An amateur mountaineer has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of his girlfriend, whom he left behind on Austria’s highest peak after they got into difficulty during their climb. Thomas P, 37, was handed a five-month suspended prison sentence and fined €9,400 (£8,200) for causing the death of Kerstin G in January 2025.
The one-day hearing at a court in Innsbruck drew worldwide attention from the mountaineering community, as prosecutions over climbing incidents are extremely rare. Experts say the ruling sets a precedent that could influence international standards for liability in mountain sports.
The court heard that after a gruelling day in freezing conditions, Kerstin G was exhausted, suffering from hypothermia and lacked the strength to continue. They were about 50 metres below the summit of the Großglockner mountain when night fell. Thomas P left her on a ridge exposed to strong winds while he went to seek help, but failed to wrap her in an emergency blanket or place her in a bivouac bag, items later found unused in her rucksack.
A police officer who called Thomas P at 12.35am after a helicopter had been monitoring the couple said the defendant told him: 'We don’t need anything … everything’s fine.' The officer advised them to keep moving, but the call ended abruptly and subsequent attempts to contact him went unanswered. Conditions later became too dangerous for a helicopter rescue.
The prosecutor accused Thomas P of failing to live up to his role as the more experienced climber. Mistakes included failing to recognise that Kerstin G wore inappropriate footwear, neglecting weather conditions, and not turning back earlier. Data from both climbers’ smart watches documented a clear decline in their physical performance before the helicopter flew over at about 10pm.
Judge Hofer, an experienced mountaineer, ruled that Thomas P had been negligent in failing to recognise Kerstin G’s inability to complete the climb. 'I do not see you as a murderer. I do not see you as cold-hearted,' he told the defendant while delivering the verdict, accepting that he had gone to fetch help but had acted too late.
