A 37-year-old climber was found guilty on Thursday of gross negligent manslaughter in the death of his 33-year-old girlfriend on Austria’s highest peak.
Thomas P received a five-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 9,600 euros after a one-day trial in Innsbruck. The verdict, delivered yesterday, is not yet final. The man, who pleaded not guilty, told the court that he was “endlessly sorry” for what happened. (Austrian law protects the identity of those involved in criminal cases, even after conviction, in order to avoid harming privacy or rehabilitation interests. Most international media conform to Austria’s preferences and do not publish their full names.)
What happened
On January 18, 2025, Thomas P and Kerstin G set out on what should have been a demanding but achievable winter climb of 3,798m Grossglockner in the Austrian Alps. Their plan was to ascend the technically challenging Studlgrat Ridge (rated AD, UIAA III–IV in places) and descend the normal route via the Kleinglockner and Adlersruhe huts. The six-kilometer ridge involves roughly 1,000m of vertical gain and is rarely attempted in winter without a guide.
As we reported at the time of the tragedy, the couple left the parking area at 6:45 am, already about two hours later than ideal for winter. Early conditions were manageable, but winds picked up sharply as they gained altitude. By evening, the couple was high in the most exposed section of the ridge. A webcam at Adlersruhe captured their headlamps moving slowly in the darkness.
Other parties had already turned back because of the gathering storm. At around 8:15 pm, they were still pushing upward over the hardest terrain in the dark. Alpine police, alerted by concerned witnesses, tried calling the pair, but the calls went unanswered. A police helicopter flew over twice, once illuminating them with its searchlight. The couple continued climbing and gave no distress signals.
The Studlgrat route on Grossglockner. Photo: Paul Sodamin
Hypothermic, she collapsed
By midnight, they were just 50m below the summit. Kerstin, exhausted and hypothermic, could go no farther. She collapsed. According to later accounts, she urged her boyfriend to leave her and get help. The pair carried a bivy sack and thermal blanket, but neither was used. Thomas secured the woman to a rock with a sling or short rope, then he continued alone over the summit and down the normal route (the most logical path from that point; downclimbing the Studlgrat route was not suitable). He reached the Adlersruhe hut at around 3:40 am and finally called emergency services.
A rescue team of six people (two alpine police officers and four mountain rescuers) sprang into action. The helicopter could only drop them partway up, and the rest was a grueling foot approach in –6 °C temperatures and strong winds that felt far colder. When rescuers reached the woman at 10:10 am on January 19, she had already died of hypothermia. They lowered her body 600 vertical meters to a spot where the helicopter could land.
Mountain guide Peter Suntinger, who has summited the Grossglockner some 200 times, later offered a blunt assessment: “If you’re not an absolute professional climber, you should only tackle the Studlgrat in winter with a guide.” He added that leaving a partner alone in those conditions meant “the moment he left the woman alone, she was not going to make it.”
A webcam recorded the couple still ascending after dark. Photo: Kleine Zeitung
Alleged negligence
On December 4, 2025, the Innsbruck Public Prosecutor’s Office formally indicted Thomas P. The press release listed nine specific breaches of due care, arguing that as the significantly more experienced partner, he bore leadership responsibility for the outing. The breaches were:
1. Proceeding with the winter Studlgrat ascent despite his partner’s lack of comparable high-alpine experience. She had never done a climb of this length, difficulty, and elevation in winter.
2. Starting approximately two hours too late.
3. Failing to carry sufficient bivouac emergency equipment because no emergency was anticipated.
4. Allowing Kerstin G to use a splitboard and snowboard boots — unsuitable gear for technical mixed winter terrain.
5. Not turning back at the latest at the so-called Fruhstucksplatzl decision point, despite winds up to 74 kph and a windchill around –20 °C.
6. Failing to make an emergency call in good time before darkness.
7. Giving no distress signals during the police helicopter flyover, even though progress had effectively stopped hours earlier.
8. After briefly contacting a mountain policeman at 00:35 and reportedly saying everything was in order, silencing his phone and not answering further calls.
9. Leaving the woman unprotected around 2 am without moving her to the most wind-sheltered spot, without using the rescue blankets or bivy sack, and without removing her heavy backpack and splitboard.
The indictment cited a “cascade of gross errors” that, taken together, amounted to grossly negligent manslaughter, punishable by up to three years in prison. Thomas P denied any misconduct.
Rescuers on the way up in January, 2025. Photo: Kleine Zeitung
A long day in court
The trial took place yesterday, February 19, in a packed courtroom in Innsbruck. Judge Norbert Hofer, himself an experienced mountain rescuer, presided over more than 13 hours of testimony from 15 witnesses and two experts (one in alpinism, one in forensic medicine). GPS and sports-watch data, phone records, photos, videos, and the Adlersruhe webcam footage were all examined.
The accused took the stand and spoke emotionally. He told the court that the climb had been planned jointly, and that decisions were always made together.
“I didn’t lead the tour so was not in the lead role,” he said, contradicting earlier police statements in which he described himself as the organizer. He insisted the worsening wind at higher altitudes had taken them by surprise.
When asked why he had not called for help sooner, he replied: “It was an absolutely exceptional situation. Kerstin had no strength left, so I secured her to the rock with a rope and then climbed down.”
He described returning briefly to check on her and hearing her shout: “Go, go on your own and save your own life.” In a voice heavy with emotion, he added: “I loved Kerstin and didn’t want anything to happen to her…I am endlessly sorry about what happened and how it happened.”
Victim’s parents support boyfriend
The defense read a letter from the victim’s parents that strongly supported the boyfriend.
“Our daughter takes responsibility for her own actions; we can’t blame her boyfriend,” it stated. “She did mountain runs and summited mountains far more difficult than this one.”
The victim’s mother had earlier told German media that she was angry at portrayals of her daughter as inexperienced or helpless, calling the media coverage a “witch hunt.”
Prosecutors maintained that Thomas P’s greater experience created a duty of care. Experts testified that he had ignored clear turnaround points and that the decision to push on (and later to leave the woman) fell short of reasonable Alpine standards.
The defense countered that Kerstin G was a capable, independent climber who had joined demanding tours before, that a rope tangle had cost them 90 critical minutes, and that a possible viral infection had weakened her.
During the trial, there was a testimony from an ex-girlfriend, too. She stated that Thomas P had left her alone on the same mountain during a previous climb in 2023, although she survived that incident, as reported by Der Standard.
Judge Norbert Hofer during the trial. Photo: APA/EXPA/Erich Spiess via Der Standard
The verdict
Yesterday at around 10:30 pm, the judge delivered the verdict: The accused was guilty of grossly negligent manslaughter. The sentence is a five-month suspended prison term with a three-year probation, plus a fine of 9,600 euros. (In Austria, criminal fines are paid directly to the Austrian state, not to the victim’s family.)
In his reasoning, the judge emphasized that Thomas P, with his superior alpine experience, “should have recognized that her abilities were nowhere near sufficient,” according to the Tiroler Tageszeitung.
The failure to abort earlier and the decision to leave Kerstin G without adequate protection were central to the finding of gross negligence. Yet the court stopped short of accepting every one of the original nine points. Some details around the timing of calls and signals were not fully upheld. The verdict is not final, and Thomas P has the usual short window to appeal.
Grossglockner with the Studlgrat seen from the south. Photo: Thomas Neuhold/Der Standard
Intense debate
The case has stirred intense debate in mountaineering circles about leadership responsibility on private trips, where experience gaps sometimes can turn ambition into tragedy. For the broader mountaineering community, the case is already prompting quiet conversations in huts and on forums. When does a partner become a de facto leader? How honestly do we assess each other’s experience before committing to serious routes?
While the tragedy understandably drew widespread attention, the early mainstream headlines (such as “left her to die on the mountain”) were sensationalized. But the case and subsequent debate have allowed the climbing community to focus on what can be learned: clearer communication of limits, a realistic assessment of conditions, and the shared duty to turn back when the mountain says “no.”
