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? The tragic deaths of his teammates in the northern Japanese Alps leave Mori reeling, but despite the devastating experience, his love of climbing has not been dimmed. His ability to handle other people has suffered, though, and it takes an incredible job offer to finally draw him back down into civilization. There, he finds everything is just as terrible as he left it. Will his new hopes for the future get snagged on the relentlessness of reality?