‘Alpine divorce’ explained: The tragic story behind the viral phrase
Hopefully you never find yourself left behind by a partner while hiking a mountain or abandoned in the woods. If you do, you might be a victim of an “alpine divorce.”
The phrase has gained traction on social media in recent weeks following news of a climber’s guilty verdict after he left his girlfriend behind on a hike, where she froze to death on Austria’s highest mountain.
The phrase is said to have originated from the 1893 short story An Alpine Divorce by Robert Barr, in which an unhappy husband plots to kill his wife by pushing her off a mountain during a trip to the Swiss Alps.
Across platforms like TikTok and X, women have started sharing their own stories of times they were allegedly left behind to fend for themselves by partners during hikes.
One TikTok creator posted a short clip of herself walking along a mountain trail earlier this month. In the clip, she is audibly upset.
“POV: you go on a hike with him in the mountains but he leaves you alone by yourself and you realize he never liked you to begin with,” she wrote in the video’s text overlay. Her video has since gone viral, with over 19 million views.
The comments section is filled with similar stories from other users. “My boyfriend did this to me. I found another hiker to show me how to get back then I went home and blocked his number,” one wrote.
“This happened to me in Joshua tree on a day when it was 100+ degrees outside,” another wrote. “My ex husband left me and took the backpack with water and snacks. I thought he’d come back but nope. Finally found my way back to the car and he was chilling in the front seat with the AC on. Needless to say we’re divorced.”
While many of the stories are unverified personal accounts, the recent surge in attention has also served as a grim reminder of the real-life case that echoes the trope’s dark origins. Thomas Plamberger, 37, was found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter over the death of his 33-year-old girlfriend, Kerstin Gurtner. He was given a suspended sentence of five months in prison and fined 9,600 euros (about $11,300).
In January 2025, the two hiked up Grossglockner, Austria’s highest mountain. After Gurtner became exhausted, Plamberger abandoned her roughly 50 meters from the summit in freezing, high-wind conditions and without an emergency blanket. She later died of hypothermia.
During the course of the trial, an ex-girlfriend of Plamberger’s came forward and testified that he had also left her alone on a night hike on Grossglockner a few years earlier.
“Once we descended the Glockner at night, and suddenly he was gone,” she reportedly said. “I felt dizzy, I screamed, and I was completely alone. From then on, we didn’t go on any more hikes together.”