The Summit — Season 1

Sixteen ordinary Americans embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the treacherous New Zealand Alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a towering mountain in just 14 days in order to keep their share of the $1 million prize they're carrying in their backpacks. After a medical emergency occurs just hours into the trek and the climbers face a perilous obstacle crossing a ravine, fears rise as the Mountain's Keeper, who is tracking them along their journey, forces the group to make their first brutal moral decision.

After an unexpected twist reverberates throughout the group, game plans shift as they begin to tackle harder terrain. While the trekkers are challenged with crossing an extremely 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 rappelling obstacle down a 500-foot vertical rock face, the group learns that they have broken a fundamental rule of THE SUMMIT – that the group must travel together at all times – and having ignored the Mountain's Keeper's repeated warnings, must endure the game-changing consequences.

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. During the obstacle, one of the trekkers' injuries is revealed to be much worse than they've expressed, and other members start to question if they can truly make the journey to the summit. When the Mountain's Keeper offers a difficult but altruistic option, the group must decide if a few of them should carry heavy food bags so the entire group can benefit at checkpoint camp.

Tensions rise among a trusted alliance following an argument regarding the checkpoint vote before the group sets out to reach the snowline. After crossing a frigid alpine lake by kayak, the trekkers must pass a massive chasm using a gravity line to get to the next camp. However, their journey comes with an ominous warning from the Mountain's Keeper … Should any of them fall, they will face consequences at the next vote.

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. During the obstacle, they discover a devastating twist from the Mountain's Keeper: the last person will be left behind as payment for the assistance. Another surprise awaits the final three on the other side as Manu arrives with a shocking revelation involving the return of all 13 eliminated members of the group.