Saturday, December 6, 2025 - A series of webcam images has revealed the heartbreaking moment a woman was left to d!e on Austria’s highest peak after her seasoned climber boyfriend allegedly abandoned her.
The 33-year-old mountaineer from Salzburg died on the
12,460ft Grossglockner Mountain in January after setting off on a tour with her
partner, 36.
When they were just 165ft (50m) from the summit, the woman
began to struggle and was unable to continue.
The man then left his girlfriend alone on the mountain for
6.5 hours to get help. But during this time, the extreme weather claimed her
life.
Webcam footage captured the pair’s emergency lights shining brightly as they climbed at 6 p.m. on January 18. Six hours later, the lights had faded due to low batteries, and the woman’s strength had drained as well.
An image captured at around 2.30am showed the boyfriend
pushing on alone to descend to the other side of the Grossglocker, after
leaving behind his partner in the freezing snow with little equipment.
At 7.10 am, webcam footage captured a helicopter soaring
over the mountain, but the rescue mission had to be aborted due to strong
winds.
Less than three hours later, six rescuers were spotted
making their way up the mountain, but by the time they reached her, the woman
had tragically already passed away.
The boyfriend, who was an experienced climber, has been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence and is facing up to three years in prison.
'At approximately 2am, the defendant left his girlfriend
unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters below the
summit cross of the Großglockner,' said a statement from the public
prosecutor's office.
'The woman froze to de@th. 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.'
After obtaining forensic reports, evaluating mobile phones,
sports watches, pictures, and videos, and an assessment by an alpine technical
expert, the public prosecutor's office has accused the mountaineer of several
errors.
The 36-year-old allegedly did not take into account that his
girlfriend was highly inexperienced and had never undertaken an alpine
high-altitude tour of this length.
He was also accused of starting the tour around two hours
later than scheduled, while not carrying any sufficient emergency equipment.
Even when he had left his partner to get help, he allegedly
did not bring her to a wind-protected place and did not use a bivouac sack or
aluminum rescue blankets.
The boyfriend had also allowed his girlfriend to ascend the
mountain with a splitboard and soft snow boots, equipment which is deemed
unsuitable among mountaineers for a high-alpine tour in mixed terrain.
Given the harsh weather conditions with wind speeds of up to
46mph and temperatures of minus eight degrees, which felt like minus 20
degrees when combined, the defendant should have turned back earlier,
according to the public prosecutor.
Despite the severity of his girlfriend's situation, the man
has also been accused of failing to make an emergency call before nightfall.
The defendant and his girlfriend were stranded from around
8.50pm, he allegedly did not give any distress signals when a police helicopter
flew over at 10.50pm.
After several attempts by the Alpine Police to contact the
boyfriend, he finally spoke to an officer at around 00.35am.
The boyfriend's trial is set to take place on February 19,
2026, at the Innsbruck Regional Court.
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