Whoever wants to overcome the footholds and foothills must be the first to get two of their pawns to the summit. This requires two things: a little luck with the dice, and the opportunism to be at the right place at the right time. In your struggle to reach the top, your opponents will jostle you toward the foot of the mountain. You can do the same right back, but you can also use a chain reaction to shimmy your way to the top.
In Gipfelstürmer, which translates as Summiteer but should perhaps be titled Footholds and Foothills due to the author, each player tries to reach the peak with their five mountain goats. On your turn, you can roll dice up to three times. At the end of the turn, you look to see if you fulfill the requirements to move one of your mountain goats toward the summit.
Each path up the mountain has its own dice combination. The closer to the peak, the larger the required dice results (from three-of-a-kind and small straight to full house or five-of-a-kind), and the narrower the paths. In spaces of the upper half of the game board, there is room for only one mountain goat to stand. If you reach an occupied space, you may push one of your goats there one space toward the peak; on the other hand, you push one of your opponents' goats back toward the valley. Whoever can get two of their mountain goats to the summit first wins.