A 36-year-old experienced mountaineer from Salzburg will stand trial next year after prosecutors say he abandoned his struggling girlfriend on Austria’s tallest mountain, leading to her death from hypothermia.
The 33-year-old woman died on Grossglockner mountain in January after the couple embarked on a climbing expedition together.
The mountain reaches 12,460 feet in elevation.
When the pair reached a point just 165 feet below the summit, the woman began experiencing serious difficulties and could not go any further.
Her boyfriend then made the decision to leave her alone on the mountainside for six and a half hours while he attempted to seek assistance.
The woman died from extreme cold during his absence.
Webcam footage from the mountain documents the tragic sequence of events.
Images captured at 6 p.m. on Jan. 18 show the emergency lights from both climbers glowing as they made their way up the peak.
Six hours after that initial sighting, the lights started to fade as batteries ran low and the woman’s physical condition deteriorated.
Around 2:30 a.m., webcam images captured the boyfriend continuing his descent alone on the opposite side of Grossglockner.
His partner remained behind in freezing snow with minimal gear, the Daily Mail reported.
A helicopter appeared over the mountain at 7:10 a.m., visible on webcam footage. However, rescue crews had to call off their mission because wind conditions made it too dangerous to proceed.
Nearly three hours later, six rescue workers were spotted climbing toward the woman’s location.
When they reached her, she had already succumbed to the cold.
The public prosecutor’s office has now completed its investigation and filed charges against the boyfriend for manslaughter by gross negligence.
If convicted, he could receive up to three years in prison.
“At approximately 2am, the defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters below the summit cross of the Großglockner,” the prosecutor’s statement read.
“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.”
Prosecutors examined forensic evidence, mobile phone data, sports watch information, photographs, videos and consulted with an alpine technical expert before bringing charges.
According to the charges, the boyfriend made multiple critical errors.
Prosecutors allege he failed to account for his girlfriend’s inexperience, as she had never attempted a high-altitude alpine tour of this difficulty or duration before.
The couple also reportedly began their climb approximately two hours behind their planned schedule.
The boyfriend allegedly did not pack adequate emergency equipment for the expedition.
When he decided to leave his partner to get help, prosecutors say he did not move her to a location protected from wind.
He also allegedly failed to provide her with a bivouac sack or aluminum rescue blankets.
Weather conditions that day included wind speeds reaching 46 miles per hour and temperatures of minus eight degrees.
With wind chill, conditions felt like minus 20 degrees. Prosecutors argue the boyfriend should have turned back much earlier given these harsh circumstances.
Despite his girlfriend’s dire situation, the man is accused of not placing an emergency call before darkness fell.
The couple became stranded around 8:50 p.m.
When a police helicopter flew overhead at 10:50 p.m., the boyfriend allegedly did not signal for help.
Alpine Police made several attempts to reach the boyfriend throughout the night.
He finally spoke with an officer at approximately 12:35 a.m. The specifics of their conversation have not been disclosed.
After that call, the boyfriend did not reach out to rescue services again. He reportedly silenced his phone and put it away, missing subsequent calls from Alpine Police.
Kurt Jelinek, the defense attorney representing the boyfriend, released a statement saying: “My client is very sorry about how things turned out.”
The lawyer maintains his client’s position that the incident was “a tragic, fateful accident.”
The trial is scheduled to begin on February 19, 2026, at the Innsbruck Regional Court.
