The movie portrays an attempt in 1936 to summit the Eiger via the north face, the last major unclimbed Alpine face, by two competing teams. The more prominently featured pair are German climbers Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andreas Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas). The ascent is covered by the fictional novice journalist Louise (Johanna Wokalek) and her cynical editor from a Berlin newspaper.