To be the first to climb the famous, notorious Eiger North Face - that is the dream of many mountain climbers from all over Europe in the summer of 1936. The two ace climbers from Germany, Toni Kurz (BENNO FUERMANN) and Andi Hinterstoisser (FLORIAN LUKAS), also can't think of anything else. They're convinced that they can make it, even though many attempts to scale the "Murder Wall" have ended fatally. But for those who make it to the top first, there's not only social prestige waiting for them, but Olympic Gold as well…

While preparing themselves at the foot of the North Face, Toni and Andi unexpectedly run into Luise (JOHANNA WOKALEK), Toni's early love. Now a journalist, she has come with her colleague Arau (ULRICH TUKUR), a loyal Nazi, to report about the first ascent. Toni still loves Luise, but she seems to have fallen for the charming Arau. The disconsolate Toni begins the ascent of the North Face with Andi, closely followed by the two Austrians Willy Angerer (SIMON SCHWARZ) and Edi Rainer (GEORG FRIEDRICH).

All goes well at first, and both rope teams make good headway. From the terrace of the Grand Hotel at the foot of the Eiger, they are being observed through binoculars by a rapt crowd of onlookers and the world press - including Luise, who realizes that Toni is her one true love. But then the climbers lose their advantage over the mountain: Willy is hit on the head by falling rocks, the weather shifts, and the four Alpinists are forced to turn back. It looks as if the mountain is going to win again. While a dramatic struggle for survival rages on the North Face, Luise decides to go help the man she loves. A race against time and the forces of nature begins…