Conrad Anker leads a team up Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica, in this NOVA episode that pairs mountaineering with polar science. Author Jon Krakauer joins the climb, and the film follows the group through crevasse fields, whiteout winds, and the brutal cold of the Ellsworth Mountains as they push toward the summit. Along the way the expedition doubles as a research platform, with the climbers collecting data on the ice sheet and the glaciers that grind through the range, work that feeds into broader questions about how Antarctica's ice is changing. Camera crews capture the logistics of climbing in one of the most remote places on Earth, from establishing high camps to reading weather that can turn in minutes. NOVA's narration keeps the science and the survival story running side by side, so the summit push carries as much weight as the glaciological findings that come out of the trip.