The story of the climb follows the historical narrative of the actual 1936 Eiger North Face climbing disaster. A rescue team reaches within metres to save the last climber alive but a knot tying two short ropes together cannot pass through his carabiner and Kurz dies within earshot of Louise. Distraught at losing her best friends, particularly Toni, to whom she is romantically attached, and repelled by the editor's cynicism, Lousie resigns her job and the film ends with her working as a professional photographer in postwar New York.