Several suspicious deaths and disappearances have taken place in the Golden Mountains nature reserve, a little know region in the Republic of Gorno Altai, previously part of the former Soviet Union. Various legends have sprung up around this, and in the bars they talk in hushed voices of the terrifying mountain men known as the Alma. To put paid to the rumours and investigate the causes of the events, an strange expedition party is formed, comprising a veteran Irish mountaineer, his cook and an alleged Italian tourist, along with the reserve’s director and head. None of them have any idea of what they will discover.