Climber convicted after girlfriend freezes to death on Austrian mountain
Man gets a suspended sentence and a fine for girlfriend’s death during a climb on the country’s highest mountain
An Austrian court late on Thursday found a 37-year-old amateur mountaineer guilty of manslaughter over his girlfriend’s death of cold near Austria’s highest summit after he left her to fetch help when she could not go on.
The case is unusual because while climbing accidents are common, prosecutions over them were rare, even in situations like this one where a series of mistakes were made.
The court in the western city of Innsbruck handed the Austrian man a five-month suspended prison sentence and a €9,400 (US$11,100) fine for causing her death in January 2025 by gross negligence, an offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of three years.
The trial has raised questions about the extent of legal liability in the high mountains, an inherently dangerous environment that climbers generally explore at their own risk.