Up to date February 20, 2026 07:46AM
A 37-year-old Austrian alpinist was simply convicted of grossly negligent murder, after leaving his girlfriend to die on the nation’s highest peak, Grossglocker (12,461ft), throughout a botched winter ascent final yr. A single, 14-hour trial resulted in a verdict delivered after 11:00 p.m. yesterday, following a staggeringly damning testimony from a shock witness.
Thomas Plamberger, of Innsbruck, pleaded not responsible to the cost in courtroom on February 19. He confronted as much as three years in jail, however based on Austrian paper Die Presse, solely acquired a wonderful of €9,600 (roughly $11,300) and a five-month suspended jail sentence (successfully probation). The decision, nevertheless, isn’t but legally binding; Plamberger has three days to file an attraction.
The incident in query occurred on January 18, 2025, when Plamberger and his associate, 33-year-old Kerstin Gurtner, tried an in a single day ascent of the Grossglocker, through a technical ridgeline known as the Stüdlgrat (UIAA III-IV [5.4]). The prosecution detailed 9 separate errors made by Plamberger through the climb—from failing to deliver bivy gear to failing to abide by an inexpensive turnaround time—which collectively recommend a cost of gross negligence.
Accounts of what occurred on the mountain differ, however one clear fact is that Plamberger and Gurtner have been making a remarkably gradual ascent—allegedly hampered by a caught rope. Though they began their climb at 6:45 a.m., the pair had nonetheless not reached the summit lengthy after dusk, nor had they turned again.
At 10:30 p.m., as a ferocious storm descended on the mountain, alpine rescuers dispatched a helicopter to verify on the couple. Different climbers on the mountain, who bailed beneath the foul situations, had seen Plamberger and Gurtner nonetheless on-route, trying to ascend.
In response to an account of the February 19 trial in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, though the helicopter circled them six instances and tried to sign them with a highlight, Plamberger gave no misery indicators. Moreover, authorities allege he then turned his telephone on “silent,” ignoring subsequent makes an attempt by authorities (who had his telephone quantity on file from his climbing allow) to contact him.
In response to Die Presse, Plamberger claimed that when the helicopter flew over, Gurtner was wonderful, and she or he solely grew to become exhausted later, round midnight. He stated that at 12:35 p.m. after realizing the severity of the state of affairs, he known as the police to request rescue. The prosecution, whereas acknowledging that this name occurred, claimed the content material of the decision was “unclear” and that Plamberger failed to speak that there was an emergency.
“That was undoubtedly not an emergency name,” stated the rescue officer who acquired the decision, recognized in courtroom as “Mattias A.” The officer stated he subsequently tried to contact Plamberger a number of instances, each by telephone name and WhatsApp textual content message (one among which learn, “Do you want assist now or not?”) however acquired no response. “There was no indication that an emergency state of affairs existed,” he stated.
Plamberger then left his exhausted associate close to the summit in sub-zero temperatures and 45mph winds, starting to descend alone. Authorities allege his solely express name for help got here a number of hours later, at 3:30 a.m. By that time, the winds have been too violent for a rescue flight to achieve Gurtner.
Rescuers discovered her physique close to the height’s summit shortly after 10:00 a.m. the next morning. A coroner’s evaluation decided she died of hypothermia.
The “Responsibility of Care” debate
The prosecution’s case hinged on the argument that Plamberger was the extra skilled of the 2 climbers, and was due to this fact liable for Gurtner’s well-being on the mountain. The protection, in the meantime, argued that the pair, who had been courting for round a yr, constituted equal companions.
German nationwide paper Die Zeit reported that in courtroom, Plamberger did his utmost to color himself as inexperienced. He claimed he had “no alpine coaching by any means.” He recognized as a self-taught climber who had realized largely from “on-line movies.” Thus, though he stated he was “infinitely sorry” for what occurred, he argued that he was not liable for his girlfriend’s demise.
Roughly 15 witnesses and specialists have been testified through the trial, together with rescuers, and cops. Notably, Gurtner’s mom, Gertraud, additionally took the stand, and truly defended Plamberger, claiming he was not at fault.
Different witnesses, just like the alpine police officer who questioned Plamberger on the morning of January 19, when he received off the mountain, allege that on the time, Plamberger made it clear that he was appearing as a de-facto information. “He primarily confirmed that he was the one who deliberate the tour,” stated this officer, recognized as “Christian J.,” based on Die Presse.
But it surely was a shock witness who grew to become the nail within the coffin: Plamberger’s ex-girlfriend, Andrea Bergener. (Editor’s be aware: We’re unsure in regards to the appropriate spelling of Andrea’s final identify: Bergener or Bergner. Die Presse solely refers to her as “Andrea B.”)
Bergener testified that in 2023, Plamberger had additionally left her alone on an in a single day summer time ascent of the exact same peak, Die Presse reported. The pair had been arguing through the climb, and Bergener had hoped to take a shortcut to finish their journey. That’s when Plamberger went on alone.
“Then he was abruptly gone,” she recalled. “It was the nighttime, I used to be alone, I used to be on the finish of my power, I used to be yelling and screaming. He had already gone forward. That was our final mountain tour.”
The trial’s presiding decide, Norbert Hofer, can be a part-time mountain rescuer. He clearly communicated the place he believed the blame lay.
“You’re a superb mountaineer,” Hofer instructed Plamberger, per Die Presse. “However you’re additionally somebody who struggles to modify from your personal skills to the talents of others and react accordingly. The impression that was created is one among ‘going at any price.’”
All different sides of the state of affairs apart, Hofer stated that even when Plamberger really meant his 12:35 p.m. name as an express request for help, Plamberger ought to have expressed to the authorities lengthy earlier than that Gurtner had reached her restrict. “’My associate can’t proceed’ was not communicated. That’s the most basic data,” Hofer stated.
Analyzing video footage taken by the helicopter at 10:30 p.m., Hofer stated it was apparent even from this level that Gurtner was in hassle. “She’s having an extremely onerous time discovering a handhold to proceed climbing from, and discovering a foothold. In 5 minutes, she solely manages to maneuver 20 centimeters upwards in what is kind of manageable terrain.”
“I don’t see you as a assassin, not as somebody attempting to avoid wasting his personal pores and skin,” Hofer added. He stated he believed Plamberger was, in impact, what the fees state: grossly negligent. Somebody who had “misjudged the state of affairs, who tried to get assist, to assist his girlfriend … It’s extremely tragic what occurred.”
A shift in alpine legislation?
As a result of the area round Innsbruck is so mountainous, Innsbruck’s Regional Courtroom has a specialised “alpine prosecutor.” This prosecuter litigates courtroom circumstances ensuing from accidents that happen within the mountains. Robert Waller served on this function for 11 years, and is a member of the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Security. Within the days earlier than the trial, he instructed Die Presse that circumstances like Plamberger’s are extremely unusual.
“On common, now we have about 285 fatalities per yr within the mountains,” Waller defined. “However, prices of negligent murder in reference to accidents in alpine terrain are very uncommon, and convictions even rarer. You possibly can depend the fees on one hand annually. It’s extra widespread in snowboarding, however in alpine mountaineering, it’s the exception.”
Waller defined that when negligent murder convictions do happen, they virtually all the time contain guided journeys, not casual climbing partnerships, like Plamberger and Gurtner. He added that even when Plamberger and Gurtner acted as “equal companions,” they might every harbor a authorized obligation to assist and assist one another.
In response to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in an interview televised by the German Press Company, Waller stated that the decision might have a chilling impact on how climbers method journeys into the mountains in Austria.
“Many at the moment are unsure, and consider that they’re all the time liable for your entire group and should even be liable just because they’re extra certified,” Waller stated.
Severin Glaser, a professor of legal legislation on the College of Innsbruck, provided the same evaluation. “This might shift the duty for your self if you happen to’re doing one thing harmful,” he instructed The New York Occasions. “The prices of mountaineering … would possibly rise, and possibly some individuals are not prepared anymore to pay this greater value.”
It’s too quickly to say what the long-term influence of the Grossglockner verdict can be, and as famous above, Plamberger can nonetheless attraction.
But it surely appears secure to say that a minimum of in Austria, the dynamics of informal alpine mentorship could also be going through a reckoning. Climbers who as soon as freely shared their experience with much less skilled companions would possibly now should weigh the authorized dangers earlier than tying in collectively.
This can be a creating story that we are going to replace as new data turns into accessible.
