The Mountain

Summary

Criminal – "The Mountain" (May 15, 2026)

Host: Phoebe Judge
Guests: Jonathan Wolfe (NYT reporter), Verena Morchatz (professor of criminal law), John Leach (survival psychologist), Thomas Plamberger (defendant, voice via testimony)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Criminal explores the tragic 2025 death of Kirsten Gertner during a mountaineering expedition on Austria’s Grossglockner mountain, and the unprecedented criminal case brought against her boyfriend and climbing partner, Thomas Plamberger. Through interviews with journalists, legal experts, a survival psychologist, and court testimony, the episode investigates the events leading to Kirsten’s death, the questions of responsibility in extreme environments, and the legal and cultural ramifications for mountaineers in Austria.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Climb: Background and Planning

• Meet the Couple: Thomas Plamberger (36, professional chef) and Kirsten Gertner (33, office worker), both from Salzburg, Austria, had been dating for nearly a year and discussed moving in together.
• The Climb: On January 18, 2025, they set out to summit Grossglockner, Austria’s tallest peak (over 12,000 ft), choosing a particularly dangerous and demanding route.
  • "[Grossglockner is] the largest mountain in the Austrian Alps." – Jonathan Wolfe (01:45)
  • The route was described as requiring "very good physical shape and some rock climbing experience." (02:07)

2. The Ascent

• Timeline:
  • Start: 6:45 am from the base, geared up for an overnight ascent.
  • By 1:30 pm: reached the “breakfast spot," a crucial checkpoint at 11,600 ft. This is often a "point of no return." – Jonathan Wolfe (03:25)
  • Hikers reported Thomas attentive to Kirsten, who "looked like she was doing fine." (04:11)
• Into the Night:
  • Headlamps seen on summit webcam at 6:30 pm; only visible climbers on the mountain. – Jonathan Wolfe (04:32)
  • Plan was to summit in darkness—unusual, but not unheard of for experienced climbers.
  • Severe "phone winds" and deteriorating weather arrived, but the pair chose not to push for the summit. (04:47)

3. Crisis & Rescues

• Mechanical, Medical, and Communication Troubles:

  • Rope snag and Kirsten’s hand injury led to delays; they were in place at nightfall.
  • 10:30 pm: Alpine police helicopter does multiple passes after no signal for help; phone calls from police to Thomas go unanswered (later explained as phone on vibrate). (05:24)
  • Thomas calls police just after midnight to say Kirsten is exhausted—accounts differ whether he asked for a rescue or assured them they were fine.
    • "There's real debate about what happened during this phone call." – Jonathan Wolfe (06:19)
  • Police attempt WhatsApp contact: "Do you need help now or not?"—message delivered, may or may not have been seen. (07:10)

• Extreme Conditions:

  • Temps dropped to 17°F, windchill far lower.
  • "The wind would have been very strong at this point...towards the peak of Grossglockner, it's really exposed." – Jonathan Wolfe (07:46)

• Decision Point:

  • Around 2:00am, Kirsten could no longer move; Thomas and Kirsten mutually decide he should descend for help.
  • 3:30am: Thomas calls police to report he left Kirsten and gives her location; helicopter rescue considered too dangerous due to high winds.
  • Kirsten is found dead from hypothermia the next morning. (08:03–08:52)

4. The Aftermath: Grief and Legal Action

• Kirsten is remembered by family as loving the outdoors.
• Legal Filing: Nearly a year later, Austrian prosecutors indict Thomas for grossly negligent homicide, arguing he was an unofficial "guarantor" for Kirsten’s safety due to his greater experience.
  • "A guarantor is somebody that is responsible for another person." – Verena Morchatz, Professor of Criminal Law (10:02)
  • The charge is usually reserved for parents/caregivers or professional guides, but was now extended to an amateur relationship.

5. What Constitutes Responsibility?

• Expert Opinions:

  • "If I was in that position ... I would make sure that both of us were properly equipped, properly experienced." – John Leach, survival psychologist (14:57)
  • John Leach and others argue the more experienced partner must manage risk, equipment, and timing, especially when conditions and experience differ significantly.
  • Cited failures: late start, not using daylight, not insisting on proper gear (Kirsten wore snowboard boots, not hiking boots), failure to use survival equipment (tent, blankets), and leaving Kirsten unprotected at summit (16:11–17:47).

• Ethics vs. Legality:

  • Mountaineering lacks codified emergency rules; ethical expectations suggest never leaving a partner, but realities in survival crisis are complicated and judgments hard to make from afar.
  • "Mountaineers that I spoke to said it's just never an option to leave someone by themselves on the mountain." – Jonathan Wolfe (18:21)
  • But as Leach notes, with cold and lack of oxygen, decision-making becomes severely impaired. (19:02)

• Psychological Effects:

  • "Cognitive impairment occurring around about 9, 10,000ft, particularly ... decision making and logical reasoning." – John Leach (19:02)

6. The Trial

• Unique Circumstances:

  • No jury; Judge Norbert Hofer (also a mountain rescuer) presides.
  • Focus: Was Thomas truly the expert, and thus the "guarantor," and did his actions constitute gross negligence?
    • "The judge tried to find out if the defendant was in reality, more experienced." – Verena Morchatz (21:14)
  • Thomas testifies he had no formal training, just personal experience; both partners planned the trip and had prior climbs together, but Kirsten had emailed that she “completely lack[ed] experience when it comes to winter tours." (21:36)

• Key Testimony:

  • Police said the midnight call wasn't clearly a distress call.
  • Thomas explained his phone was silenced to conserve battery.
  • Later, Thomas testified the last thing Kirsten said was, "Go on your own and save your own life." He tied her to a rock before descending but did not use the emergency shelter for her. (23:18–23:42)

• Family and Character Witnesses:

  • Kirsten's mother refuses to blame Thomas, asserting her daughter's strength and experience; she denounces blaming from those far removed from the realities of the situation.
    • "It's easy to be a hero in the comfort of your own home." – Kirsten's mother (28:04)
  • Ex-girlfriend testifies to a similar experience where Thomas left her alone on the mountain after a dispute; they never hiked together again after that. (28:30–29:06)

• The Verdict:

  • Judge finds Thomas guilty of grossly negligent homicide, calling him "an excellent alpinist, but someone who finds it very difficult to make the switch between your own limits and those of others." (29:21)
    • “If you would have acted differently, he strongly assumed that Kirsten would still be alive.” – Jonathan Wolfe paraphrasing the judge (29:51)
  • Sentence: five months in prison, €9,600 ($11,000) fine; Thomas appeals.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Responsibility:

  • "A guarantor is somebody that is responsible for another person... in the mountaineering context, it can be used in certain situations where you hire a person like a guide." – Verena Morchatz (10:07, 10:35)

• On Equipment and Preparation:

  • "If I was in that position ... I would make sure that both of us were properly equipped, properly experienced." – John Leach (14:57)
  • "There's a number of failures here before she's even set off." – John Leach (15:16)

• On Decision Making in Emergencies:

  • "Mountaineers that I spoke to said it's just never an option to leave someone by themselves on the mountain." – Jonathan Wolfe (18:21)
  • "You can get cognitive impairment occurring around about 9, 10,000 ft…so you find yourself being distracted and you’re not concentrating...and that’s when mistakes happen." – John Leach (19:02)

• On Cultural Impact:

  • "Friends that do a tour, I think they haven't been aware of the fact that they could be responsible. And that I think will change now because people realize if I... take my friend... that I can be criminal responsible." – Verena Morchatz (30:27)

• Kirsten’s Mother's Words:

  • "Many people who blame Kirsten's boyfriend have never been in such a situation. I hope they never find themselves in such an exceptional situation, because nobody knows how they'll react then. It's easy to be a hero in the comfort of your own home." – Gertroud, Kirsten’s mother (28:04)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:45 — Introduction of climb and background of the couple
• 03:06–04:43 — Timeline and eyewitness accounts of their progress
• 05:24–07:39 — Nightfall, equipment failures, communication with rescuers, temperature drops
• 08:03–09:59 — Kirsten left on mountain, found dead next morning, legal context begins
• 10:02–11:15 — Austrian legal explanation: concept of a “guarantor”
• 14:57–15:16 — Survival psychologist on proper preparation
• 17:17–18:21 — Failure to use survival gear and ethics of not leaving a climber
• 19:02 — Effects of altitude on decision-making
• 20:25–21:36 — Details on trial and focus on relative experience
• 23:18–23:42 — Thomas’s account of final moments with Kirsten
• 27:47–28:04 — Mother’s testimony and defense of daughter’s strength
• 28:30–29:06 — Ex-girlfriend’s account of a similar incident
• 29:21–30:27 — The verdict and cultural/legal ramifications
• 31:25 — Thomas’s sentence, his apology, and appeal
• 32:00–32:34 — Thomas’s reflection on the intended nature of the trip and the tragic outcome

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Conclusion

This episode plunges into the ethical and legal ambiguities of adventure, love, and extreme environments—with a tragedy that tests the boundaries between personal responsibility and criminal accountability. The story is as much about cultural attitudes toward risk as it is about a single fatal night in the Alps, leaving listeners to question: where does caring for a companion's safety end, and legal guilt begin?

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“If you would have acted differently…I strongly assumed that Kirsten would still be alive.” – Judge Norbert Hofer (paraphrased, 29:51)

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For further resources, episode art, and bonus content, visit thisiscriminal.com.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

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[Phoebe Judge]

What they did to your family. You're lucky to make it out alive. Streaming on Peacock these men are going to come after me, taking them out. It's my only chance.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

Put a bullet in her head.

[Phoebe Judge]

From the co creator of Ozark. Looks like a family was running drugs execution style.

[Verena Morchatz]

Killing it's rare for the Keys.

[Phoebe Judge]

Any leads on who they might have been running for? The cartel killed my family.

[Sponsor Voice]

I'm gonna kill them.

[John Leach]

All of them.

[Phoebe Judge]

Mia Streaming now only on Peacock. Tell me about the decision to go mountain climbing on January 18, 2025. Whose idea was that?

[Jonathan Wolfe]

That depends on who you ask.

[Phoebe Judge]

How experienced were they at mountaineering at climbing?

[Jonathan Wolfe]

That also depends on who you ask.

[Phoebe Judge]

In late 2024, Thomas Plamberger at and Kirsten Gertner had been dating for almost a year. Thomas was 36 years old and a professional chef in Salzburg, Austria. Kirsten Gertner was 33 and worked at an office in the same city. They'd met on Tinder and had started to talk about moving in. In January, they were going to go on a trip together.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

Thomas and Kirsten were planning on summoning Grossglockner, which is the largest mountain in the Austrian Alps.

[Phoebe Judge]

New York Times reporter Jonathan Wolf and

[Jonathan Wolfe]

they decided to take the most dangerous route, which includes sort of like this really sort of rocky, arched climb to the summit.

[Phoebe Judge]

A climbing tour company warns people that to take this route you need to be in very good physical shape and have some rock climbing experience. An experienced mountaineer told a BBC reporter that in bad conditions, trying to summit Grossglockner can feel like fighting to survive. Grass Glockner's Peak is over 12,000ft above sea level. More than 7,000 people climb it every year. On January 18, 2025, Kirsten and Thomas began their climb of GROSS Glockner at 6:45am they had backpacks with ropes, emergency blankets, a tent and headlamps. Kirsten had brought a split snowboard. She planned to use it to descend the mountain after they reached the summit.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

They were planning on it being an overnight hike, so it was, you know, going to Be a very long day.

[Phoebe Judge]

Some mountain guides break the trip up into two days. A day to reach the beginning of the ridge and then a second day to get to the peak. Around 1.30pm, Thomas and Kirsten arrived at a resting point known as the breakfast spot, about 11,600ft above sea level.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

And this was kind of like a point of no return before the summit. Like, a lot of times people, if they don't get there at a certain time, they might end up turning back. But it's definitely a moment where you sort of rest for a moment and check in and see if you're gonna continue. And mountaineers I spoke to said, you know, that's definitely a point where a lot of times they make their clients rest whether or not they want to.

[Phoebe Judge]

Thomas Plamberger said at this point, he and Kirsten didn't feel tired, so they kept going.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

It seems like there were some hikers who saw them on the mountain, including one hiker who said that he hiked with them for a little while, a little stretch. And he said that Thomas was, you know, sort of looking after Kirsten, checking in on her.

[Phoebe Judge]

How did people say that Kirsten was doing at that point?

[Jonathan Wolfe]

They said that she looked like she was doing fine. She wasn't struggling and seemed like a pretty normal hike to them.

[Phoebe Judge]

At nightfall, at around 5pm in winter, Thomas and Kirsten were still climbing. About an hour and a half later, their headlamps were visible on a webcam that livestreams a view of the top of the mountain.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

We can see their light sort of slowly making its way up the mountain, and it's the only light that's on the mountain. So, you know, it's possible there's other people not using lights, but it seems like they were the only two people on the mountain.

[Phoebe Judge]

Their plan was to climb to the summit in the dark.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

Mountaineers that I've spoken to said that that's actually not out of the ordinary. Like, it's definitely riskier. You need to be of a certain level. But people do climb this mountain at night, and it seems like they were just a little bit more slow going, and they were sort of stuck on the mountain. And the weather turned quite bad. There was a weather pattern that the locals called the phone winds, which can really bring, like, really intense, cold, blustery winds to the peaks of the Alps. And from mountaineers that I spoke to, they were actually aware that this was happening on this day. So they said that they basically chose not to summit the mountain.

[Phoebe Judge]

At around 8pm they stopped for an hour and a half, their climbing rope had gotten stuck. And then Kirsten hurt her hand. At 10.30pm, an Alpine Police helicopter went to check on Thomas and Kirsten. The helicopter passed them about six times. When they did not signal for help, the helicopter left. Around this time, Alpine police also tried to call Thomas. His phone number was listed on his climbing permit, but he never answered the phone. Later, Thomas Plamberger said he had not realized his phone was ringing because it had been set to vibrate. But Thomas says that soon after the helicopter left, Kirsten quote suddenly showed increasing signs of exhaustion. About a half hour past midnight, Thomas called the police.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

And there's real debate about what happened during this phone call. Thomas says that he was convinced that police were aware that a rescue was needed and that he wanted them to send a helicopter. The police, on the other hand, said that Thomas in this moment told him that everything was fine. And so they did not start a rescue procedure.

[Phoebe Judge]

And then for three hours no one heard from him. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is criminal. Alpine police attempted to get back in touch with Thomas Plamberger by phone and then by texting him on WhatsApp. One officer wrote, do you need help now or not? But they didn't get a response.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

In his WhatsApp, it appears it has like the two check marks. So whenever it was delivered, we don't know if it was read, but it was delivered.

[Phoebe Judge]

When he had spoken to the police earlier, Thomas says they told him the best thing was for them to keep

[Jonathan Wolfe]

moving, because if you stop in a very cold environment, there's a chance that it'll be worse for you. Basically, you'll start to lose energy, you'll start to lose warmth in your body. So he was under the impression that he needed to keep moving. And so that's what he told Kirsten after that phone call, that they needed to keep moving.

[Phoebe Judge]

That night, the Temperature dropped to 17 degrees Fahrenheit, but felt even colder with the wind chill.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

The wind would have been very strong at this point because when you get towards the peak of Gross Glockner, it's really exposed. So a lot of the winds that might have been blocked off in other areas as you're climbing the mountain, that's no longer the case. So you're just completely exposed and it would have been very cold at that moment.

[Phoebe Judge]

They made it to just below the summit where they stopped for about an hour and a half. Thomas says that at that point Kirsten was too exhausted to move anymore. He said at around 2am he and Kirsten agreed that he should try to get down the mountain by himself to try and get help at one of the refuge huts. At around 3.30am, Thomas Plamberger called the police again and told them that he was on his way down and that he had left Kirsten behind. He asked if they could send a helicopter for her, but the wind had been picking up speed all night. By then it was blowing up to 45 miles per hour and they told him it was too dangerous for a helicopter to fly. Thomas told police where he had left Kirsten. The next day, a rescue crew headed up the mountain. Around 10am they found Kirsten. She was dead from hypothermia. Kirsten's family held her funeral nine days later. The notice read, our lives are in God's hands. If it is his will, then do not grieve for me, but remember me with love. Kirsten's mother later said that she had to lose her life. Precisely where she felt so alive is almost incomprehensible to me, Thomas wrote on Instagram. It hurts so incredibly much. And then, almost a year later, Austrian prosecutors filed charges against Thomas Plamberger for grossly negligent homicide. Prosecutors said that Thomas was the more experienced climber and should have been a guarantor of Kirsten's life.

[Verena Morchatz]

It's called.

[Phoebe Judge]

Verena Morchatz is a professor of criminal law at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

[Verena Morchatz]

A guarantor is somebody that is responsible for another person. And where you mostly need this term is when you have a crime committed by omission. Like, it's easy to say if I commit a crime by action, like I do something, I hit somebody, then it's clear I am the one responsible for hitting somebody. But if the crime is an omission, it's failing to act with due diligence.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

In Austria, this charge is typically used in things like a car accident or, you know, maybe a parent who's not giving the correct care to their child. Or in the mountaineering context, it can be used in certain situations where you hire a person like a guide that responsible for you to take care of you and to look after you.

[Verena Morchatz]

But you can also be a guarantor as a leader out of courtesy, where you don't have a contract, you don't get paid for. It's non commercial, but it's just out of courtesy. And as such, you're a guarantor and also responsible for outcomes or let's say negative things happening to the individual that you're responsible for.

[Phoebe Judge]

How big of a deal. Was it in Austria? Was everyone talking about it?

[Verena Morchatz]

Yes, a lot of people were talking about it. I mean, where I am we have all these mountains where we have a lot of alpine tours. A lot of people come and pay guides to walk up the mountains basically with the skis. And there's a lot of people that do tours together, like, you know, friends that go up the mountains together. So I think for that reason many people talked about the case and said, wow, look at this case. This is happening. What's going to come out? I think we actually haven't had a criminal case like this before.

[Phoebe Judge]

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[John Leach]

If I was in that position of taking a young woman up to do 12 and a half thousand foot, I would make sure that both of us were properly equipped, properly experienced.

[Phoebe Judge]

John Leach is a survival psychologist. He was a mountaineer and emergency mountain rescuer. For years.

[John Leach]

She was going to a height level she'd never been to before in winter, at night. Now, Thomas, he'd been up at that altitude before and he'd been on the sort of routes before. So really he should have stepped in right at the beginning and made sure that she was properly equipped, properly kitted out. And if they were going to go and do that at that altitude in winter at night, then I would have basically insisted that she does it in daytime beforehand, you know, quite some time beforehand and build up experience for that on that terrain in that area under those conditions, and then build it up gradually. Once you know and you've got a feel for the route, you know where the top is, you can do all that, then you go for the big one and do it in winter at night. So there's a number of failures here before she's even set off.

[Phoebe Judge]

A mountain guide on Gross Glockner told reporter Jonathan Wolfe that he's seen more clients than he used to trying to summit challenging mountains without getting used to the altitude or continuing even when the weather is bad. The prosecution also said that Thomas and Kirsten left two hours too late. Thomas had not considered how short the day would be in winter and how early night would come. Prosecutors said Thomas was also should have noticed that Kirsten wasn't wearing hiking boots. Instead, she was wearing soft snowboarding boots. Other errors include Thomas not turning back when the weather got worse, Thomas not signaling for help before it got dark, and Thomas being unreachable after he had called police. Finally, they said that when Thomas left Kirsten at the summit, he had not moved Kirsten to an area protected from the wind or used any of their emergency equipment to Keep her warm.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

They had a small tent and emergency blankets that you can use if you get into trouble. And they said that, you know, she wasn't in the tent, the blankets weren't used.

[John Leach]

And there'd been more than one person I'd been involved in with mountain rescue, where we've recovered somebody who's got, you know, he's got a backpack full of survival kit, but he's not used to any of it. And they say, it's a survival kit, I'll stick it in my bag. And they go off. But they've never used it, never even opened it at times.

[Phoebe Judge]

John Leach says he's never left someone behind to get help. He says it's part of an unspoken code. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation says that climbers should be prepared to make compromises in order to balance the needs and abilities of all the group. Emergency dispatch operators often advise climbers to stay with their companions instead of leaving for help. But there aren't any official rules for mountaineers about what to do in emergencies.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

And, you know, mountaineers that I spoke to said it's just never an option to leave someone by themselves on the mountain.

[Phoebe Judge]

And.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

And then at the same time, like, there's rescue workers that I've spoken to are also mountaineers. And they were saying it was hard to put yourself in the mindset of a person who's undergoing an emergency in cold weather, where you're under stress and it's dark. And they were just sort of unwilling to pass judgment on that, saying that, you know, we can look back at things and make judgments, but in that moment, it can be really difficult to understand what the best course of action is.

[Phoebe Judge]

John Leach says at high altitudes, people have a harder time making decisions.

[John Leach]

You can get cognitive impairment occurring around about 9, 10,000ft, particularly in the skills of decision making and logical reasoning. If things are not going well, then your ability to focus gets diminished as well. So you find yourself being distracted and you're not concentrating. And that's when mistakes happen, when people start to get clumsy and they're switching off from the major things, which afterwards, if they're rescued successfully, they look back. And I've heard so many people say this, so many survivors, they say, why did I do that? How far you can think ahead is severely diminished under pressure. And you get tied in more and more to the present moment, because if you can't see a future, then you're not going to respond to that future. But true panic is very, very rare. And usually if it does occur it tends to occur in enclosed spaces. The most common trigger is if you're in a place you know that your life is under threat, you know there's a chance of escape, but you also appreciate that chance of escape is diminishing. So, for example, if you're in an ocean liner that's sinking, you very rarely get panic. Outside, true panic. What you do get is confusion and bewilderment and people running around flapping, you know, like a bunch of penguins on steroids. All flap and no flight.

[Phoebe Judge]

Thomas Planberger's trial was scheduled for February 26 at a courthouse in Innsbruck. There would be no jury. The verdict would be decided by a judge named Norbert Hofer, who also worked part time as an emergency mountain rescuer.

[Verena Morchatz]

He has a special competence. So all the mountain cases go to

[Phoebe Judge]

this judge, Verena Morchatz.

[Verena Morchatz]

Like, we have judges that are assigned specific cases, like, let's say, corruption cases, whatnot. And he's assigned all these Alpine cases because of his knowledge, because of him understanding the difficulties that one faces.

[Phoebe Judge]

Verena says that prosecutors would need to prove to the judge that Thomas was the more experienced climber and had been the one in charge.

[Verena Morchatz]

The judge tried to find out if the defendant was in reality, more experienced. So he talked about, what are the climbing techniques that she used? What are the climbing techniques that he uses? Like, he went into professional discussions with him to figure out what did he know about Alpine climbing techniques.

[Phoebe Judge]

But Thomas testified that he had no Alpine training whatsoever. He said he wasn't a professional mountaineer. He had taught himself through trial and error and watching videos online. But he had climbed Gross Glockner before. He testified that he and Kirsten had planned this trip together, that Kirsten loved mountain climbing and was physically very fit. They had climbed in other parts of the Alps together. But while they were planning their trip, Kirsten wrote in an email to Thomas, I completely lack experience when it comes to winter tours. The prosecution called a police officer to testify. The officer said that Thomas had told him that he had been the main planner for this trip. Another officer testified about taking Thomas's call just after midnight. He said that at that point it wouldn't have been difficult to start a rescue operation, but it wasn't clear that they needed one. He said that, quote, that was definitely not an emergency call. Thomas had put his phone on silent after speaking with the police. When Thomas was asked why he had put his phone on silent, he said he was trying to save the battery because he hadn't brought a power bank. Thomas said the change in the weather had taken them by surprise. He said that lower down on the mountain the wind had been non existent but had gotten stronger the higher they went. Thomas also spoke about his last conversation

[Jonathan Wolfe]

with Kirsten, so he said that during their tour, because of the weather, it was sometimes hard to understand each other at certain moments. But he said that when he left her that she was in relatively good condition and she was clear. She was responsive, she was exhausted but she was clear and she told him to go and that it was a mutual decision.

[Phoebe Judge]

Thomas said he tied Kirsten to a rock before he left. He said he didn't have an explanation for why he had not sheltered her more. He testified that the last thing she said to him was go on your own and save your own life. We'll be right back. Support for Criminal Comes from Bombas if your sock drawer could use an upgrade, Bombas has a range of well designed socks like their sports socks, which are made with a cushioned sweat wicking design that also stops them from sliding down your foot while you're in motion. And Bombas has more than socks. They also make soft and breathable basics including underwear and T shirts. This spring I look forward to going on longer runs wearing my new Bombas run socks. They're soft and lightweight, made with a mesh knit that makes them breathable, and they're designed with cushioning in the heel and toe to protect your feet. Bombus also has a mission for every item you purchase. They say they donate an item of clothing to someone facing housing insecurity. They say they've made over 150 million donations and counting. You can go to bombus.com criminal and use code criminal for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O-M-B-S.com criminal code criminal at checkout. Support for Criminal comes from Grow Therapy. Therapy can be a great way to find support in daily life, but it can be hard to know where to start and how to find a therapist you like. Grow Therapy makes it easy to find a therapist who fits you and it's affordable and flexible. Grow can connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the us. They offer both virtual and in person sessions as well as nights and weekends. You don't need to worry about subscriptions or long term commitments. You just pay per session. You can get started in just two days and you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as 00, depending on their plan. Visit growtherapy.com criminal today to get started. That's growtherapy.com criminal growtherapy.com criminal availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. At Thomas Planberger's trial, the prosecution presented photos of how Kirsten Gertner had been found by rescuers. Thomas had said he had left her near the summit, but it appeared that she had fallen. She was about 150ft from the summit and she was, quote, hanging from a rock face, her feet dangling. A doctor testified that Kirsten had died from hypothermia. He had also found that she had pneumonia at the time of her death, but it was not clear if that had contributed to her exhaustion. The prosecution also presented data from Kirsten and Thomas's smart watches that they'd been wearing on the mountain. They said it showed a clear decline before the police helicopter went to check on them. Kirsten Gertner's mother, Gertrude, also spoke at the trial. She said she didn't blame Thomas for Kirsten's death. She told a German newspaper that she was angry that Kirsten is being portrayed as a stupid little thing. Her mother said that Kirsten loved the outdoors and that she had plenty of climbing experience on her own and with Thomas.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

And she was very intent on making sure that Kirsten wasn't seen as a weak individual who had no agency in this. And she really defended her daughter in terms of her strength and she seemed like she didn't want her to come off as weak person.

[Phoebe Judge]

Gertroud told a reporter. Many people who blame Kirsten's boyfriend have never been in such a situation. I hope they never find themselves in such an exceptional situation because nobody knows how they'll react then. It's easy to be a hero in the comfort of your own home. Near the end of the day, the prosecution called a woman named Andrea Bergener

[Jonathan Wolfe]

to the stand, an ex girlfriend of Thomas, and they had dated a few years prior.

[Phoebe Judge]

Andrea Bergener told the judge that Thomas had also taken her on a trip to Gros Glockner a few years earlier.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

You know, the way she described it, she said that they were descending the mountain at night, and then she said that, you know, during the climb they had been arguing and that she wanted to take a shortcut down the mountain.

[Phoebe Judge]

She said that she was exhausted and her headlamp had just run out of battery. And then she lost sight of Thomas

[Jonathan Wolfe]

and that's the moment that Thomas apparently left her she screamed, she felt dizzy, and, you know, at that moment she realized she was like, completely alone. Then she said, from then on, they didn't go on any hikes together.

[Phoebe Judge]

The trial lasted 14 hours. At the end of the day, at around 11pm, the judge issued his verdict. He said Thomas was guilty. He said that he had, quote, galaxies more experienced than Kirsten, but that he did not see Thomas as a murderer. The judge said, you are an excellent alpinist, but someone who finds it very difficult to make the switch between your own limits and those of others.

[Jonathan Wolfe]

You know, he acknowledged that Thomas lost someone very close to him in his life. But then he also was pretty firm about condemning him for certain actions he took during the climb. He said that, you know, Kirsten really put herself in his care and really trusted him to bring her to the summit and back down safely. And in the end, he said very bluntly, you know, if you would have acted differently, he strongly assumed that Kirsten would still be alive.

[Phoebe Judge]

Do you think this verdict will have an effect on mountaineering regulations?

[Verena Morchatz]

I think in practice it will have an effect insofar as I think people will be more conscious about if you go with another person or if you go into a group, if you go as a group and do these activities and one of you is better than the others, and one of you resumes the role of yes, I'm planning the trip. I'm gonna check out the route we're going. I'm gonna decide when we're gonna start. And I'm gonna be the one that during the trip, figures out how sensible is it to move on or how sensible is it to abort. Friends that do a tour, I think they haven't been aware of the fact that they could be responsible. And that I think will change now because people realize if I, as the expert on the mountain, take my friend expert and ask him, let's go do this trip, that I can be criminal responsible.

[Phoebe Judge]

Thomas Plamberger was sentenced to five months in prison and a fine of 9, 600 Euros, about $11,000. He told the judge, I am infinitely sorry for what happened. He's filed an appeal of the verdict.

[Thomas Plamberger]

Here's this woman that I've been dating a brief time. I invite her on this trip. It's supposed to be luxurious and fun. And now we're in this situation and contemplating terrible things.

[Phoebe Judge]

On our other show, this Is Love, another story of a couple on a mountain.

[Verena Morchatz]

It's just a wall.

[Phoebe Judge]

There's no ledges.

[Verena Morchatz]

You're trapped.

[Thomas Plamberger]

So many things would have to go wrong for nobody to notice were gone. So I just had confidence that there's no way this many things could go wrong in a row.

[Phoebe Judge]

You can listen to that story right now on this Is Love. Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me. Nadia Wilson is our senior producer. Katie Bishop is our supervising producer. Our producers are Susanna Roberson, Jackie Sajiko, Lily Clark and Lena Sillison. This episode was fact checked by Katie Cederborg. Our show is mixed and engineered by Veronica Simonetti. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see [e-mail] and you can sign up for our [e-mail] Newsletter. We hope you'll consider supporting our work by joining our membership program Criminal. Plus, you can listen to Criminal, this Is Love and Phoebe reads a mystery without any ads. Plus you'll get bonus episodes. These are special episodes with me and Criminal co creator Lauren Spohr talking about everything from how we make our episodes to the crime stories that caught our attention that week to things we've been enjoying lately. To learn more, go to patreon.com criminal we're on Facebook @thisiscriminal and Instagram and tick tock at Criminal Underscore Podcast. We're also on [e-mail] criminalpodcast criminal is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Discover more great shows@podcast voxmedia.com I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.

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