TL:DR – “Climber ‘Abandoned’ Girlfriend on Mountain; Similar Act with Ex Revealed”
- A climber, Thomas Plamberger, faces manslaughter charges after his girlfriend, Kerstin Gurtner, 33, died on Grossglockner due to allegedly being left alone in extreme conditions.
- Gurtner was declared “exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented” when found 150ft from the summit.
- Plamberger’s past of similar behaviour towards a former girlfriend was discussed in court.
- Prosecutors argue he lacked adequate safety precautions and left Gurtner improperly equipped for the challenging climb.
Climber who ‘abandoned’ girlfriend on top of mountain did the same to ex | News World
A climber on trial for allegedly abandoning his girlfriend on Austria’s tallest mountain has been accused of doing the same thing to his previous girlfriend.
Kerstin Gurtner, 33, died in the pitch-black on 12,640ft Grossglockner on a night when temperatures plunged to -20C in January last year.
Thomas Plamberger, her 39-year-old boyfriend, now faces a charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.
A letter his brother allegedly received from an ex-girlfriend was read out to the court.
In the letter, the woman wrote that Plamberger had ‘left her in a desperate situation’ during an argument about the difficulty of the climb on the same mountain.
His brother told the court after being asked if he could see his brother leaving Gurtner to die, ‘I never saw him in such a situation.’
Kurt Jelinek, representing Plamberger, claimed Kerstin shouted at him to ‘Go!’, after he spent more than an hour with her in freezing conditions.
Webcam images allegedly show him climbing alone at 2.30am.
Footage shows the lights of the two climbers glowing at around 6pm (Picture: Webcam)
But a rescue alert was not issued until 3.30am with fierce winds stopping helicopters from reaching her.
Judge Norbert Hofer said Plamberger’s account did not align with how Kerstin’s body was found on the mountainside at 10am.
The judge showed a photograph of Kerstin hanging freely from the rock face – indicating that she had fallen, he said.
Plamberger claimed he had left her at a different location.
The head of the mountain rescue team said that it appeared Kerstin had tried to climb down the mountain by herself.
Prosecutors say Plamberger left Gurtner ‘unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented’ and that, as an experienced climber, he was the ‘responsible guide of the tour’.
Plamberger has denied the allegations, saying through his lawyer that he left her to get help in what was a ‘tragic, fateful incident’.
Hundreds of tributes have poured in for Gurtner since her death, with people remembering the ‘wonderful’ woman.
The couple started climbing Grossglockner, in the nation’s central-west, on January 19, with prosecutors saying they set off two hours later than planned.
Gurtner was left ‘exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented’ and alone on the night she died, according to prosecutors (Picture: Instagram)
Gurtner was not as experienced as her boyfriend in high-altitude mountaineering and would have been reliant on his expertise, according to prosecutors (Picture: Instagram)
Harsh weather conditions, including wind speeds of up to 46mph, would have made the -8°C temperature feel more like -20°C.
Chilling webcam footage of the mountain showed the climbers’ lights glowing at around 6pm.
The pair were stranded from around 8.50pm. Hours later, only one light can be seen moving away, with Plamberger leaving her at 2am.
Mountain rescue teams in helicopters found Gurtner dead at 10am, just 150ft below the summit.
They had tried to descend earlier in the morning but weather conditions prevented them.
He is accused of not making enough effort to contact emergency services before nightfall and of not making a distress signal when a police helicopter flew overhead at 10.50pm.
Prosecutors also say the couple were poorly equipped – with Gurtner wearing snowboard soft boots instead of proper hiking footwear.
They argue he did not put her in a wind-sheltered place, use aluminum rescue blankets or a ‘bivvy bag’ – a waterproof-covered sleeping bag – to keep her warm when he left her.
Thomas Plamberger, who has been accused of not taking adequate safety precautions for the hike, said through his lawyers it was a ‘tragic, fateful incident’ (Picture: Facebook)
Footage shows a rescue helicopter descending on the mountain the next morning at around 10am (Picture: Webcam)
He is also accused of starting the tour around two hours later than scheduled and not carrying the right emergency equipment.
In a statement, Innsbruck prosecutor’s office said: ‘At approximately 2am, the defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters 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.’
They added he did not properly consider that his girlfriend had never attempted an alpine high-altitude tour of this length.
According to amateur mountaineers writing online, Grossglockner is a challenging ascent requiring ropes, crampons, and ice axes.
The usual route forces climbers to cross a glacier – treacherous bodies of ice known for their hidden crevasses.
A funeral notice for Gurtner posted online last January said: ‘Our lives are in God’s hands; if it is His will, then do not grieve for me. But remember me with love.’
If convicted, he could be jailed for up to three years. The trial continues.