Climbers face police probe after abandoning buddy to freeze 8,500ft up Austrian mountain and persevering with to the summit
Two German climbers are facing a police probe after abandoning their struggling friend 8,500ft up an Austrian mountain – and continuing to the summit.
The three climbers set off along the Königsjodler trail in the Hochkönig mountain range on Saturday afternoon despite poor weather forecasts and a warning from another climber, according to local media.
By the time they reached 8,500 ft, one male climber could not continue; however, his companions continued their ascent and summited the mountain at 9,600 ft.
The Mühlbach Mountain Rescue Service was notified of an ‘exhausted’ climber and launched a 14-hour rescue operation.
The climber was brought back to safety, but Gerhard Kremser, the district manager of the Pongau Mountain Rescue Service, said the man likely would not have survived the night on the mountain due to the conditions.
Police are understood to have launched an investigation into the incident, newspaper Der Spiegel reports.
Wolfgang Haggenmüller, head of operations and local station manager for the Mühlbach Mountain Rescue Service, said harsh weather made the rescue operation extremely difficult.
‘Even the ascent was challenging for our rescue team due to the prevailing weather conditions,’ he said.
Members of the local mountain rescue team search for a climber who was left behind by his companions after struggling to make it to the summit
Rescue efforts lasted 14 hours due to harsh conditions
The climber was eventually brought back to safety
In an Instagram post, the mountain rescue team said: ‘Around 20 cm of snow had fallen, and the path was no longer visible; there was a risk of falling, and finding the way was very difficult.
‘It was life-threatening for everyone. Amidst heavy snowfall and poor visibility, our team did not reach the Erichhütte until 8.18 am.’
Mr Kremser added: ‘This operation shows once again how quickly overconfidence, a disregard for warnings and poor route planning can lead to a life-threatening situation. Mountaineering also means turning back in good time.’
The incident comes just months after an Austrian man was convicted of manslaughter caused by gross negligence after his girlfriend froze to death as the couple attempted to climb the country’s highest peak last year.
Thomas Plamberger, 39, was given a five-month suspended sentence and a 9,600-euro fine in a verdict handed down by the Innsbruck state court after a one-day trial in February.
Plamberger and his 33-year-old girlfriend Kerstin Gurtner set out to climb the Grossglockner in western Austria in January 2025.
Prosecutors said that she died about 164 ft below the 12,460-ft peak after he left her behind. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Image shows members of the mountain rescue team making their way up the mountain
Judge Norbert Hofer said that the defendant had misjudged the situation on the mountain but had not wilfully left behind his girlfriend — whose knowledge of mountaineering, he said, was ‘galaxies’ short of the man’s own.
The sentence was well short of the maximum three years in prison.
‘I don’t see you as a murderer, I don’t see you as a cold-hearted man,’ he said. ‘I see you as the one who ultimately tried to call help and stand by his girlfriend.’
However, the judge said that the defendant had failed to take his ‘leadership responsibility.’
He said the woman would almost certainly have survived ‘if the appropriate measures had been taken,’ for example making an emergency call earlier or turning back.
