Man left his girlfriend to freeze to death

[Trevordidit]

Man left his girlfriend to freeze when she was struggling on a mountain hike.

He's been found guilty of manslaughter.

So many aspects of his account don't make sense - AIBU to wonder if he did it on purpose?

News article

I think she should have used the blanket hours before when they realised they were stuck and she started to get cold.
They were in her backpack and she was at that time capable of using them.

Kerstin had a hand injury. She was totally reliant on her lead climber who should have done everything to help her. Instead Thomas P tied her to a rock in an exposed place without putting a blanket and bivvy on. It was exposed because Kirsten's frozen body was found hours later the following day.

Why are you intent on victim blaming Kerstin? @Tacohill

Thomas P was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Staggering and it was at least his second attempt. Seemingly targeting sporty, extremely capable women. Hope the vague international anonymity he’s granted doesn’t lead to more women being harmed.

Fair point but the courts acknowledged the extreme conditions and how they should have turned back around.

We are all sat in our warm homes saying what we would have done in hindsight.

It doesn’t take much intelligence to understand that being trapped in freezing conditions, exhausted and hungry with low phone battery may cause people to not think straight.

Some posters are saying he shouldn’t have left her - but then they’d both be dead.
He waited for 2 hours before leaving her.

Some posters are saying he should have rang when he was with her - he did.

Some posters are saying he shouldn’t have turned his phone on airplane mode - but his battery was dying and he’d already called the rescue by then. Does he leave it to completely die or try and save the battery.

Some posters are saying he shouldn’t have gone up but gone back down the way he came - this would have been more dangerous and slower. He also went to the shelter to find help first.

The courts acknowledged that he was trying to help her and there was no sign of anything intentional (like many posters are implying).

But I agree there were many mistakes made which is why I agree with the sentencing.

No it was manslaughter by gross negligence.

People below had reported the incident
10pm onwards -Rescue attempted to call him but his phone is turned off
10.50 - a rescue helicopter was overhead them but he turned his back and failed to signal
12.35 He made a garbled call but then turned his phone off again thereby delaying the rescue when mountain recue attempted to get a location
2,00 am - leaves gf but fails to put her into bivouac bag that they had with them to attempt to keep her warm
3.30am - finally turns phone on and calls mountain rescue
7.10 helicopter returns but is forced to abort in storm winds
10.00 rescuers ascend mountain and find her dead

I think she should have used the blanket hours before when they realised they were stuck and she started to get cold.
They were in her backpack and she was at that time capable of using them.
But I also agree that he should have forced her to put the blanket on before he left her, even if she didn’t want them or said she could do it herself.
And he especially should have used them if she was in capable of doing it herself.

Why are you only quoting part of my posts to fit your own narrative??

I have said that he should have forced her or put the blanket on himself if she was incapable.

I am also maintained my opinion that I agree with the judges opinion and sentence.

How do you explain him abandoning 2 different women in dangerous conditions on mountains?

"The presiding judge, Norbert Hofer, an experienced mountaineer, ruled that the defendant had been negligent in failing to recognise that Kerstin G would be unable to complete the climb well before the two ran into difficulty."

From the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/20/austria-climber-convicted-manslaughter-girlfriend-kerstin-g-grossglockner-mountain

Never once did the judge say that it was a misjudgement. If you can support your assertion then please support with a link from your warm home.

“Mr. Plemberger, you have borne an incredible burden — you lost a person,” he said. “You are an excellent alpinist, but someone who finds it very difficult to make the switch between your own limits and those of others.”

“The victim was galaxies away from you in terms of high-Alpine skills,” Hofer told him. “Had you acted differently, I strongly assume that your partner would have survived.”

“‘My partner can’t continue’ was not communicated — that is the most fundamental information,” Judge Hofer said. “Then the strategy changes — a position sheltered from wind, take out blankets — as a mountaineer you must know that.”

All direct quotes. That is more than misjudgment, it is a failure to acknowledge that Ms Gurtner was not able to continue and that they were supposed to be climbing together. Ultimately she was holding him back from reaching the summit.

The judge, Norbert Hofer, himself an experienced climber who works with mountain and helicopter rescue teams in Tyrol, said Thomas P was an excellent Alpinist, but that his girlfriend was light-years behind him in terms of her climbing abilities.
He said the couple should have turned back as Kerstin G did not have enough experience in winter conditions.
Although the judge decided Thomas P had misjudged the situation, he said he had not left her behind "wilfully": "I don't see you as a murderer, I don't see you as cold-hearted."

Yes it was manslaughter by gross negligence which I agree with.

But the judge also said that it wasn’t a case of being cold hearted or a murderer or leaving her behind wilfully - and that it was a misjudgment.

I’m not sure how you can disagree when you can find the judges quotes in any of the articles.

Does anyone know what his excuse was for ignoring the helicopter and not calling/signalling at that point? That seems a critical moment to me and shows intention. Surely a 10pm rescue would have been the difference between life and death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0k1xkllknmo

10.50 - a rescue helicopter was overhead them but he turned his back and failed to signal

I think it's a problem when there are two people relying on one to do the right thing.

It's a shame they couldn't have been "forcibly rescued".

This case reminds me of an article I read years ago about a woman and her child who was stranded in quicksand and rapidly going under whilst walking back from a beach with her husband.

He stood there looking at her and began to turn away. A stranger, male, raced up to pull her and her child out but didn't stay.

She did leave him and had to go to court to fight against him wanting 50% access to their child - she won.

Some men are dangerous and others are not.

He claimed that they were not in trouble at that point.

Again something that no one can prove otherwise.

I think he thought the blizzard would pass or that they could cope and didn’t want to be seen as having to be rescued.

At least it's sadly apparent that he'll have no problem finding a new girlfriend to enjoy winter hikes with.

I think people are ignoring the fact that in areas with lack of oxygen people don't think and behave rationally. I'm surprised he was convicted. I think it was common knowledge that mountaineers have to leave people behind if the choice is that they all die or at least one of them survives. Many people were left behind in the mountains and no one was questioned about it.

Climbing the Grossglockner on a February night is absolute madness though. I don't know what they were thinking.

"Although the judge decided Thomas P had misjudged the situation, he said he had not left her behind "wilfully": "I don't see you as a murderer, I don't see you as cold-hearted.""

There's no quote to say that the judge thought Thomas P had misjudged the situation. The rest is of course what is acknowledged on this thread.

Nevertheless Thomas P has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. Do you agree with the latter?

I agree with this but I think the issue here was that he impeded rescue by turning his phone off and refusing to signal the rescue helicopter

I get that. Many left to die on Everest.

But his behaviour seems to go way beyond?

And he was convicted because in this situation he had better alternatives.

He shouldn’t have got to the point where leaving her to freeze to death was the only option.

He claimed that they were not in trouble at that point.

But if it was 10pm & they had gone over schedule wouldn't that be the very definition of "in trouble"?

There was no blizzard conditions that night. It was exceptionally windy leading to extreme wind chill. Kirsten's body was frozen when found hours later.

Only two people know what really happened, and one of them is dead.

It was January 2025.