Since 1886, there has been a weather-station master at the summit of the mountain. He telegraphs his daily measurements into the valley from where they are transmitted to Rome, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. During the long winter he is cut off the rest of the world. In the autumn of 1921, after a tragic accident, the lonely station shall be occupied by a married couple for the first time. The unemployed Josef Manser marries over night the pregnant Lena and therefore gets the job. Gregor Kreuzpointer, a former k.u.k. officer, who has experienced the war front in the Dolomite Mountains, feels he has been cheated by Manser. He decides to prove to the world that the post of stationmaster should by rights have been given to him by being the first to ascend the mountain in winter. He conquers the mountain. Once up there, in the closeness of the ice covered station close to the sky, a life and death struggle begins - Because: All three are stuck at the summit and there is only enough food for two of them.