Autumn 1943 in the Hautes-Alpes region of France.
Justin Barles has just received his posting as schoolteacher in a village lost on the high slopes of the Dent de Cervières. At the same time, in the valley, two young men, one a Jew and the other a Communist, escape from the Gestapo and come to hide in the village cemetery.
Shortly after, an avalanche cuts the village off from the rest of the world, shielding it from any German incursions for the next few months.
The village closes upon its secret until the snows melt the following spring.
In isolation, the passions of these characters thrown together in spite of themselves become more intense and clash; romantic passions, political passions and simple passions…
And, in the spring, the day both awaited and feared, when the road is finally cleared to let through a German column, forces the villagers to either face their destiny or flee the danger.
