On January 19, Kerstin Gurtner, 33, died less than 150 feet from the summit of Grossglockner in Austria. Her boyfriend, experienced mountaineer Thomas Plamberger, has been charged with leaving his struggling girlfriend to freeze to death. Now, shocking webcam footage of the fatal climb has been revealed.
Kersitn Gurtner, a native of Salzburg, Austria, described herself as a “winter child” and “mountain person” on social media. Together with her boyfriend, Thomas Plamberger, an experienced mountain climber, she was to climb the summit of Grossglockner mountain on January 19.
The mountain has an elevation of 3,798 meters (approximately 12,461 feet). The day the couple was to reach the top, the temperature was minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just 150 meters from the top, Thomas left here, allegedly left to freeze to death. Now, Plamberger is facing negligent homicide charges.
“At approximately 2:00 a.m., the defendant left his girlfriend unprotected, exhausted, hypothermic, and disoriented about 50 meters below the summit cross of the Grossglockner. The woman froze to death. 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,” according to a statement from the Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office, per NY Post.
Kersin Gurtner was left by her boyfriend to ‘freeze to death’ on mountain summit
According to the local news outlet Heute, they were stranded from 8 p.m. onward. Plumberger did not make an emergency call, nor did he give any distress signals as police helicopters flew nearby at 10.50 pm.
At 1.35 am, Plumberger called Alpine police and then put his phone on silent mode, per prosecutors. 30 minutes later, he left Kerstin Gurtner to die on the cold and icy mountain. Per the report, he even neglected to cover her with an emergency blanket.
Horror webcam footage showed the couple’s camp near the peak, the same place where Gurtner was found deceased. At 2.30 am, the camera captured Plumberger descending the mountain, with only one headlight visible, the NY Post reported. About an hour later, he reached out to emergency services.
Plumberger was charged on Thursday with grossly negligent manslaughter. The trial is expected to begin in February, and if convicted, he could spend up to three years in prison. Thomas Plumberger’s lawyer, Kurt Jelinked, maintains his client’s innocence. Per the Daily Mail, he said it was a “tragic, fateful accident.”
Rest in peace, Kerstin Gurtner
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