In 1963, the U.S. launched a campaign in Vietnam. Lenny, a young American, moves away from military hysteria to neutral Switzerland. He's beautiful like Gary Cooper, and he loves mountains most of all. They rise above the world, far from petty passions, filth, obligations, and bourgeois joys. In the serene Alps, at an altitude of two thousand meters, Lenny is removed from everything and considers this the only possible choice. He only does what cuts through the dazzling white snow, teaches bored tourists to ride and spends the night with them in the chalet of his boss. Everything changes in the summer, when the snow melts and the fugitive has to go to Geneva. There he meets Jess, the young daughter of a diplomat, and all his principles sweep away with feelings of power he had never known before.