Girlfriend explored

After the Glockner drama: mountaineer (39) is charged

The Kals mountain rescue team had to be deployed at the beginning of January.(Bild: Bergrettung Kals)

A bombshell in the case of the mountaineer (36) who climbed the Grossglockner with his girlfriend in early January 2025! The man has now been charged with gross negligence manslaughter by the public prosecutor's office.

Almost a year after the terrible incident a few meters below the summit of the Großglockner, in which a female alpinist (33) froze to death, her companion and friend (36) will soon have to stand trial.

As the Innsbruck public prosecutor's office announced in a press release on Thursday, the man will be charged with "grossly negligent homicide". The main hearing before the single judge of the Innsbruck Regional Court is scheduled for February 19, 2026.

The Innsbruck public prosecutor's office accuses the accused of a total of nine errors: "Despite the inexperience of the woman, who had never done an alpine high-altitude tour of this length, difficulty and altitude, and despite the challenging winter conditions, the defendant undertook the alpine high-altitude tour to the Großglockner with her via the Stüdlgrat in winter," it says.

The Kals mountain rescue team had to be called out at the beginning of January.(Bild: Bergrettung Kals)

Inadequate equipment
According to the public prosecutor's office, the accused and his partner also set off two hours too late for the tour and allegedly did not have any emergency bivouac equipment with them.

Furthermore, it is said that the accused allowed his girlfriend to set off with a splitboard and snowboard soft boots - and therefore not with suitable equipment.

(Bild: Bergrettung Kals)

Not turning back in time and no emergency call
The statement continues: "In view of the strong to gale-force winds with wind speeds of up to 74 km/h and the temperature of around minus 8 degrees, which, taking into account the 'wind chill' effect, leads to a sensation of cold of around minus 20 degrees, the accused should have turned back at the so-called 'Frühstücksplatzl' at the latest." The man also failed to make an emergency call before nightfall.

He put his phone on silent and stowed it away and therefore did not answer any more calls from the Alpine police.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft

When a police helicopter flew over at around 10.50 p.m., the man is also said not to have given any distress signals but waited until 3.30 a.m. to inform the rescue services. Even after several attempts by the Alpine police to contact the man (the first call was at 00:35), it remained unclear why no further contact was made. "He put his phone on silent and stowed it away and therefore did not take any more calls from the Alpine Police," said the public prosecutor's office.

Taking care of the girlfriend is also a point in the indictment. The alpinist had neglected to take the woman to a place as sheltered from the wind as possible to protect her from heat loss. When he left the woman alone at around 2 a.m., he did not use her bivouac sack or the aluminum rescue blankets available to protect her from further cooling. He also did not take the heavy rucksack from her.

Expert opinion and further investigations
As part of the investigation, a forensic medical report was obtained, cell phones, sports watches, photos and videos were evaluated and witnesses were questioned, according to the public prosecutor's office. Finally, an alpine expert drew up an expert opinion, taking into account all the results of the investigation.

My client very much regrets the whole thing.

Verteidiger Kurt Jelinek

The defendant made a statement
"The accused made a written statement during the investigation and denied any wrongdoing," it says. A few months ago, the accused submitted a statement via his lawyer Kurt Jelinek. In it, he reported a "very great personal loss". The defense lawyer explained at the time: "We continue to believe that this was a fateful and tragic accident."

After the charges were announced, Jelinek spoke out again: "My client is very sorry about the whole thing."

The offense of grossly negligent homicide is punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years.