Sixteen Americans embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the treacherous New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a mountain in just 14 days in order to keep their share of the $1 million prize they're carrying in their backpacks.

After an unexpected twist, game plans shift as they begin to tackle harder terrain. While the trekkers are challenged with crossing a rickety bridge, emotions surge as the Mountain's Keeper arrives with a shocking choice for the trekkers to make, leaving one person’s fate hanging by a thread.

As the trekkers struggle with the arduous terrain, the division of alliances among them becomes noticeable. When the Mountain’s Keeper observes the group’s slow pace, she offers a proposition to help them stay on track to reach the summit in time, but not without both individual and collective consequences.

After a weather delay pauses the group’s progress, they set out to try and make up for lost time. When they reach an obstacle that forces them to split into pairs, one Leader and one Follower, to traverse a steep cliff, one trekker is left to face the challenge alone, bringing alliances and connections into question.

As the trekkers hit the halfway mark on their journey and venture toward the snow line, a divide in pace emerges within the group. After a daunting obstacle the group learns that they have broken a fundamental rule of THE SUMMIT .

After an unexpected checkpoint elimination, the group struggles when they must cross a precarious deep ravine by crawling over a bridge made of two parallel ropes to stay on their route.

Tensions rise among a trusted alliance following an argument regarding the checkpoint vote before the group sets out to reach the snowline.

As the final seven trekkers confront a new phase of their journey – an icy glacier – the Mountain’s Keeper arrives with the necessary gear to traverse it, but it comes at a cost, as there is only enough equipment for six of them. After it is revealed that the first person to touch the Keeper’s bag has the sole power to eliminate a member of the group along with their money on the spot, the group faces an arduous ascent with ice axes up a glacial cliff, testing their strength.

As the group resumes their journey after a storm forced them to evacuate to lower elevation, they face a daunting chasm known as King’s Leap, which they must cross by pulling themselves to the other side using a single rope to arrive at their final checkpoint. When the Mountain’s Keeper surprises the group with a bag drop that leaves everyone reinvigorated in their goal to make it to the summit, some of the strongest alliance loyalties are called into question.

As the final four trekkers reach an impassable chasm at the peak of their journey, they must use a helicopter long line to cross one by one.