In 1979, the 6,828 metre high mountain "Ama Dablam", regarded as holy in Nepal, was the scene of a momentous and spectacular rescue mission.

A New Zealand expedition, under the leadership of Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary who conquered Mount Everest, finds themselves in an almost hopeless situation, when the climbers are suprised by an ice avalanche on the almost vertical Mingbo rock face.

Reinhold Messner, who by chance had been delayed with his team in the base camp, discovers the New Zealanders in distress. Together with Oswald "Bulle" Olz, they put their own lives on the line to rescue their fellow climbers.

This documentary film recounts the events in a new light, combining archive footage, re-enactment and interviews with Reinhold Messner and those who accompanied him at the time.