The story focuses on Dr. Ben Payne and writer Ashley Knox as they get stranded in the High Uintas Wilderness after a plane crash.

[3] On a stormy winter night, Dr. Ben Payne and writer Ashley Knox are stuck in Salt Lake City International Airport when their flights are canceled.

Though they survive the impact with injuries (Ben has broken ribs and Ashley suffers a terrible leg fracture), they are faced with harsh weather conditions and the fact that no one knows they are missing.

Terry Miller Shannon, writing in The Book Report, called it "not only a page-turner of an adventure story; there is a moving emotional counterpart to the physical journey these characters undertake.

For the plot in the film, Winslet's character hires the charter plane instead of Dr. Ben in the original book.