In January, 2025, on the ridge of the Grossglockner, at an altitude of 3,798 meters, Kerstin Gurtner died of hypothermia after being left alone by her companion, just a few dozen meters from the summit. A year later, on the 19th of February, 2026, the Austrian courts ruled that the mountaineer was guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence. This was a rare ruling in mountaineering, establishing the criminal liability of an amateur climbing partner and marking a turning point in the way accidents in high mountains can be judged.
It is 11 p.m. at the Innsbruck court on the 19th of February when the verdict is handed down. Thomas Plamberger, 39, has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence for leaving his partner, Kerstin Gurtner, 33, alone on the Grossglockner ridge on the night of the 19th of January, 2025. This verdict, accompanied by a five-month suspended prison