Austrian amateur alpinist Thomas Plamberger has been given a five-month suspended sentence and fined after his girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner died of hypothermia on the Grossglockner in January 2025.
According to the Independent, Plamberger, a professional chef, was accused of a series of errors, including setting off too late, not turning back when Gurtner, 33, became exhausted near the summit and not making an emergency call earlier. He pleaded not guilty, but was unable to explain why he left Gurtner to seek help without wrapping her in her emergency blanket or bivouac bag. Rescuers discovered her frozen body several hours later. The judge, Norbert Hofer, an experienced mountaineer who serves with emergency rescue teams, decided Plamberger had not “wilfully” left his girlfriend behind, but his verdict hinged on the comparative experience of both climbers.
Hofer said that Plamberger’s skills were “galaxies” away from Gurtner’s and he could have almost certainly saved her had he taken “appropriate measures”. If you had acted differently, I strongly assume that your partner would have survived.”
The Innsbruck court also heard testimony from one of Plamberger’s previous girlfriends, Andrea Bergener, who claimed he abandoned her at night after an argument on the same mountain – Austria’s highest at 3798m – in 2023. “Suddenly, he was gone,” she said. “My headlamp had gone out. I was alone, crying and screaming. He just left me there.”
Gurtner’s mother, Gertraud, said her daughter was an experienced climber and she did not blame Plamberger for her death.