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A 36-year-old man faces manslaughter charges after allegedly leaving his girlfriend to freeze to death on Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner. The incident occurred in January when the couple, battling fierce winds and temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius, attempted to summit the 12,460-foot peak. The woman, a novice climber from Salzburg, began to struggle just 165 feet from the summit.
Prosecutors allege that the man, an experienced mountaineer, abandoned his 33-year-old partner for over six hours in the deadly cold while he sought help. The woman was reportedly left "unprotected, exhausted, and hypothermic" and was wearing gear considered unsuitable for high-altitude climbing. According to The Sun, the couple started their ascent two hours late and lacked a proper emergency kit.
The man is accused of ignoring his partner's inexperience and failing to call emergency services before nightfall, even when a police helicopter flew overhead. Officers eventually reached him at 12:35 a.m. He now faces up to three years in prison if convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence.