A harrowing Mt. Washington rescue story gets the movie treatment in ‘Infinite Storm’

"Infinite Storm" recounts a real-life rescue mission from 2010.

Naomi Watts in 'Infinite Storm.' Bleecker Street

March 8, 2022

In October 2010, Pam Bales set out on a familiar path to the top of Mount Washington. On the way up, the experienced hiker determined that a fast-approaching blizzard had made ascension too dangerous, and began to turn back.

Then she saw a lone set of footprints.

“It was clear that these tracks hadn’t been made by sturdy hiking boots, but by sneakers,” Bales wrote in an article for Backpacker magazine. “Street shoes in this weather? I knew someone was in trouble.”

That’s the start of a true story that serves as the basis for “Infinite Storm,” a new movie starring Naomi Watts (“King Kong”) that’s coming to theaters in March.

With a screenplay adapted from Ty Gagne’s 2018 article about Bales, “Infinite Storm” recounts Bales’ harrowing rescue of “Paul,” an ill-prepared, hypothermic man she found amid swirling snow and howling winds on what’s often referred to as the most dangerous small mountain in the world. Even as Paul begins to lose touch with reality (and occasionally consciousness), Bales is determined to get both of them down the mountain to safety.

“Infinite Storm” will debut in theaters March 25. Watch the trailer below.