In 1913, Czech skiing champion Bohumil HanÄ 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, HanÄ succumbs to the elements, and shortly after his friend VĆ”clav Vrbata, who lent HanÄ his coat, also perishes in the blizzard.