An Austrian court has found a 37-year-old climber guilty of gross negligent manslaughter after his girlfriend died on the country’s highest mountain during a winter ascent last year.
Thomas Plamberger, a chef from Salzburg, received a five-month suspended sentence and was fined €9,400 following the death of Kerstin Gurtner, 33, in January 2025.
Tragedy on Grossglockner
The couple had been attempting to climb Grossglockner, which rises nearly 3,800 metres above sea level in the Austrian Alps. Prosecutors told the court that the pair encountered severe winter conditions near the summit.
The court heard that Gurtner was ill-equipped for the climb and became exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented. The prosecution argued that Plamberger, as the more experienced mountaineer, bore responsibility for their safety and failed to alert rescue teams promptly when difficulties arose.
It was further alleged that he made critical planning errors, including inadequate clothing and equipment for freezing conditions, and left his girlfriend secured to a rock while he descended to seek help.
Court’s observations
The verdict was delivered in Innsbruck by Judge Norbert Hofer, himself an experienced climber and mountain rescuer. The judge ruled that while Plamberger showed poor judgment, there was no evidence that he wilfully abandoned his partner.
“I do not see you as a murderer,” the judge reportedly said, acknowledging mitigating factors such as Plamberger’s clean record and the emotional loss he suffered.
Plamberger pleaded not guilty and told the court he was “endlessly sorry”, maintaining that the climb had been jointly planned and that the extreme weather had taken them by surprise.
The case has sparked intense debate within Austria’s mountaineering community about responsibility, preparedness and decision-making in high-altitude expeditions.