On October 24, 1989, Jerzy Kukuczka fell to his death while climbing Lhotse. It was the first time he went to the Himalayas with money, proper equipment and international fame. The mysterious death of the climber is not the focus of Paweł Wysoczański’s film though. Literally and metaphorically Jurek shows a man getting to the top. Kukuczka was a socialist worker, a poor climber with homemade equipment who rose to compete with Reinhold Messner in a rivalry to climb the highest Himalayan peaks. The film contains interviews with family and friends, archival recordings and TV shows, all of which make up for a portrait of Polish climbing community in the 1980s. It also depicts the difficult, yet, stimulating environment in Poland during the golden age of Polish climbing, when idealism was valued more than fame.