20-Year-Old Skier Convicted of Negligent Homicide After Fatal Collision With Uphill Skier in Austria

A 20-year-old skier has been convicted of negligent homicide after colliding with a ski tourer who later died from his injuries in the Maria Alm ski area in Austria earlier this year. The Salzburg Regional Court handed down its verdict on Thursday, July 30, sentencing the skier to a €2,880 ($3,320) fine and ordering him to pay court costs. The judgment is final.

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The fatal collision occurred around midday on February 7, 2026, on the Schwarzeckalm piste in Maria Alm, part of Austria’s Hochkönig ski area. The 65-year-old uphill skier from Pinzgau was ascending the slope when the the downhill skier collided with him just beyond a terrain rollover that obscured visibility of the slope below. Both men suffered serious injuries and were flown by helicopter to hospital. The uphill skier later died from severe head injuries, while the 20-year-old Austrian skier was hospitalized for a week with a concussion and a superficial brain hemorrhage.

During Thursday’s trial, prosecutors initially pursued a charge of grossly negligent homicide, arguing that the skier had been travelling at excessive speed and deliberately launched off the terrain rollover. However, after expert testimony, prosecutors reduced the charge to negligent homicide, to which the defendant pleaded guilty.

“I was too fast. That’s how it is,” the 20-year-old told the court. “I overlooked that there was a terrain edge,” he acknowledged during the hearing. He further explained that he had been following four friends through a ski area he did not know well and had no memory of the collision itself because of his own injuries.

A court-appointed ski expert estimated the skier’s speed at approximately 60 to 70 km/h (37 to 43 mph). While that speed was considered normal for an experienced skier on an open piste, the expert concluded the defendant violated one of skiing’s most fundamental safety principles: FIS Rule No. 2, which requires skiers to maintain speed and control so they can stop or avoid obstacles within their field of vision. According to the expert, the skier failed to comply with the “ski on sight” principle by approaching the blind rollover too quickly to react to anyone beyond it.

The expert also testified that he could not conclude the skier was travelling at the extreme speed necessary to constitute gross negligence under Austrian case law. Referring to previous Austrian Supreme Court decisions, the court noted that gross negligence generally requires speeds more than twice what would normally be considered appropriate. The expert ruled out that possibility “with a probability bordering on certainty,” prompting prosecutors to amend the charge.

The trial also examined whether the ski area’s infrastructure contributed to the accident. A warning sign reading “Attention, Slow” stood before the terrain rollover, but experts testified it was more likely intended to warn skiers about a crossing road farther down the piste rather than the blind crest itself.

Defense lawyers argued ski area operators also bear responsibility for designing safer uphill routes, contending that warning signs alone are insufficient to protect uphill skiers. The court heard that while an alternative uphill route existed on an unopened slope, ski touring on the Schwarzeckalm piste was permitted under the resort’s rules.

The defendant, a soldier who has skied since the age of three and formerly competed with a local ski club, expressed remorse throughout the proceedings. Through Austria’s military chaplaincy, he contacted the victim’s family to apologize.

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The February collision reignited debate in Austria over uphill travel within operating ski resorts. Since the pandemic-era boom in ski touring, many Austrian resorts have introduced restrictions or outright bans on uphill travel during operating hours, citing the potential for collisions with downhill skiers, grooming machines, and snowmaking equipment.