An Austrian mountaineer is on trial for leaving his girlfriend alone on Großglockner, the tallest peak in Austria at nearly 12,500 feet. The 37-year-old defendant, Thomas P, pleaded not guilty of gross negligent manslaughter during the emotional trial for the hypothermic death of his 33-year-old partner, Kerstin G.
The couple had set out on the morning of January 18, 2025. Wind at the base of the mountain was almost nonexistent, but picked up at higher altitudes. Problems began around 8.15 pm when a rope got caught, costing the couple a precious 90 minutes, after which Kerstin injured her hand. Conditions deteriorated, leaving the couple struggling in darkness as temperatures fell to almost 16°F, with a wind chill of -4° and gusts of up to 45 mph. .About 50 meters from the summit, Kerstin's condition dramatically worsened, leaving her exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented. At around 2:00 am, Thomas secured her to a rock with a rope and then climbed down to get assistance, leaving her alone in a state of exhaustion. He testified that he returned to her once, apparently having second thoughts about leaving her alone, but she told him to “go on your own and save your own life.” Kerstin's body was recovered after daybreak.
Prosecutors say fateful mistakes include insufficient planning, clothing and equipment, a failure to turn back despite the hostile weather conditions, and a decision not to alert rescue teams to their plight earlier in the night. They maintain that Thomas, the more experienced alpinist, was in effect the guide on a two-person tour and therefore bore responsibility for the safety of them both.
The defense argues that Kerstin was also an enthusiastic climber and physically very fit. “We always planned the tour together and took decisions jointly,” Thomas testified. “I did not lead the tour so was not in the lead role.” He added that the adverse conditions had taken them both by surprise. He said he is “endlessly sorry” his girlfriend died on the climb, and “I loved Kerstin and didn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Kerstin's mother has said she does not hold Thomas responsible for her daughter’s death and calls the charges against him a “witch hunt.” She's upset by the way her daughter, who had discovered her passion for mountain climbing during the pandemic, has been depicted. “It makes me angry that Kerstin is being portrayed as a stupid little thing,” she said. “Kerstin was in top physical condition. And she had already mastered far more difficult climbing tours, both alone and with her boyfriend.”
More than 7,000 people climb Großglockner every year, and about 200 mountaineers have died there. The life-and-death consequences of alpine mountaineering are well known to experienced climbers, as is the fact that when all other rescue options are exhausted, sometimes climbers have to abandon a teammate, lest they all die.
The 2003 documentary, Touching the Void, is about tragic events following the successful first summit of the West Face of Siula Grande in Peru in 1985. The two experienced climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, encountered difficulties on their descent, with Simpson ultimately suspended mid-air on a rope attached to Yates, who could not see or hear his partner over the howling wind. Unable to pull Simpson back up the cliff and gradually losing traction in the loose snow, Yates eventually realized he was gradually being pulled from his unbelayed position. The only option available to Yates to avoid also being pulled from the cliff himself was to cut the rope connecting him with Simpson and allow his partner to fall 150 feet to almost certain death. Amazingly, Simpson survived the fall and was able to self-rescue a return to base camp and reunion three days later with Yates.
I bring this up because Simpson says he absolutely understood Yates' decision to cut the rope, would have done the same thing himself in the same situation, and would climb with Yates again. In fact, he has - no hard feelings, no ill will. In those difficult life-and-death emergency situations that tragically come down to the death of one or the death of all, the rational decision, if all other options are exhausted, is to rescue the rescuer.
Putting aside the question of who was the guide and who is responsible for the mistakes last year on Großglockner, should Thomas have stayed on the mountaintop and froze to death along with Kerstin? It's a romantic idea, but was it not a better decision to descend for help and possibly get assistance to save her as well as himself? If you're not willing or able to confront those kind of existential, life-and death decisions, alpine mountaineering may not be the sport for you.
To be clear, though, the trial is not about whether Joseph ultimately made the right or the wrong decision at that point. It's about the responsibilities and liabilities of a "guide" and who assumes that role on non-commercial treks. A verdict to convict him of manslaughter charges could have a chilling effect on mountaineering, as someone may have to be deemed a liable party on every trek in which a death sadly occurs.
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