In 1913, Czech skiing champion Bohumil Hanč perseveres alone in a fierce snowstorm during a race, collapses from exhaustion and exposure, and is found by his friend Emerich Rath, who risks his own life in a desperate rescue attempt. Tragically, Hanč succumbs to the elements, and shortly after his friend Václav Vrbata, who lent Hanč his coat, also perishes in the blizzard.