It was originally serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from November 2007 to October 2012, with its chapters collected in 17 tankōbon volumes.

The story follows a lonesome and "gloomy" student named Buntarō Mori (森 文太郎, Mori Buntarō) and his journey from the discovery of his new passion, climbing, starting from a high school climbing club, to being a world class professional climber.

Going through the different stages of his life dealing with loneliness, solo climbing, and depression, in pursuit of his dream, conquering the most difficult mountain, K2.

It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from 1 November 2007[8] to 27 October 2011.

[11] The Climber won an Excellence Prize in the Manga Division at the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2010.