A 21-year-old German man left a 17-year-old girl alone on the Zugspitze after the pair encountered heavy snow, temperatures of −12°C and knee-deep snow several hundred metres below the summit. They had set out from Ehrwald, Austria, around 1:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise, but were unable to continue. The man descended while the girl raised the alarm. She was later evacuated by police helicopter, treated in hospital for severe hypothermia and soon allowed to go home.

Austrian police are investigating the man's actions on suspicion of physically endangering a minor. It is not clear whether the decision to split up was mutual. The offence carries a possible prison sentence of up to three months.