They said he attempted the trip even though his girlfriend had “never undertaken an Alpine tour of this length, difficulty, and altitude, and despite the challenging winter conditions”.<\/p>\n
They also allege he started out two hours too late and had failed to take “enough emergency bivouac equipment”.<\/p>\n
He also “allowed his girlfriend to use… snowboard soft boots, equipment that is not suitable for a high-altitude tour in mixed terrain”, say prosecutors.<\/p>\n
The defendant disputes this. In a statement, his lawyer Karl Jelinek, said the couple had planned the tour together.<\/p>\n
“Both considered themselves… to be sufficiently experienced, adequately prepared, and well equipped,” he said. Both had “relevant Alpine experience” and were “in very good physical condition”.<\/p>\n
Once on the mountain, prosecutors say the man should have turned back, when it was still possible, because of strong winds of up to 74km\/h (45mph), and the winter cold. It was -8C, with a windchill temperature of -20, they said.<\/p>\n
The couple did not turn back.<\/p>\n
Accounts of what happened next differ.<\/p>\n
According to the defendant’s lawyer, they reached a place called Fr\u00fchst\u00fccksplatz at 13:30 on 18 January, the point of the tour after which there was no turning back before the summit.<\/p>\n
As neither of them was “exhausted or overwhelmed, they continued on”, Karl Jelinek said.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say the couple got stuck at about 20:50 and that the man failed to call the police and did not send any distress signals when a police helicopter flew overhead at around 22:50.<\/p>\n
The boyfriend’s lawyer said at that point his client and girlfriend still felt fine and did not call for help as they were close to the summit.<\/p>\n