A California family is lost while looking for a Christmas tree in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When a powerful snowstorm rolls in, their situation becomes desperate. A massive search and rescue operation is launched, but wind and snow are making the rescuer's work nearly impossible. After three futile days of ground searching, a helicopter pilot risks his own life when he takes off during a short break in the weather, in an attempt to find all four alive.
—Bernadette Longino