A Frenchman has been sent to jail in Austria after an avalanche killed his wife last year in the Austrian Alps.  He was charged with negligent manslaughter.  His sentence is to be three months.

This married French couple was skiing near Obertauern in Austrian during March 2011.  They both had avalanche transceivers…turned off and in their backpacks.

The wife skied first, triggered a medium sized avalanche, and was buried.  Her body was recovered hours later by rescuers.

The husband is an experienced mountaineer and the wife was not.  With this in mind, the husband was strapped with negligence as he lead his wife onto a dangerous slope and did not properly use their avalanche transceivers.

The wife reportedly had major head trauma and was buried over 3 feet deep.  

The wife’s death is a serious tragedy.  I’m sure the man felt terrible enough by the loss of her alone.  The addition of court time and jail time and a manslaughter verdict must be crushing him.

What do you guys think?  Should he have been tried for this incident?  Will this be a precedent in future avalanche deaths and injuries?

 

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