The men setting off for the expedition are expert mountaineers, but climbing an eight-thousander is like going to another planet. The thin air makes everything different: in order to succeed the eleven climbers and the rest of their team need to do some serious training. While they’re getting ready, the expedition-leader Ardito Desio is travelling all over Italy for the best equipment which will bring the team to the summit, in absolute safety. Or, at least, in the safest way possible, because the mountain is always dangerous. This realization hits the team hard, when one of the members dies while setting up the camps on K2.