The climber, identified only as Thomas P., in compliance with Austrian privacy laws, was sentenced to five months of suspended prison time and ordered to pay a fine of 9,600 euros. His girlfriend, Kerstin G., died of hypothermia during the climb in extreme weather conditions.
According to the court, mitigating factors were considered, such as Thomas P not having criminal records and the loss of “a very close person.” The judge also took into account the intense public exposure of the case on social media, which was deemed “incriminating for the defendant.”
Judge Norbert Hofer, an experienced mountaineer himself and a collaborator with mountain rescue teams in Tyrol, stated that Thomas P was an excellent mountaineer, but that Kerstin G was “years behind” in terms of experience, especially in winter conditions. In his opinion, the couple should have given up on the climb earlier.
Still, the judge emphasized that Thomas P did not deliberately abandon his girlfriend. “I do not see him as a murderer, nor as someone heartless,” he stated.
During the trial, a former girlfriend of the defendant was heard, who reported a similar incident that occurred in 2023, when Thomas P allegedly left her alone during a climb in the same massif, at a time when she was exhausted and in difficulty.
