{"id":436999,"date":"2026-02-21T00:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436999\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:29:10","slug":"the-costs-could-rise-austria-manslaughter-ruling-could-alter-climbing-in-europe-mountaineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436999\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The costs could rise\u2019: Austria manslaughter ruling could alter climbing in Europe | Mountaineering"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision of an Austrian court to convict an amateur climber of manslaughter<\/a> after he had left his girlfriend behind to die on an Alpine peak in winter is certain to be examined closely throughout Europe.<\/p>\n

In his decision in Innsbruck, the judge, Norbert Hofer \u2013 a climber, and an expert in Austrian law relating to the mountains \u2013 ruled that the \u201cgalaxies-wide\u201d disparity in experience and skills between Thomas P and his late girlfriend Kerstin G meant he had been de facto acting as her mountain guide \u201cas a favour\u201d despite no financial arrangement having been involved.<\/p>\n

The case has drawn global media attention to what, if any, precedent it could set for climbers and mountaineers involved in accidents. An appeal against the ruling is expected.<\/p>\n

While professional mountain guides in many jurisdictions belong to certified bodies and can be held legally responsible for negligence in serious cases, and similarly for adults leading activities with minors, Hofer\u2019s ruling suggests a novel and potentially complex duty of care: between more experienced and more novice participants in mountain sports.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the case was Thomas P\u2019s decision to climb a high-altitude, mixed snow and rock route on the 3,798-metre (12,461ft) Gro\u00dfglockner in poor weather with insufficient safety equipment, as well as errors of decision making, including failing to turn back late at night below the summit when it would have been safe to do so.<\/p>\n

The prosecution\u2019s argument, accepted in part by the judge, was that Thomas P had made nine separate mistakes, the most serious being to take Kerstin G on the climb despite her inexperience and the fact she had never undertaken an alpine tour of this length, difficulty and altitude, and despite the challenging winter conditions.<\/p>\n

The court heard Thomas P had left his girlfriend alone and exposed in the open and pushed on alone, apparently believing he could secure assistance from a hut on the other side of the mountain. He had declined the offer of assistance from a rescue helicopter that had been sent to see if they required help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou haven\u2019t been convicted because you\u2019re [the] better [climber],\u201d Hofer told Thomas P, rather it was because he had met the threshold for what the court believed was \u201cguiding out of courtesy\u201d and the duties that involved. \u201cYou did not fulfil the leadership responsibilities you assumed in the manner required of you by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Hofer\u2019s ruling has a wider impact will depend on how it is seen in different jurisdictions with varying attitudes to regulation in the mountains, including how police investigate fatal accidents.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Austria\u2019s Kurier newspaper<\/a>, Andreas Ermacora, a former head of the Austrian Alpine Club, which is a major provider of mountaineering insurance throughout Europe, was sceptical the ruling would have a major impact. \u201cI don\u2019t think so, because every story is so unique. [But] it is perhaps groundbreaking that this is the first time in Austria that someone has been convicted as an unqualified guide,\u201d said Ermacora, a lawyer who has represented professional guides involved in accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crucial point was that it was clear the woman would never have gone up there alone. For a mixed ice and rock climb like that in winter, you really need to know what you\u2019re getting into. And I don\u2019t think she knew that at all. He, on the other hand, had been up there several times before. She transferred her responsibility to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where that becomes complicated, however, is that the main way in which many aspirant mountaineers gain skills is through the mentorship of more experienced partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that struck me was the big disparity in experience between the two,\u201d said John Cousins, a British mountain guide and chief executive of Mountain Training, which runs training schemes for mountain activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all on a continuum of experience. If someone is an absolute novice they can only be looked after. But once you get a way along that continuum, in my mind as a mountain guide, it very definitely becomes a negotiation. You want to be constantly checking in with the other person to see how it is going for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Checks would include whether the less experienced person was still within their comfort zone, and whether the more experienced climber might feel out of their depth, even if they say they are not. The latter issue was prominent in reporting around Kerstin G\u2019s death last year and in the case itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of a precedent,\u201d said Cousins. \u201cBut I also don\u2019t believe anyone goes into the mountains with a court in mind in the event of an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where it may have an impact, some observers suggest, is around whether some amateur climbers could feel nervous about being seen as responsible for a less experienced companion, a point made by Severin Glaser, a professor of criminal law at the University of Innsbruck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could shift the responsibility for yourself if you\u2019re doing something dangerous,\u201d he told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cThe costs of mountaineering, the costs of expressing your freedom might rise, and maybe some people are not willing any more to pay this higher price.\u201d<\/p>\n

A final issue apparent to climbers is the sometimes complicating issues of climbing partnerships where those involved are in a relationship, a situation where \u2013 regardless of gender \u2013 the dynamics of the need for approval or vulnerability can creep in.<\/p>\n

It is an issue coincidentally discussed in the current issue of Climbing magazine<\/a> by the climber Alice Hafer, on why she had decided not to climb with her \u201csignificant other\u201d after a frustrating climb. \u201cI looked back on \u2026 situations like this one and saw that I often deflected decisions to my partner and avoided empowering myself towards my own goals. Climbing, a place where I usually excelled, became tainted by the context of a relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decision of an Austrian court to convict an amateur climber of manslaughter after he had left his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-436999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}