An enthusiastic hiker, Aron Ralston, made the very foolish choice to go hiking alone in Utah's Canyonlands National Park in April 2003. There he finds hikers, Kristi and Megan, and helps them with location. He becomes friends with them and shows them an underground pool. After spending some time together, they both depart on their own. Before they leave for home, they invite Aron to join a party the next night. Aron then proceeds via Bluejohn Canyon's slot canyon. He stumbles and falls while climbing, hitting a boulder that jams his right arm against the wall. Aron tries to lift the boulder, but it refuses to budge, and he quickly finds himself by himself. He screams out for help from the place where no one can find him. Predicting the future unpleasant days, he starts saving water.
He uses a pocket knife to chip away at the boulder. Amidst this, he drops the knife and reaches back after trying so hard. Throughout the night, he chipped away at Boulder so hard. He sets a swing to hardly try to sit in that to give himself relief from standing throughout. After defending himself from the cold night, he enjoys the sun as much as he can the next morning. Next, he starts filming a video journal and tapes everything that happened and details about him on his camera to get help from someone if he goes dead. He keeps himself motivated. Aron tries to stay warm at night, limits his food, and takes very small sips of water rarely on a day.
To lift the rock, he also sets up a pulley with his climbing rope, but to no avail. He is now left with 150 ml of water, which can last only until the third night. Hence, he saves his pee for safety. He watches a raven that crosses every morning at the same time. Every day at 9:30, he gets 15 minutes of sunlight. Aron experiences severe depression and desperation during the day, and he starts to have hallucinations concerning escaping from there in the rain, his past relationships, and earlier events involving his family and his ex-girlfriend Rana. He also recalls that he didn’t tell anyone where he was going. He also feels sorry for not returning any of his mom’s calls. He ran out of water and was forced to drink his urine after five days.
In one of his hallucinations, Aron concludes that fate has imprisoned him with the boulder and that his error was not telling anyone where he was going or for how long. Aron is inspired to live on the sixth day after seeing a glimpse of his future son. Using CamelBak tube insulation, he crafts a tourniquet and tightens it with a clip. Then, applying his understanding of torque, he fractures the bones in his arm and gradually amputates them with the multitool. After taking a picture of the boulder and wrapping the stump to prevent exsanguination, Aron descends a 65-foot (20-meter) rockface by rappelling. Then, while descending, he finds some rainwater that has pooled. Dehydrated, he sips the stagnant water and moves on. He calls for assistance after spotting a family out for a walk back in the desert. They provide him with water and notify the police; a Utah Highway Patrol chopper transports him to a medical facility.
Aron married and had a son years later. Along with continuing to climb, he always leaves his family with a note explaining his whereabouts.
