When David McHugh discovers an unexpected talent for finding what he calls "cold places" -- sites that have ancient power -- it isn't long until he locates a valuable artifact buried in one of this sites. The find excites his father, a professor of archaeology, who has been encouraging his son to follow in his footsteps. David is pleased to have made his father proud of him, but some becomes frightened. As his "pull" to cold places becomes stronger, David discovers that these freezing energy vortexes provide a direct link to the Ice Age and he finds himself uncontrollably slipping into the past, terrified of being unable to return to the present. Worse yet, the malevolent ice follows him back to his own time!

With his new girlfriend, Molly Doyle, he tries to find a way to stop the influence the spirit of the ice is having on modern weather. But while he is battling strange forces, he also struggling to grow up and accept the changes that are taking place in his own life.