Avalanche (1978)

Caroline Brace (Mia Farrow) checks into the newly opened ski resort owned by her ex-husband, David Shelby (Rock Hudson). Delighted to run into her former mother-in-law, Florence Shelby (Jeanette Nolan), Caroline joins her on a tour of the facility with Florence and David's accountant, Henry McDade (Steve Franken).

To increase publicity of the resort's grand opening, David has invited winter sports stars such as a ski jump champion named Gary; the downhill skier and notorious playboy, Bruce Scott (Rick Moses); and Olympic skaters Cathy Jordan (Pat Egan) and Annette River (Peggy Browne). Greeting Caroline, David relates his pride in the resort and the struggle it took to build it, noting that he may be implicated in an investigation of a planning commissioner. Putting his woes aside, he expresses his desire to reconcile with Caroline. Meanwhile, on the skating rink, Cathy stumbles at the end of her routine and despite her coach's assurances, she worries that she'll never get it right. Out on one of the resort's hillsides, McDade and Florence encounter Nick Thorne (Robert Forster), a nature photographer who warns that the removal of the trees is rendering the slope unstable. Vowing to remind David of the environmental hazards at the resort, Nick tosses a snowball that easily rolls down the mountain. Elsewhere, Bruce is trying out the ski course when a small avalanche breaks above him. Racing ahead of the oncoming snow, Bruce is forced high up into a tree for safety. When the avalanche eventually stops, he jumps down on the snow and skies away. Later, Nick flags David down, insisting they talk about conditions on the mountain and David introduces Caroline as his wife to Nick. After Caroline leaves, Nick argues with David and ski patrol ranger, Phil Prentiss (Jerry Douglas), about whether enough precautions have been taken to safeguard the resort. Nick departs, running into Caroline who is swimming in the resort's pool. During a flirtatious exchange with Nick, Caroline clarifies that she's David's ex-wife and she expresses interest in seeing Nick at the party that night. As Nick heads outside, he sneaks explosives out of Phil's truck. Meanwhile, David greets popular talk show host Mark Elliott (Barry Primus) and informs Mark that his wife Tina is at the resort with Bruce. That night, Nick makes an unexpected appearance at the party and incites David's jealousy as he dances with Caroline. After arguing with David, Caroline goes home with Nick. In another cabin, Tina finds Bruce in bed with Annette, which sends her screaming into the snow in her underwear. In the morning, Nick leaves Caroline in bed to check out conditions on the mountain while Tina returns to argue with Bruce about his infidelity. In his office, David orders his lawyer, Marty Brenner (X Brands), to come to the resort to deal with the commissioner's investigation regardless of the dangerous flying conditions. Up on the mountain, Nick uses the purloined explosives to safely release pressure on a precariously dangling snow shelf. Back at the lodge, David presides over various grand opening celebrations and events while Mark Elliott covers the events on his talk show before taking a break to ski. As Mark boards the lift, he notices a little boy named Jason whose parents were going to leave him behind, and takes Jason up the mountain with him. Just then, Marty's airplane crashes into the mountain, triggering a massive avalanche. The snow sweeps away all people on the lift, including Jason's parents, and knocks Gary down in the middle of his ski jump. Bruce races downhill to outrun the avalanche, but this time the snow overtakes him. Caroline watches the disaster from Nick's place, where she is protected from the devastation by the house's remote location. At the ice rink, where David judges the competition from the observation booth, Cathy finally successfully completes her skating routine, just before the avalanche crushes her. The lodge collapses, crushing Tina in her room just as she's about to commit suicide and trapping Florence and McDade in the dining room. When the avalanche subsides, the survivors take stock of the situation. Mark and Jason are stranded on the ski lift as Nick digs through the snow to rescue Phil near the ranger station. When David crawls out of the collapsed observation booth and encounters Phil, the men decide to use the rest of Phil's explosives to clear a path into the hotel and free any trapped guests. At the lodge, David and Caroline reunite and look for Florence. On the mountain, Annette is desperate to find Bruce, who is stuck upside down in an air pocket, submerged in snow. Though Bruce tries to alert rescuers to his location, it is too late to save his life. David and McDade dig toward each other and finally create a way out of the lodge. Florence is unconscious from a gas leak, but Caroline saves her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, then accompanies her to the hospital on the ambulance. Meanwhile, the ski lift chair falls away, leaving Mark and Jason swinging from the lift line. As rescuers set a net under them, Jason drops to safety, but before Mark can join him, the lift line is momentarily reconnected to its power source and he is electrocuted. David learns that Florence's route to the hospital may be cut off so he and Nick race to find her. Just then, the speeding ambulance skids on the ice and spins out of control. As the vehicle goes over the bridge and explodes, Caroline is thrown outside and left clinging to a weak railing. Nick and David arrive just in time to rescue her, and David realizes Florence is dead. Back at the destroyed resort, Caroline says goodbye to Nick and goes to see David. As they toast their survival with a bottle of champagne that Caroline finds, David says he knows he is the cause of the devastation and the end of their marriage. Caroline marvels at his admission. As Caroline leaves the resort in a taxi, David stands alone in the wreckage of his empire.