Jason Gage is enjoying a well deserved vacation with his family when a family friend Aldo, arrives at his home and asks him to help find a missing woman. Luciana Lopez has gone missing in a remote gold mining town high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru. The woman has disappeared after witnessing the murder of her brother, Sebastian Lopez. Jason knows the Lopez family and feels an obligation to help as Luciana's uncle Joe and Aldo had saved Jason and Angelo's lives while being chased through the Colca Canyon. The illegal gold mine is in the Peruvian Andes located below a huge glacier. La Rinconada the town of 25,000, of mostly male inhabitants that work in the mine, is situated at 5 kilometers above sea level, the highest human habitation on earth. The town lacks electricity, running water, a sewage system, public toilets or, any basic services such as garbage pick up. The men collect water from the nearby lakes that are contaminated by discarded mercury used in the mining of gold.
The mine is illegal, and men are dying daily from the harsh conditions. Not only is the road to La Rinconada one of the worst mountain roads to navigate in the Peruvian Andes but, supply trucks are routinely highjacked and the drivers are badly beaten on their quest to supply the mine and the town. Jason calls on his friends Washington and Juan Diego to help. Washington is thrilled to find out that Aldo has arranged for them to use a former 1970's US military five-ton 6x6 van truck capable of carrying up to 10,000 pounds of goods. The same kind of vehicle Washington drove while in the army. Unknown to Jason, his friend Angelo Fernando is also heading to La Rinconada for an entirely different reason. Angelo has discovered that the mine is about to be destroyed, causing the glacier to collapse. The town will in turn be buried in an avalanche of snow and ice killing thousands.
He only has a few days to convince the miners to evacuate the mine and the town. To make matters worse, Luis Melgar Jr., the son of the man that was tracking Jason and Angelo in the Colca Canyon, has brought a criminal element to La Rinconada to prey on the unsuspecting miners. When Luis Melgar Jr. discovers that Angelo Fernando was responsible for his father's disappearance offers a large reward for anyone that knows the whereabouts of Angelo Fernando.