Men Are Apparently Leaving Women Stranded On Mountains & Calling It 'Alpine Divorce'

In the event of an apocalypse, my husband is one of those people you definitely want to have around.

He's in top physical shape, skilled with firearms, proficient in land navigation, first aid and basic survival skills, not afraid to get his hands dirty — just a tremendously competent human being. And even though he never became a Boy Scout, he's always prepared. For anything. 

If you read OutKick Outdoors or follow me on Instagram, you know Mike and I do a lot of hiking. And whether it's a quick jaunt through the woods, a trek up a mountain or a rugged backcountry slog, he carries an enormous pack full of everything we need to survive just about any situation the wilderness throws at us.

A bear crosses our path? A torrential thunderstorm rolls in? The temperature inexplicably drops 40 degrees? One of us (or our dog) breaks an ankle? A swarm of rabid, blood-thirsty mosquitoes chase us off the marked trail?

Mike will handle it.

To be fair, I'm not deadweight. I carry water, food, the dog's stuff, bug spray, sunscreen. You know, the essentials. I'm also responsible for keeping morale high — a job I take very seriously.

But overall, I rely on my husband to keep me safe and to always get us back to the truck in one piece.

So imagine my horror when I learned about this new viral dating trend: alpine divorce.

What Is Alpine Divorce?

The term originally comes from an 1893 short story by a writer named Robert Barr. It's about a man who plans to throw his wife off a cliff during a trip to the Swiss Alps. A real feel-good tale.

These days, though, the term is being used more broadly to describe men abandoning their girlfriends in remote outdoor settings and forcing them to navigate the terrain alone. 

As if regular ghosting wasn't bad enough.

When I first heard about this "trend" from an article in The Guardian, I thought, surely this cannot be a real thing.

So I've done some digging. And I regret to inform you, dear readers, it is a real thing. 

Abandoned In The Wild

Apparently, "alpine divorce" is happening all the time. And I found plenty of examples.

While hiking Angel's Landing at Zion National Park — already one of the most nerve-wracking trails in the country — a woman named MJ watched her partner walk ahead of her, grow visibly irritated by her pace, and eventually hike down the mountain with a woman he met on the way up.

They broke up shortly after. Obviously.

A woman abandoned in the Grand Canyon spent 12 hours hiking out alone before a stranger — a very kind Norwegian man, bless him — took pity on her, carried her pack and walked her all the way back up to the trailhead. 

A woman with severe vertigo was left lying on the ground near Delicate Arch at Arches National Park while her date hiked back to retrieve a camera he'd accidentally dropped. They were on their second date. Reader, there was not a third or fourth.

And then there's Laurie Singer, whose story takes the cake. In 2016, Singer set out to hike the 222-mile John Muir Trail through California's Sierra Nevada with a close friend she trusted completely. She was a novice. He had hiked it multiple times. What could go wrong?

Everything, as it turns out.

Days in, Singer began showing signs of altitude sickness. Her vision blurred. She could barely walk. She confessed to her companion that something was seriously wrong. Instead of helping, he told her to hike down alone, set up camp and hitchhike back to her car. Then he handed her one protein bar, his trash and sent her on her way for an 8-mile solo hike over one of the most grueling passes in the Eastern Sierra.

He later told her he'd left her alone "to test her."

She was eventually helped down the mountain by strangers and was diagnosed the next day with brain swelling, infected blisters and malnutrition.

These are just a handful of examples.

These stories are everywhere once you start looking — hundreds of women on TikTok, Instagram and X sharing their own versions of being left behind, lost, scared and (justifiably) furious.

When Alpine Divorce Results In Tragedy

Most alpine divorce stories end with bad blood and a very angry solo hike back to the trailhead. But some aren't so lucky.

In January 2025, an amateur mountaineer named Thomas Plamberger took his girlfriend up the Grossglockner, Austria's highest peak. When she became exhausted and unable to continue, he left her there and headed down the mountain, telling police over the phone that they didn't need assistance, even when a rescue helicopter was offered. He also failed to wrap her in the emergency blanket she was carrying before he left.

She died of hypothermia.

What made it worse is that a former girlfriend testified in court that Plamberger had done the exact same thing to her on the same mountain in 2023.

The judge ruled that, as the more skilled climber, Plamberger had a duty to care for his partner. The court convicted him of negligent manslaughter.

Wild, Right?

Look, I'm going to go ahead and assume that none of you reading this would actually leave your wife stranded on a mountainside. You're OutKick people. More importantly, you're my Womansplaning people. You have common sense and basic human decency.

I love that about you.

But the fact that this is happening frequently enough to have a name — and a support group — is genuinely something I cannot wrap my head around.

Fortunately, I know Mike will never leave me stranded on a mountain. Because he's a good man, and he loves me. But also because he knows our dog would track him down anyway.

No woman left behind, fellas. If you start together, you finish together.

And I'm not just talking about hiking.

Let's open the mailbag.

Apparently, My Marriage Advice Wasn't Too Shabby

Last month, Mike and I celebrated our third anniversary. So in our last installment of Womansplaining, I shared with you some wisdom I've gathered in those 1,096 days of marital bliss. (Previously, I mistakenly said 1,095 days, but I remembered later we had a leap year in there.)

See, even more wisdom!

Paul O. is living the dream:

You hit some of these right on the head:

- Here we sit catching some Netflix together

- Tomorrow AM she’s got a massage and facial scheduled

- Dinner Saturday night; salmon, scallops and lobster tails off the grill, and I’ll still do the dishes

You don’t change a formula that’s worked over forty years!

Cindy F. has some wise words on hobbies and road trips:

Pfft...three years!? I've been married for 32 years and still going strong. FWIW, my personal opinion is that before getting married, a couple should have to go on a car trip across the country without GPS, cell phones or any other modern technology. They are allowed ONLY a paper map. If they survive the trip and don't hate the sight of each other then they may get married. If they can make it through this test without one of them killing the other they have a good foundation for a successful marriage. On one memorable trip (with MIL and SIL in tow) I threatened to throw the GPS out the window. We were stopped on a highway at night due to a traffic accident. I always like to have an atlas on my lap so I can follow our progress on the map. I saw an access road up ahead and checked the map. The access road parallelled the highway for several miles. I suggested we turn off on the access road so we could get beyond the accident but my husband insisted on sticking with the GPS. 😡  I let him live...

Having similar interests is important.  Both my husband and I enjoy watching sports together (basketball, football, volleyball). We both like action films, some animated films and occasionally rom-coms. If the action is too gory and every other word begins with 'F' then I'm out.  He can watch it on his own and I will watch a chick flick or Hallmark movie. We also have different interests and it gives us a chance for some individual 'me' time.

We also love dogs and enjoy spending time with them. Doggies make everything better!!!

Since it's nobody's business I'll skip the sex aspect.  

Suffice it to say that communication is of the utmost importance!!

Anonymous found love again the second time around:

Loved your article about marriage. You asked for feedback so here’s mine. I was married the first time for 20+ years. I am a veteran and have been active most of my life in sports and competition. I married a woman who was not active or competitive. She eventually started running distance with me after we had our two babies. I had run marathons since my Army days in the mid 1980s. She had no interest in exercising until she developed diabetes during her third trimester with our denying daughter, which is when she started training. I eventually had to give up distance running in 2012 because of IT band syndrome and took up Crossfit. Later that year, she also took up CrossFit and eventually became a certified level 1 trainer. I competed on a Masters team until blowing my shoulder out in 2016.

Our marriage, which started in 1993, ended in 2015, despite seven years of marriage counseling. You may have heard the phrase "we grew apart." I always thought that was generic and cold sounding. What happened was when we met in college and fell in love and later got married, we had set goals for ourselves in our mid-twenties. One goal was for me to attend law school and become a lawyer. The next, was to return to Southern California, buy a house, have some kids, and for me to become wildly successful in business. We reached those goals about 15 years later - but what we failed to do was continue to review our goals and set new ones. As our marriage counselor told us, we eventually accomplished those initial goals without setting new ones for how our lives would unfold. Eventually I wanted to slow down, and she refused to return to work so that I could cut back. After 22 years of marriage and our kids becoming independent, we had no idea who each other was nor did we know where we were going together. We ended up splitting eleven years ago.

I’ve since married the woman of my dreams, and we married in 2018. We are what you inferentially described as "joined at the hip." We work together. We both left large law firms (I call us "Big Law refugees"). She is a lawyer, way smarter and far superior to me as a lawyer. She is 17 years younger than I am, but we are inseparable. We are that couple that hates to be apart from each other, but understand how others need space from time to time.  About 18 months ago, we moved our family (our remaining two kids out of five) to our vacation home in Lake Arrowhead, California, and have never been happier.

I’m not looking for a mention in one of your future articles. Iyer and your husband seem like our kinda folks. I don’t want to butt in. I hope you may give some consideration to what I said above about ensuring you and your husband regularly discuss where you are and what your new goals are as a couple after reaching the goals you previously set.  He sounds like a great guy (love that he’s a sportsman and recreational shooter). I’m happy for you both and hope you always turn to each other when the going gets tough and rely on each other to get through it. Congratulations to you and your husband - the best is yet to come for both of you.

Craig G. in VA is married 20 years and going strong:

Loved your column that I just finished reading about married life. You are spot on again, as usual.

- Married 20 years last July to my wonderful wife. Together for 26 years.

- Our sex life has only gotten better just as you said. Even at 52 (me) and her at 48. It is still as good and amazing as the first time when we were in our 20's, if not better. There's no Ricky and Lucy Ricardo separate bed bullshit here.

- She has her friends and activities. Book club, running club, and just normal girls time. I have my buddies whom I hang with and we do our guy things. Golf, breweries, concerts etc.. But we also enjoy so much shit together. CrossFit, hiking, beach days and mountain trips. Or a just quiet evening at home watching tv or reading. As you stated, there is and has to be a balance.

I hate when I hear someone say "Being married sucks, it is miserable". 9 times out of 10 it is usually a serial divorcee or a single person who has a different boo every month and just has no idea how to do it right. I absolutely love being married and am beyond proud to call her my wife every day. Putting on that ring every morning getting ready for work is a moment of joy for me. She truly is my best friend. After this many years, we just get each other perfectly. There are of course ups and downs, we are not a Hallmark movie couple. But the good times outweigh the bad by a long shot.

Amber:

Amen to that, Craig.

I can't stand it when people act like marriage is a death sentence. Like you're doomed to a life of resentment and misery because you've committed to someone. The tropes are so tired: Game over. Ball and chain. Marriage is hard.

I disagree. When you've found the right one, marriage is not hard. Life is hard. Sharing it with your favorite person is what makes it easier.

Just remember that "the right one" would never abandon you in the woods to be eaten by bears.

Womansplaining is a column about dating, marriage, sex and relationships.

📩 Email: amber.harding@outkick.com 
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