The harder you climb, the higher you live.

Buntaro Mori is a loner, but being alone in a crowd is almost as bad as being forced to fit in. When a dangerous bid for solitude introduces Mori to the rush of solo climbing, he becomes addicted to the brilliant sense of freedom he finds as he pits his body and soul against the heights. But how high does he have to climb to leave humanity behind?

Mori’s reunion with Miyamoto, his high school climbing partner, brings up a lot of memories. It also proves that people can always find new ways to be disappointing. Unwilling to make himself vulnerable like that again, Mori holes up alone in the Mount Fuji weather research station, ready to turn his back on the world. But after months of isolation, a chance encounter with a lost hiker changes the course of his life forever.