Harold May, an excellent Jewish-American tap dancer, on tour in Europe with his company, receives an offer from a German that is difficult to pass up: a large sum to put on a show in Berlin. The German does not know that Harold is of Jewish origins; the year is 1937 and, once they arrive in Germany, the company discovers that he will have to perform in the presence of Adolf Hitler.
When Andreas arrives in the remote valley in the Austrian Alps, he is only about four years old - nobody knows for sure. He grows up to become a skilled farmhand and, as a young man, joins a work crew that builds one of the first mountain railroads, bringing light and noise to the valley along with electricity. He also finds the love of his life in Marie, but their happiness is short-lived. Only many years later, when Andreas embarks on his final journey, she is with him once again. And in amazement Andreas looks back at all the years that lie behind him.
Barely 22, Franz Klammer finds himself at the “eye of the storm” when he shows up for the men’s downhill competition at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Since the previous season the charismatic newcomer has won virtually every race. The pressure from the media and the public and the hopes of an entire nation are off the scales. His sponsor is pushing him to switch equipment right before the competition, the weather is getting steadily worse, and his toughest rivals know that Franz has to do better than just a flawless run. Franz senses that he has to find his own path and that only the love of his life can give him the strength to do that. This is the most important race of his life in which he skis a line that nobody even thought was possible and which will make him to this day a legend in the sport of downhill skiing.