When a passenger plane crashes near the top of Mont Blanc in the French Alps, greedy Christopher Teller (Wagner) decides to go and rob the dead. However, he has no hope of getting to the crash site without the help of his older brother Zachary (Tracy), a highly skilled mountain climber. Zachary wants to leave the dead in peace, but Chris hounds him until he finally gives in.
When they reach the downed plane, they find one badly injured survivor, an Indian woman. Chris wants to leave her there to die, but Zachary insists on bringing her down the mountain.
On the descent, Chris, ignoring Zachary's warning, tries to cross an unsafe snow bridge and falls to his death. When Zachary gets the woman to his village, he tells everyone that he went up the mountain to rob the plane and forced his brother to go with him, but his friends know better.