was shifting too slowly and since the 2 had argued in regards to the route. “Then all of a sudden he was gone,” she stated. “It was the middle of the night, my headlamp went out, I was at the end of my strength,” stated the witness.

The defendant emphasised within the trial that his girlfriend, who died on the Großglockner in early 2025, was additionally an enthusiastic mountaineer and really sporty. “We always planned the tour together and made decisions together,” stated the 37-year-old.

Defendant taught himself mountaineering

The man had intensive expertise with demanding alpine mountain excursions. However, he didn’t purchase his information in programs, however immediately on the mountain and thru on-line movies. His girlfriend additionally traveled so much within the mountains, however she had little expertise with excessive alpine excursions in winter, because the decide emphasised.

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/oesterreich-grossglockner-prozess-urteil-100.html