KERSTIN JOENSSON / AFP) (Photo by KERSTIN JOENSSON/AFP via Getty
Grossglockner mountain in the Hohe Tauern mountain range.NEED TO KNOW
A mountaineer has been charged for allegedly leaving his girlfriend alone on Austria’s highest peak, where she froze to death
The woman, 33, and her boyfriend, 39, set off for the peak of Grossglockner mountain on Jan. 18, and the woman was found dead the following morning
The man was charged with grossly negligent manslaughter in connection with the incident
A mountaineer has been charged for allegedly leaving his girlfriend alone on Austria’s highest peak, where she froze to death — and the fatal climb was caught on a webcam.
According to Austrian outlet Huete, the New York Post and the Daily Mail, a 33-year-old woman was found dead in January about 160 feet away from the summit of Grossglockner mountain, located along the main ridge of the Central Eastern Alps.
The woman and her boyfriend, 39, first set off for the 12,460-foot peak using the Studlgrat route on Jan. 18, and a local webcam — with footage publicly available online — captured their headlights as they trekked up the mountain.
At about 8:50 p.m. local time, the pair became stuck at around 165 feet from the summit, and by 10:50 p.m., rescuers began attempting to contact the 39-year-old man — though Austrian prosecutors said he had turned his phone off. The weather dropped to sub-freezing temperatures, and the winds picked up to 45 miles per hour.
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Footage shows the couple’s emergency lights glowing during their ascent at around 6 p.m. on Jan. 18.
“The defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic and disoriented about 50 meters [160 feet] below the summit cross of the Grossglockner. The woman froze to death,” prosecutors alleged on Thursday, Dec. 4, announcing that the man would be charged with grossly negligent manslaughter.
According to prosecutors, the man — who was known as a more experienced climber — then allegedly set off to find help, but did not help his girlfriend take cover from the wind or wrap her in aluminum emergency blankets.
The webcam then captured footage of a helicopter searching for the couple amid the snowy peaks, and prosecutors said police were eventually able to contact the man, though it’s unclear what was said during the phone call.
By 2 a.m., the man began hiking by himself down the mountain, leaving his girlfriend behind. Footage allegedly shows his lone headlight making its way down the mountain, and the woman’s light eventually runs out of battery.
At around 3:30 a.m., the man made contact with mountain rescue services, but then allegedly turned off his phone again.
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“He put his phone on silent and stowed it away,” prosecutors alleged.
Rescuers continued their search for the woman throughout the night, and by the time they found her at 10 a.m., she had died.
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Footage shows rescuers making their way to the peak on Jan. 19.
“Despite the woman’s inexperience, as she had never undertaken an alpine high-altitude tour of this length, difficulty and altitude, and despite the challenging winter conditions, the defendant undertook the alpine high-altitude tour to the Grossglockner via the Studlgrat with her in winter,” prosecutors said, per Huete.
“Since the defendant, unlike his girlfriend, was already very experienced with alpine high-altitude tours and had planned the tour, he was to be considered the responsible guide of the tour,” they added.
Prosecutors also accused the man of starting the tour around two hours later than scheduled, and of not bringing sufficient emergency equipment.
According to the Daily Mail, the man’s trial is set to begin in February. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.
Read the original article on People