True Crime Alpine Divorce: On Murder, Misogyny, and Mountaineering
About this episode
The episode explores the dark lore of 'alpine divorce' through the case of Thomas Plamberger and Kirsten Gertner, discussing its implications for the climbing community.
What is the meaning behind the suddenly ubiquitous phrase “alpine divorce”? Romantically put, it is “a hike from which only the man returns.” More plainly put: Mountain murder. Courtenay tapped her fav climbing partner and fellow Everest summiteer, Hannah (@hannahclimbsstuff), to join her in unpacking the dark lore behind the mountain-murder discourse. Namely, the strange case of Thomas Plamberger and Kirsten Gertner. We’ll run through a detailed play-by-play of the deadly alpine divorce case that shook Austria, couched in the context of our own history as hashtag women who climb. If you’ve heard the story before, this version might still be worth a listen—Courtenay swears the YouTube video essays are getting it ALLLL wrong. This just in: A splitboard is a backcountry snowboard, and it's very normal to bring one on a tour! And Thomas didn’t have one because he had SKIS. Beyond clarifying the facts of the case, we’ll also discuss what this decision means for the climbing community, why victimizing women feels counterproductive, and how best to avoid being alpine divorced. Happy trails!
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