A mountain climber who left his girlfriend to freeze to death atop Austria’s highest peak has said the tragedy left him “hurting so much” in a series of online posts.
Thomas Plamberger, 36, attempted to scale the peak of Grossglockner with his girlfriend, 33-year-old Kerstin Gurtner, back in January.
But Gurtner, an inexperienced climber, became exhausted and unable to move approximately 150 feet from the mountain’s summit, prompting Plamberger to leave her alone to battle “challenging winter conditions,” including gale-force winds of up to 45 mph and temperatures of -17°F for over six hours, while he allegedly went to get help.
Gurtner, who did not have proper climbing equipment, froze to death atop the mountain in his absence, prompting prosecutors to accuse Plamberger of manslaughter by gross negligence, claiming he failed to act as a responsible guide and instead left his girlfriend “unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented,” in the extreme cold.
Plamberger, who denies the charges, has called the incident a “tragic, fateful accident,” and insists he only left his girlfriend atop the summit to get help. In the days following her death, he wrote, “I miss you so much. It hurts so incredibly much. Forever in my heart. Without you, time is meaningless” on social media, and co-signed the obituary her parents wrote, Bild reports.
An 11-month investigation into the incident, which saw prosecutors examine the couple’s mobile phones, sports watches, and photographs, accused Plamberger of making a series of critical errors that led to his partner’s death.
The couple began their ascent of the mountain at around 6 p.m. on January 18, setting off two hours later than advisable. Chilling webcam footage from the nearby Adlersruhe refuge shows the two climbers’ headlamps as they continue their climb, but six hours later, the lights begin to dim as Gurtner’s strength gives out.
An image captured at 2:30 a.m shows Plamberger’s light starting to move on its own as he attempts to push on to the other side of the mountain and begin his descent. At this point, he is believed to have called for assistance, but became unreachable after putting his phone on silent and failed to give a distress signal when a police helicopter flew overhead.
Strong winds prevented a helicopter from reaching the summit until 10 a.m the next day, at which point Gurtner had already frozen to death. Further examination of the scene revealed that the victim was “poorly equipped” for the climb, with Gurtner wearing soft snowboard boots instead of mountaineering footwear, and Plemberger failing to secure a windproof location or to provide her with rescue blankets before leaving her atop the summit.
Plamberger’s trial is scheduled to begin in February. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.
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