Team Alpin – Finally us again / Downstream

“Team Alpin – Finally us again” and “Team Alpin – Downstream” – The threesome of Martina (Johanna von Gutzeit), Uli (Daniel Fritz) and Rupert (Daniel Gawlowski) are the “Team Alpin”. They are at the center of the new ZDF series of the same name for Thursday evenings.

Since their earliest youth, Martina, Uli and Rupert have been united by a deep friendship and, at the same time, a passion for the mountains. Together, the trio founded a very special alpine school. The passionate sportsmen offer individually adapted mountain and outdoor activities and thus help their customers to achieve unique mountain experiences that are more than just a summit attempt. In Martina’s, Uli’s and Rupert’s Alpine School, it’s not about breaking records, but about overcoming one’s own limits, having fun in a team, testing one’s own resilience or simply enjoying nature and having fun together. The three friends go through thick and thin and also make their customers fit for life.

“Finally us again” Thursday, 01 November 2018.
Passionate mountain guide and outdoor activist Martina Stadler wants to sell her childhood home to settle in France for good with her husband Jean-Luc. In her hometown of Engerberg, she meets Uli Dobner, her close friend since childhood. Uli now has a family and runs his parents’ farm. When Rupert, Uli’s younger brother, shows up unexpectedly, everyone is delighted to see him again. The three of them used to be inseparable, they had made several mountain tours together and climbed every peak several times. In recent years, Rupert had traveled the world as a boulderer. Because he ended his career as a competitive climber at short notice, he now finds himself penniless and without a plan. When Jean-Luc confesses an affair to his wife, Martina’s world comes crashing down. She stops the sale of the house for the time being. In this situation, she meets Pia and Tobias, a young couple vacationing in the mountains. Tobias is actually an avid climber. But a renewed episode of a hereditary eye disease now makes it very difficult for him to find his way around unfamiliar surroundings. He cleverly hides the deterioration from Pia. Martina and her friends understand the fears on both sides. But they are convinced that their lives will go on. After all, why shouldn’t Tobias actually be able to keep climbing? With the right support, he can do it. Because the friends know: You don’t have to see the mountains, you have to feel them.

“Downstream” Thursday, November 09, 2018
Full of verve, Martina, Uli and Rupert throw themselves into setting up their alpine school. However, they need start-up financing, but the bank wants collateral. When Uli uses his farm, it comes to an argument with his father Johann. Meanwhile, Rupert manages to land his first attractive contract. His former Boulder buddy Tom has founded a start-up together with three others: Trekking food for gourmets. Now the team wants to hold an outdoor event for two product testers. If successful, this could result in the first major order for the start-up. Tom, Henrik, Kim and Sophie – the start-up group, book a white-water tour with Martina, Uli and Rupert. But the day before, serious misunderstandings arise in the start-up group. Love confusion and competitive thinking lead to a quarrel. The mood among the four is at rock bottom. When the product testers also demand a heavier route the next day and Martina gives in to them, an accident occurs. The start-up is threatened with extinction. This was also the worst possible start for the Alpine School. Martina, Uli and Rupert argue. But should that be it? Haven’t the three of them already survived other crises? And do they really want to let Tom and his colleagues give up their promising company before they have really tried?

Directed by Käthe Niemeyer, “Team Alpin” stars Johanna von Gutzeit, Daniel Fritz, Daniel Gawlowski, Patricia Meeden, Olivia Pascal, Johann Schuler, Maximilian Laprell, Lara Sophie Rottmann, Pierre Kiwitt, Amy Lee Wörgötter and others. The books were written by Stephanie and Thomas Kronthaler, Silja Clemens and Jürgen Matthäi. Episode leads include David Rott, Meike Droste and Gesine Cukrowski.

It is produced by Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH & Co. KG, Cologne, Wolfgang Cimera and Gabriele Graf. Sophie Venga Fitz is the editor at ZDF.