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

Reminds me of something that happened years ago with my abusive ex. We had a 6 month old baby and were both really outdoorsy. Not exactly mountain climbers but keen hillwalkers and well kitted out.

We had our first holiday with baby and ex suggested a walk that was about an hour total. I was concerned it was a bit much because for various reasons but he insisted it was flat, we'd take it easy, he'd carry baby etc.

About 40 mins in it was obviously going to take longer. We had a bit of a bicker and he suggested I wait while he 'pop round the corner' to the part he really wanted to see. It was a sunny day, not too hot so I agreed to sit and wait to recover and feed baby. He said he'd be 10 mins.

He was gone over an hour. He had our bag with all the kit and I didn't have mobile signal. It was a popular walk with lots of people passing so thankfully I was perfectly safe but it was the first time I realised he absolutley didn't care about us. I could totally see him doing something similar.

Yes - and he had previously abandoned a different gf in the dark on the same climb after she complained the climb was too difficult for her.

Personally I think he was determined to reach the summit for himself and was deliberately blind to the risks it created for the less experienced. Then neglected to call for help or acknowledge rescuers before he had made it to the top

Agree this is most likely
perhaps with a bit of altitude sickness thrown in (like stropping off drunk on a night out).

making shelter and contacting rescue services is the logical thing to have done.

However in this case Thomas P said he felt guilty so returned to Kerstin and also said she told him to save himself and carry on. It was a clear recollection of events in his mind. Maybe that didn't happen because of the'fever'. But if that's the case, then his whole testimony is called into question.

There's testaments to the onlookers, his car parked, the helicopter sent out in windy conditions, the camcorder and the phone calls to emergency plus subsequent failure to respond.

Also he survived and Kirsten didn't.

He’d seemingly already fallen foul of it less than two years prior when he abandoned a different gf there at night.

Seems like a pattern.

Also, he'd climbed it lots of times before. He'd 'conquered' it - so why was he so desperate to reach the summit on this occasion?

And not going out with proper provisions or proper gear, knowing the conditions are going to be really harsh but that your girlfriend is inexperienced, and also KNOWING you need to be an experienced climber to do this, given that he'd done if before with a previous GF who'd also slowed him down so he abandoned her?!

You'd have to be a proper idiot to take another girl up there when you know a) you won't be slowed down but b) inexperienced climbers will slow you down.

The more I think about it, the more premeditated it actually seems to me.

I think he only climbed in 3 or 4 times before and although he was more experienced than her with this mountain, I think he needs to acknowledge that neither were experienced enough to climb the mountain especially when leaving late and the harsh conditions etc.

Apparently their SM is full of them both mountain climbing and doing extreme things.
Some people (especially men) think they are more capable than they actually are and can win against mother nature.

Apparently 100s-1000s people die each year trying to climb mountains.
Why do so many people think they are invincible.

That's the thing, sometimes these horrible men are not classic abusive batterers.

They are just normal men who don't care very much about the people they live with and in some cases are so selfish that they are prepared to risk not just their comfort, but their lives. And I think it's possible that Thomas P is one of those. Just utterly selfish and grossly negligent.

But the extra bits, even that one thing about her not wearing the right footwear... even if you are with someone you don't particularly care about, if you're a responsible normal adult, you will not agree to go climbing with them under those conditions. You'll be able to see the problems and just the hassle that it might cause you, possibly preventing you from doing the climb you want and you won't agree to it.

Not because you give a shit about them particularly, but because you are aware that by not being kitted out properly, they're going to fuck up the whole thing. The fact that such an experienced climber did not take that into account, makes me think that there was an awful lot more malevolence there than just mistakes brought on by mountain fever.

I suspect he wanted to show that he was the better climber. Why did he choose such a difficult climb for her first night winter attempt?

So many men are incredibly competitive and selfish that their wants and needs override anyone else. Ego takes over. Bottom line is that he didn't really care about her at all. She was suffering but he selfishly put his welfare before hers. His climb of the mountain was more important.

Sadly, she found out what a selfish shit he was too late.

It's a less than 4000m mountain, below 4000m you might be tired, headachy and find exertion requires more effort, but you're still perfectly rational.

This should hopefully actually improve as the Nepali government have now stipulated that summiting a 7000m peak in Nepal prior to Everest is a prequisite for a permit.

No, he had climbed it 14 or 15 times before. He knew it well.

Also, she was hurt but they carried on regardless.

‘The pair got into severe difficulty after darkness fell during the final stage of their climb on January 18. Gurtner slipped and fell, injuring her hand and hip, but the couple pressed on until she collapsed some 50 metres short of the summit. Plamberger eventually left her at 2am and descended to seek help.’

He wanted to summit. That was his priority.

One thing we need to remember though is that when you're hypothermic you absolutely can't think straight and can make terrible decisions that you wouldn't make otherwise. I think that his girlfriend's mother defending him says something important. Obviously he's not someone you'd want to go climbing with though if he's abandoned someone before.

Over Christmas I watched a BBC series called SOS; Extreme Rescues that focussed to a large on mountain rescue in Eryri/Snowdonia and it was clear that there are some seriously deluded "Instagram mountaineers" who see videos, think "that looks cool" and set off, poorly equipped in challenging weather to get some great Instagram photos.

There was one such lad who got lost, ended up on a crag, in snow, without proper equipment .... and called his mum 200 miles away and IIRC she called Birmingham police who eventually contacted mountain rescue in Wales. He was lucky as mountain rescue found him fast and walked him down...

Years ago my BIL left my FIL behind in the Alps with a broken leg so he could bag his summit.

He climbed it as many as 15 times before as pp said. It’s in the court reporting - where are you getting three from? Even three would be relatively experienced on such a tough mountain.

Don’t know how many die each year on the mountains but there were many opportunities during this pair’s climb to prevent her death.

Sadly she seemed to try and dial for emergency services herself at one point when she was still with him but seemingly may have misdialled or got the wrong number.

It's the same in Scotland - Mountain Rescue have had to haul people off Aonach Mor in flip flops!

This guy does more than capable of keeping himself alive and well - just not inclined for whatever reason to extend that care.

Was he OK? (FIL, not BIL who was certainly not OK)

I don't know, she had a virus ( found at postmortem), had been injured and was not properly equipped or experienced enough for something so challenging. I think at such times it is incumbent on those who are to take charge (male or female) and whether he fully intended to or not, he appears to have made appallingly poor decisions.

All her mother's talk about what a strong woman she was is meaningless. She could be Boudicca but on that mountain, at that time she was very vulnerable.

I actually disagree with the judge. I think he is cold-hearted:
That she sent him a text weeks before the climb saying she's never done a winter mountain tour;
That he lent her crampons that she didn't try before hand and ended up not fitting her boots;
That she/they only had gummy bears and tea for an 16+ hr climb;
That he didn't even know their combined equipment (bivouac bag + blanket)
That weather was windier and chillier than they were expecting;
That she injured her hip and hand

This was a disaster waiting to happen. Failing to plan is planning to fail. Once on the mountain, he was never going to call off the climb and call emergency rescue. He was determined to reach the summit.

[He probably is on the spectrum like a lot of extreme outdoor sports people, so his empathy and reading social cues skills are lacking. ]

Authorities said he was calm and stable when they met him in the early hours. And he’d done the mountain up to 15 times before.

What important thing do you think it says? Her grieving parents didn’t realise he would leave their daughter to die, before he did. They conceded that they didn’t know the mountain at all, weren’t sure of what she did and didn’t know in terms of mountaineering protocols and their suggestion that she was as experienced as him was refuted by the judge. The daughter also lied in a text to them that she had gone past a dangerous part of the mountain when she hadn’t - they suspected to reassure them she was safe.

Yes climbing the Alps doesn't require oxygen but it does require experience and crucially the right equipment. The air is thinner and slows people down, especially at night and after hours of climbing. Winter tours climbing is a specialised skill.

Can’t believe how many people are defending him…

Wow, are they still talking?

People who think a 33 year old Austrian woman who grew up in a country where hiking and climbing is the cultural norm, surrounded by mountains and mountain climbers and was an experienced climber/hiker, make their own choices about climbing Austrias tallest mountain, in the dark in January, maybe?

He was a thoughtless man, he's been punished for his thoughtlessness.