A MAN who allegedly left his girlfriend to freeze to dying on Austria’s highest peak is being charged with manslaughter.
The 33-year-old lady was a novice at high-altitude climbing and died after being left “unprotected, exhausted and hypothermic” atop the gruelling 12,460ft Grossglockner throughout a brutal January night time.
The lady froze to dying round solely 150ft from the summit.
Prosecutors say her boyfriend, an skilled mountaineer from Salzburg, deserted her for six and a half hours in lethal chilly whereas he went for assist.
One added: “For the reason that defendant, not like his girlfriend, was already very skilled with alpine high-altitude excursions and had deliberate the tour, he was to be thought of the accountable information of the tour.”
The 36-year-old is now charged with manslaughter by gross negligence and faces as much as three years behind bars.
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Investigators say the pair battled winds as much as 46mph and bone-chilling temperatures that felt like minus 20 levels Celsius.
Regardless of that, the girl was allowed to aim the ultimate stretch with a splitboard and gentle snow boots, gear climbers name completely unsuitable for a high-alpine tour in combined terrain.
Prosecutors declare the couple had already began the ascent round two hours late and carried no correct emergency equipment.
A forensic probe adopted the tragedy, together with evaluation of telephones, sports activities watches, pictures, movies and skilled alpine assessments.
Investigators say the person ignored his accomplice’s inexperience and failed to show again lengthy earlier than darkness set in.
He’s additionally accused of not calling emergency providers earlier than dusk and of staying silent even when a police helicopter flew overhead at 10.50pm.
Officers tried repeatedly to achieve him, lastly getting by means of at 00.35am.
After that, he allegedly positioned his telephone on silent and missed additional calls.
A rescue alert didn’t exit from him till 3.30am.
By the point mountain groups reached the girl shortly after 10am, she was already useless.
Excessive winds additional prevented a helicopter rescue at daybreak.
The person’s lawyer, Kurt Jelinek, mentioned: “My shopper may be very sorry about how issues turned out.”
He added that the defence “nonetheless assumes it was a tragic, fateful accident .”
The case will go earlier than the Innsbruck Regional Courtroom on February 19, 2026, simply over a yr after the occasion.
It follows the tragic dying of a climber who suffered a damaged leg and was trapped on the 25,000ft Pobeda Peak in Kyrgyzstan.
Natalia Nagovitsyna, 47, died after ten days of failed rescue makes an attempt and horrendous climate that compelled groups to desert the mission.
Rescuer Luca Sinigaglia, 49, sadly handed whereas attempting to assist his good friend after scaling the mountain twice to take her important provides.
His dying occurred on August 15 from low oxygen and hypothermia within the Tian Shan mountain vary on the border with China.
He was taking on important provides together with a tent, sleeping bag, water, meals and a small fuel cooker.
Natalia fell and broke her leg whereas scaling Victory Peak on August 12.
