Boyfriend charged with leaving girlfriend to freeze to death on Austria’s highest mountain
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An experienced mountaineer is facing charges after allegedly leaving his girlfriend to succumb to the freezing conditions on Austria’s highest peak. Their tragic expedition was reportedly captured by a webcam.

The 33-year-old woman was discovered dead approximately 160 feet from Grossglockner mountain’s summit in January. She and her 36-year-old boyfriend had embarked on the challenging climb, as reported by local media outlet Huete.

The couple, whose identities have not been disclosed, were close to reaching the top of the mountain on January 19 around 2 a.m. when the woman reportedly began to struggle and was unable to continue.


Mountain climbers' emergency lights on Großglockner mountain.
Footage captured by a webcam showed the couple nearing the peak of the Grossglockner mountain in Austria back in January. foto-webcam.eu

Webcam footage showed the couple’s headlights as they navigated the mountain during their ascent.

Despite being the more experienced climber, the boyfriend allegedly left to seek help without adequately protecting his partner from the harsh elements. He reportedly did not provide her with wind shelter or wrap her in aluminum rescue blankets to shield her from the bitter cold.

“The defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters [160 feet] below the summit cross of the Grossglockner. The woman froze to death,” prosecutors said Thursday while charging the boyfriend 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 and the temperature was roughly 17 degrees.


Six rescuers seen during their ascent on Grossglockner mountain, highlighted by a red circle.
Rescue crews could be seen trekking up the mountain in the daylight where they found the woman dead. foto-webcam.eu

The boyfriend eventually made contact with emergency crews at 3:30 a.m., 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 difficult.

“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 on Thursday with grossly negligent manslaughter over his girlfriend’s demise.

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