 On October 3, 1913, on an attempt to make the first ascent of the North Ridge of the Mandlkogel free solo, Preuss fell more than 300m to his death.His body was found a week and a half later, buried under a foot and a half of new-fallen snow.While the actual cause of the fall will never be known, an open pocketknife and a rucksack with a length of sling material, as well as some cairns found ten years later, suggest that Preuss may have stopped for a rest high on the upper ridge and lost his balance as he tried to catch the pocketknife after it slipped from his grasp.