Ice Road Truckers (2007) s04e06 Episode Script
Danger at 55 Below
Tonight, on Ice Road Truckers The polar bear gets ready to Rumble You're kind of an [bleep.]
.
Lisa has a run-in With the law Okay, there was three.
Somebody stole 'em.
Oh, my god, no! A new co-Pilot has Alex on edge Came rolling off over the And a rookie's Mistake Bridge is clear.
Sends jack into Oncoming traffic.
These are the Truckers who make their living On thin ice.
The storms of January have given way to the Bitterest cold of winter.
Kfar 660 A.
M.
Looking like temperatures to Drop rapidly tonight.
That's the killing cold, folks.
You do not want to be stranded In this.
Temperatures this Low are extreme, even for Alaska.
Nearly 600 people die every year From exposure.
Thank you, dear god, for all The blessings and help you give To us today and every day.
Protect us from evil and harm.
Give us direction and guidance.
Trucking up the Frozen dalton highway Looks like somebody's Hitchhiking up here.
Alex debogorski Comes upon a rare sight in this Colda hitchhiker.
Being out here in the middle Of nowhere, I expect he'll be an Interesting specimen.
You call a cab? Yeah, I tried.
Can you take me to the yukon River bridge? Yeah, get in.
My name's alex debogorski.
My name is jeremy towsen.
Pleased to meet you, sir.
Nice to meet you too.
Okay, if I can get you to Make sure there's nobody's Coming.
You're good.
Okay, great.
Yeah.
I stood there for 5 1/2 hours in Was kind enough to pick me up.
When I was younger, I Hitchhiked lots.
I had lots of people pick me up And I've had the good fortune to Pick up a lot of people too.
All right, that's nice.
And because of that, we get To meet interesting people like Yourself.
In the extreme North of alaska, helping a Stranger in need is a way of Life, but when picking up Hitchhikers, you never know Who's getting inside your truck.
Our drivers are not allowed To pick up hitchhikers.
It's a bad practice as far as, You know, taking a chance.
Uh, yeah, it could be a Life-Threatening issue.
It's typically always a bad Thing.
Back in fairbanks, Jack jessee is shoveling off the Last blizzard from his newest Load: A 70,000-pound pipe rack.
Well, we got to clean this Snow off because it's gonna blow Off riding down the road.
We don'tant it to fall off and Hit anybody or anything.
Huh? Nothing is simple When it's this cold.
It takes a mechanic with a Blowtorch just to apply the Reflective tape required for an Oversized load.
Finally getting on the road Here.
Uh, just race ahead and let me Know if anybody's coming.
Jack will convoy With a pilot car to make sure The road ahead is clear for his Monster load.
With the oversized load that I've got, it's vital that I Don't crowd somebody out, so we Send pilot cars to let me know What's coming.
So you're just gonna ride in This right lane here until we Get up across the bridge.
Perfect.
Today, jack's Breaking in a new pilot car Driver, leah thiele.
Leah's not only trying to catch On as a pilot.
She wants to make the big jump To haul road trucker.
I'm not sure what I like more About trucking.
The open road or the big, bad Machines we get to drive with All the power.
My ultimate goal is to come up Here and drive up the dalton Highway hauling heavy haul.
Thought it'd be good to come Pilot jack and learn some Things.
And leah's plan to Become an ice road trucker Starts with trying to impress The haul road ace.
Hey, southbound, I've got two Hey, leah.
What got you to drive a truck Through? You know, I just got my cdl Through a heavy equipment school And then started driving trucks, Then I just fell in love with It.
Had tonka toys as a kid, huh? Oh, yeah.
While the rookie Rolls out into the freeze One of her role models is headed For fairbanks.
Geez.
It's freezing out.
I think the coldest I've ever Seen is, like, minus 52.
Despite the cold, Lisa's fired up and ready to get Back to the yard and grab Another load.
It's taken me an entire week To do one trip.
I waited for a storm for two Days.
After a tough week, Lisa is running behind schedule On her loads and fewer loads Means smaller paychecks.
That's a little bit of a Setback.
Only a few miles From the finish line, there's One last thing standing between Lisa and her next load: The d.
O.
T.
Checkpoint.
When is that? Trucks are usually Weighed and sent on their way.
But lisa's due for a more Thorough inspection.
I'm getting an inspection Because it's been a while.
All right.
He needs[bleep.]
My medical card expires in a Couple days.
That sucks.
I got to get that done now.
Lisa's expiring Medical card quickly takes a Back seat to more immediate Problems.
At the beginning there.
The straps can be Positioned no more than ten feet Apart.
Okay.
Okay, thanks.
I'm trying to take initiative And fix it.
I don't really want a ticket.
I don't really have the money For it.
But lisa's not out Of the woods yet.
Go ahead and hop up in there.
You can roll the window up.
So you can stay warm.
He's looking for cracks in The frame right now.
He's checking my lug nuts, tire Pressure, lights, anything funny And loose, brakes, broken Springs, hanging stuff.
Okay.
Go ahead and open them up.
Every truck is Required to carry emergency Equipment, including three Warning triangles.
You got two in there? Okay, there was three.
Somebody stole 'em.
I'm so pissed.
I'll get a new one.
Okay, do you have any flares Or anything? No.
The final verdict? This is the citation, okay? $160 fine.
I've never gotten a ticket Before and I got one for a Triangle.
I think it's odd that it's gone, Because I haven't used it.
It's kind of frustrating.
Lisa finally pulls Her load into the carlile Yard Knowing that her paycheck is About to take a serious hit.
I'll pay ticket and before I get fined for my expired Medical card, I got to get a Medical examination.
That's worse than paying the Ticket.
Across the yard Hugh "the polar bear" rowland Performs his own inspection Look at them straps.
And gives it a Thumbs-Down.
Look at that.
They think that's gonna make it Up the [bleep.]
road? That don't make sense if they're Strapping a load down to do it Like that.
Hugh's loaded up With 50,000 pounds of pipe.
If it ain't tied down, guy Goes off the road, the pipe will Come off and take the cab off The truck.
I just want to make sure the Pipe don't start going sideways On me and sliding back and Forth, so.
Pipe that isn't Locked down is a disaster in the Making.
If the long cylinders break Loose, one wrong move can turn Them into deadly projectiles.
I think they're doing this on Purpose.
They're picking on the canadians Here.
They know it's my load and I'm a Canadian.
I don't think the office knows Anything about it, but I think There's a bunch of guys up here That don't like us canadians Being up here and we're stealing Their roads this year when the Economy's down.
It gets my gander up sometimes, Yeah.
I know I'm the new guy, I'm the Canadian, but I just want to get Rolling and do my job.
I don't have nothing to prove to Nobody.
I just want to make some money And when the ice roads are over I'll go home.
Same as every year for the last I got [bleep.]
-All to prove to Nobody.
Coming up, alex Discovers that picking up Strangers could be a bad idea.
Oh, my god! You're gonna say what? There's amight be what? And jack heads into An oncoming truck.
Isolated dalton highway, alex is Getting acquainted with his new Co-Pilot on the way to the yukon River bridge.
I have a house to build.
Of course I got gas generators, Gas air compressors.
My dad hasn't been in town in Seven years.
Never has left the haul road.
He never lefthich? He's only been on the road One time.
No kidding? Oh, so he stays In the woods.
Oh, he stays out there? Yeah, he's going for the Record.
I bought my piece of property Sight unseen.
Didn't even know where I was Going to and then moved my whole Family.
Never seen it in our life.
We just bought it.
Oh, so you were living in But an hour into The trip, alex begins to wonder What he's gotten himself into.
Big fire came rolling up over The bunkers.
We had this huge white cloud.
A long story short.
Oh, my god! No! Started running wild.
Nuh-Uh.
You're gonna have to Burn us out.
And then you Three hours later I did have two vehicles and a Chauffer Did you just And then he took off with my Pickup truck I need to just start looking For a new girl.
Well, she's got to be fairly Tough to put up Oh, she's tough.
To put up with you.
Oh, yeah, to put up with me.
Yeah.
And he pulls in and he goes, "Oh, my god! You got a huge screwdriver Hanging out of your engine!" You're gonna say what? There's amight be what? So far, alex's only Worry is getting his ear talked Off, but just to be sure So you carry a gun? No.
I carry a knife.
At last They reach their destination.
Around there.
Give me a hand to unload, I Guess.
Getting ridgotta help Gotta help to get rid of you.
Thank you so much.
Hey, god bless you.
Nice meeting you, jeremy.
Thanks for the entertainment.
Oh, all right.
Oh, jeremy wasI'm glad I Picked him up.
It's nice to look at somebody Else's mixed up life for a While.
Maybe gives a little bit of Appreciation to me for my own Life, you know? It's not so bad.
Every hitchhiker tends to make a Trip more interesting.
Especially if they don't cut Your throat or rob you, but As the hitchhiker Heads home, alex heads across The yukon river bridge, which Has an interesting story all its Own.
While the road was built in just Five months, the bridge took Five years to complete.
Until then, the way across the Yukon was by ice road in the Winter, hovercraft in the Summer.
Just over the bridge Uh-Oh.
This doesn't look too good.
I have a bit of concern about my Steering wheel.
It seems to have more play in it Than it should.
I'm hitting the bumps.
See, when you This tends to be loose back and Forth.
Obviously, something in the Wheel is looser than it should Be.
Most dangerous road on the Continent is no place to lose Your steering.
Well, if the steering wheel Comes off, basically, you crash And everybody dies.
That's your standard procedure When the steering wheel's coming Off.
Have my pair of pliers in my Pocket, so if the steering wheel Comes off, I guess we'll just I'll pull out my pliers and Drive with the pliers.
The foot of atigun pass So I got everything locked in Here and we're gonna shoot for Atigun.
It's go time for Ray veilleux.
We're gonna keep trucking.
Get to prudhoe.
Hauling another Rookie is starting to rack up The loads.
He's in a dead heat for first in The dash for the cash.
And to stay in the game, he's Trying to save time by heading Into atigun without chaining up.
Everything's looking pretty Good.
The road's been good.
Gonna try it barefoot.
We're already spinning out.
Damn.
We're spinning.
We're spinning.
We're spinning.
We're looking for some traction Here.
Whoa.
Come on! Ray fights his way Up the ice.
Coming over the slipperiest Part right here.
This pipe crossing.
It's the last little stretch Right here.
Finally, he reaches The summit.
Yeah, it's pretty icy.
I got good traction now though.
Ray's starting to Get the hang of the haul road.
And the loads and paychecks are Piling up.
I keep trucking.
That's all I do and back and Forth.
I need the loads.
I want the loads.
I need the money.
I want the money and I'm gonna Get it.
As darkness falls On the short, cold day Another rookie, pilot driver Leah thiele, faces a challenge Of her own.
Big one just stopped out of The bridge.
We're coming up the yukon River bridge.
I got leah down there and she's Gonna tell me if anything's Coming.
Leah's first big Test will be guiding jack over The narrow yukon river bridge.
Okay, bridge is clear.
Be right on you.
Over.
See, with the oversized load That I've got, it's vital that I don't meet people in narrow Places.
You know, and god forbid I meet 'Em on the bridge.
I mean, it's wide enough for two Trucks, but it's not wide enough For an oversized and another Truck.
He makes it across The bridge Northbound, sand hill, Two 12-Wides.
But the danger's up Ahead.
Just across the Yukon river bridge Jack jessee and his oversized Load are headed full-Speed into A blind corner.
Man, that was close.
Okay, well, I didn't hear you Holler either, so.
The near miss is Exactly the kind of mistake that This rookie pilot car driver is Supposed to prevent.
Hey, leah? Can you hear me now? My c.
B.
Was on a different Channel.
It was on channel 17.
It was onmy c.
B.
Was on the Wrong channel.
What happened? I promise I did, but on the Other channel.
This time, they got Lucky.
Even a simple Miscommunication in the wrong Place can be devastating.
But another mistake Like that could cost leah her Career and jack his life.
Truck into coldfoot.
The steering wheel is kind of Loose inside the cab.
It wobbles back and forth when You hit the holes and I'm being A little uncomfortable with it.
I'm leaving my load of pipe here In coldfoot and I'm gonna return To fairbanks to have the Steering wheel checked.
His rig may not Make it north But alex has a plan to make sure His load is still delivered on Time.
It says 49,000, but I don't Know.
He finds a Southbound driver willing to Swap trailers and take his load Of pipe up to prudhoe bay.
Very good, sir.
Thank you very much.
You bet.
In exchange, alex Gets a pair of stacked Trailers to haul back to Fairbanks.
But as his load heads north Without him He finds that his new trailer Is anything but ready to roll.
Let's see what's up.
What's up.
The trailer's locking up.
In minus 50 Degrees, the trailer brakes Have frozen solid.
Obviously he just threw The brakes on and then unhooked And left it there.
And basically all the wheels Froze up.
You just use the bar, beat on The drums until they broke Loose.
I'm not absolutely thrilled About it.
I'd like to think the driver did It by accident and not on Purpose.
That's the way it goes.
Life in the fast lane, eh? The next morning Before dawn, the avalanche Control team convenes at atigun Pass.
Okay, we got about two to Four inches of new snow on The north side of the pass.
Reid bahnson has already Found trigger points in The snow pack.
This really weak sugary Stuff.
This stuff is just falling away.
So this is the big slab I'm Expecting to slide.
Now with more snow Piling up, reid can't afford to Waste any time.
So we're gonna go ahead and Get some shots out of the gun.
The team breaks out The big guna 105 millimeter Cannon.
The firing pin's on this Side, so you always grab your Hand right here so you don't Drop this bullet.
Using artillery to Trigger avalanches dates back to The bitter winters of the korean War.
They found that if they would Shoot these artillery rounds Above the troops, then they Would create avalanches.
And they could kill a lot more Of the enemy by the avalanches, As opposed to just the round Going off.
It wasn't to save lives, but it Was to take lives.
Make sure we get traffic Stopped.
Reid shuts down The road across the pass And gets his team in position So they can fire at first light.
Clear to the front.
Clear the rear! Their goal is to Blast the snow off the high risk Areas and reopen the pass to Truckers as quickly as possible.
Ready to fire.
Fire! A little low.
That's no good.
I shot a little to the right And hit a big rock.
It didn't do a damn thing.
Drat! We're clear to the front.
Clear the rear! Fire! Reid's second shot Isn't much better.
OhIt's coming a little Slower than I'd like.
It's gonna be a little more Reluctant.
Bag that one.
With limited ammo And trucks waiting at the foot Of the pass, every shell has To count.
Four, seven, one point zero, Correct.
Fire! There we go.
Now we're talking.
Cool.
We took that son of a gun out Four to five feet deep.
Hopefully this next shot will Do the same thing.
Fire! Nice one! That's a beauty.
Nice, hard slab avalanche.
That's what we like to see.
Two bullets left, where we Going, dave? We got it.
Cool! Nice dust cloud.
A nice avalanche.
This isthis is good stuff.
This is what we live for.
We got one more.
All clear, ready to fire.
Fire! Oh, there she comes.
Over the waterfall.
That's gonna clean it out Nicely.
Today's mission was A success.
All right, let's go.
Get the road open.
But reid's only Cleared three of the 40 known Slide paths throughout atigun.
Once again, trucks are rolling Up the dalton.
But 330 miles south Lisa is stuck driving The streets of fairbanks.
Hope I fit under here.
The things you gotta do in A truck.
Before she can get Back on the road, she's got to Pay her tick.
I'm having a really hard time Finding parking.
In fact, I'm having a hard time Fitting down the streets.
In my big ol' tractor trailer, My only piece of transpo.
And that's the way we park this Bad boy when it don't fit down One-Way streets.
Can I help you? I-I just need to pay this.
So it looks like it'll be $160.
Is a check okay? That's fine.
That's one ticket Paid.
Now lisa's gotta head to The doctor to avoid even bigger Fines.
Lisa? Lisa's medical card Expires in a few days.
Renewing it means passing A state-Ordered eye exam.
O, d, f, c, t.
If I can get you to identify Those six colors? This is just, likeis this A trick question? Like, this is, like, aqua? No.
Just really Okay, blue, red, white, Purple, yellow, green.
All right.
Well, let's see what we got Here.
Let me see here.
Relax.
Come on, say "ah.
" Ah.
There we go.
All right.
Your vision is fabulous.
You got eagle eyes.
Really? You don't wear glasses, right? So I can fly a jet? Yeah, we don't do youryour Jet exam today, but you can Definitely drive a truck.
Her total cash Spent for the day The medical visit.
Thank you.
I gotta get truckin' again To make some moolah to make up For today.
Next, the race to Supply bettles takes a dive.
Whoa, damn! And the polar bear's claws Come out.
You're kinda of a [bleep.]
.
Prudhoe bay, We got a big one here.
Okay, thanks.
Jack jessee and Pilot car driver leah thiele Are about to guide an oversize Pipe rack over atigun pass.
But before jack can tackle The pass, he's got a few smaller Problems to worry about.
Like these ptarmigan, also known As snow chickens.
Chickens.
Chickens all over the road.
And there's a crapload more Chickens.
Get out of the way, chickens.
Chickens, fly! Oh, crap.
I killed a chicken.
Before he climbs The mountain, jack pulls over to Make sure leah knows the game Plan.
You heard anything about Atigun pass? Probably the switchback will Be the hardest part, since as Long as I am, the trailer's Gonna drag down into the curve.
Last night, The rookie driver botched A crucial radio call.
My cb was on a different Channel.
On the tilting, Twisting slopes of atigun, Their radio teamwork needs to Be perfect.
But if not, you'll hear me Screaming on the radio, and You'll be the second one to Know.
Okay.
What do you see up there, Leah? How's it look to you? It looks a little slick.
It gets really slick.
I mean, just barely even Touching your brakes may be just The worst thing in the world you Can do.
Trailer starts to go sideways On you.
You gotta make sure you keep Everything straight in line, You know, so your trailer Doesn't come around.
Hey, southbound, I've got Two 12-Wides coming along Back there.
Wanna give your thanks.
With leah on Lookout, jack crests the summit.
Well, we made it up atigun Pass just fine.
But that's just half the Challenge.
You know, not only you gotta go Up the hill, you gotta turn Around and go right down it.
See, you can see right there Where you lose the snow.
So when you get on this, the Wind blows all the snow away.
'Cause actually snow is pretty Good traction up here.
It's a whole lot better than Being on ice.
There's a little ice in The southbound lane here.
Okay.
I'll move over and Get away from me.
Okay.
Following leah's Truck, jack makes it down The icy slope without a problem.
Okay, well it's the bottom Switchback.
At least if we lose it here, We know we're at the bottom of The hill.
While jack and leah Hit the last stretch to prudhoe, Mervin gilbertson is taking Another run at an icy trail.
The frozen path across The jim river that leads to The remote town of bettles.
I have had a lot of problems With the jim river.
The river ice makes Every day a new gamble.
With any luck, it'll be Frozen over.
On his first run This season, merv's wheels fell Through.
Ho! On the second try, A d.
O.
T.
Driver could barely get A pick-Up truck across.
Ow, damn! Now, as the coldest Stretch of winter bears down, The people of bettles are Running out of fuel and Desperately need merv's big Tankers to make it across The ice.
We just need to make sure That we can cross this with He's hoping the Recent drop in temperature has Thickened the ice.
The ice that we're on is New ice.
This ice is not over 24 hours Old.
You gotta be careful about Pockets that you can fall Through.
But that's still That's still pretty solid.
The first truck to Test the ice is merv's.
The 90,000 pound tanker punches Through the top layers.
But the ice holds.
With one rig across, the supply Convoy begins.
The trail is as good as It's gonna get.
Looks like this cold weather has Really helped us here.
And with just a few Weeks left of extreme cold, The race is on to stock the town For another year.
Well, we're done.
Putting my hose away.
Let's go get another load.
Hugh rowland.
We just hit the big minus 40.
That's why there was ice Crystals in the air.
As he approaches The tricky slope of the ice cut, The polar bear looks for A scouting report from A southbound driver.
Hey there, driver.
How's that ice cut today? He's not listening.
Going too fast.
Yeah, thanks, you bet.
You're kind of an [bleep.]
.
I said you're kind of an What, nobody else belongs here? You from alaska? Born and raised, are you? Right from here? They're [bleep.]
up for [bleep.]
On the radio, but I bet you he Wouldn't [bleep.]
get out and Say anything in a pullout.
God, I hate that [bleep.]
.
They think we're up here Stealing their loads, I don't Know.
He can't haul every [bleep.]
Load.
I mean, as many loads as me and Alex are gonna haul, big [bleep.]
Deal.
Coming up We're getting on The ice road right here.
The rookie makes His first run on thin ice.
Whoa.
On the frozen Shores of the arctic ocean Rookie ray villieux hits Dispatch after delivering his Last load of pipe.
He hopes to get a backhaul and Pick up a few extra bucks.
We're gonna have you go up To nuiqsut.
But he gets an even Better assignment.
A little village about two And a half hours out on The ice road.
SoYou ever been there? Nope.
Just so you know, yesterday The sun was out so the road was Actually getting slick for The first time.
When you get out there, you Really, really have to monitor Your speed.
Okay.
Today we're hauling a reefer Unit, which is a refrigerated Van.
It's my first time heading o To nuiqsut.
So I've never been there.
I always wanted to see What it's like.
So here I got an opportunity to Do it, so I'll take it.
With less than half A season on the haul road, The nuiqsut run is a chance for Ray to prove himself as a true Ice road trucker.
But a rookie mistake on thin ice Could mean the end of more than Just his career.
We're getting on the ice road Right here.
This ice road is right on top Of a river.
So the river just flows Underneath the ice.
It's pretty cool, so.
The ice is just on top of The water there, just making A bridge.
It's like a bridge, just going Up acrossup the river.
All season long, Ray's been running the haul road At full steam.
But on the ice, speed can kill.
Any quick movement Of the steering wheel, or Hitting a brake, I mean, this Truck just slides all over The place.
You just gotta be real careful, Do everything nice and smooth.
Don't get aggressive.
Well, if something went wrong Out here, there's not much you Can do out here.
There's a whole lot of nothing.
Very isolated out here.
Until you get out to one of These little villages that we're Going to right now.
Slowly but surely, Ray approaches the village.
Well, it looks pretty neat.
I mean, the sun's going down.
It's kind of cloudy, but there's The sun and it streaks out, and There's a little town right There, and all these rooftops.
So we're just about into town Here.
Hey, how's it going? All right.
Are you joe? Yeah.
All right, joe.
I guess they're all waiting for Their groceries.
So we'll get this unloaded for Them.
Here you go.
Safe trip back.
Okay, thank you.
Think it's pretty cool.
Three hours Later Jack's oversized convoy rolls Into the yard at prudhoe bay.
You know, the road was a little Slick, had quite a few Challenges.
For rookie pilot Car driver and aspiring ice road Trucker, leah thiele, it's A big moment.
Her mistake at the yukon river Bridge nearly sent jack into Oncoming traffic.
Thanks for letting me run With you, I learned a lot.
One word from the haul road Ace could either hurt her Reputation or set her trucking Career off and running.
It worked out.
I learned a lot from you.
I like helping anybody, Whether they're a rookie or not.
Sweet, appreciate it.
Never know, I might learn Something myself.
Yeah? I'll be learning the rest of My life.
Pretty much so, that's what I'm still doing.
Yep.
Don't know everything yet.
Probably never will.
All right, I'll see you later.
Have a good trip.
Okay.
This oversized load Keeps the haul road ace ahead of The pack.
But ray's bold moves have earned The rookie a place next to jack At the top.
Headed back south to fairbanks, It's not the load count that has Hugh fired up.
[Bleep.]
doesn't know Anything.
Like him to say that to my face And see what happens to him.
[Bleep.]
like that I'd like to Meet in the [bleep.]
parking lot.
But it's not all Bad news for the polar bear.
At least he had a better day Than his rival alex.
And I guess alex is sitting In fairbanks.
Unfortunately, we had to hold Alex up, because the top BearingI'm pretty sure it's The top bearing in the steering Column went out.
Sitting here is making my bum Sore for nothing.
I'm not getting paid for it.
So the sooner I can leave, The sooner I can start making A dollar again.
He's so [bleep.]
far behind now That he should be good-looking By the time he gets caught up on His sleep.
Next on Ice Road Truckers I heard there was possibly Some avalanches coming out.
All hell breaks Loose on atigun pass.
These avalanches, they can Move 100,000 pound trucks easy.
I have friends that have Died in avalanches.
Man, I sure hope that ain't Gonna be me one day.
And no one is safe From the fury of mother nature.
Get back, go back.
We got a slide down on The pass.
.
Lisa has a run-in With the law Okay, there was three.
Somebody stole 'em.
Oh, my god, no! A new co-Pilot has Alex on edge Came rolling off over the And a rookie's Mistake Bridge is clear.
Sends jack into Oncoming traffic.
These are the Truckers who make their living On thin ice.
The storms of January have given way to the Bitterest cold of winter.
Kfar 660 A.
M.
Looking like temperatures to Drop rapidly tonight.
That's the killing cold, folks.
You do not want to be stranded In this.
Temperatures this Low are extreme, even for Alaska.
Nearly 600 people die every year From exposure.
Thank you, dear god, for all The blessings and help you give To us today and every day.
Protect us from evil and harm.
Give us direction and guidance.
Trucking up the Frozen dalton highway Looks like somebody's Hitchhiking up here.
Alex debogorski Comes upon a rare sight in this Colda hitchhiker.
Being out here in the middle Of nowhere, I expect he'll be an Interesting specimen.
You call a cab? Yeah, I tried.
Can you take me to the yukon River bridge? Yeah, get in.
My name's alex debogorski.
My name is jeremy towsen.
Pleased to meet you, sir.
Nice to meet you too.
Okay, if I can get you to Make sure there's nobody's Coming.
You're good.
Okay, great.
Yeah.
I stood there for 5 1/2 hours in Was kind enough to pick me up.
When I was younger, I Hitchhiked lots.
I had lots of people pick me up And I've had the good fortune to Pick up a lot of people too.
All right, that's nice.
And because of that, we get To meet interesting people like Yourself.
In the extreme North of alaska, helping a Stranger in need is a way of Life, but when picking up Hitchhikers, you never know Who's getting inside your truck.
Our drivers are not allowed To pick up hitchhikers.
It's a bad practice as far as, You know, taking a chance.
Uh, yeah, it could be a Life-Threatening issue.
It's typically always a bad Thing.
Back in fairbanks, Jack jessee is shoveling off the Last blizzard from his newest Load: A 70,000-pound pipe rack.
Well, we got to clean this Snow off because it's gonna blow Off riding down the road.
We don'tant it to fall off and Hit anybody or anything.
Huh? Nothing is simple When it's this cold.
It takes a mechanic with a Blowtorch just to apply the Reflective tape required for an Oversized load.
Finally getting on the road Here.
Uh, just race ahead and let me Know if anybody's coming.
Jack will convoy With a pilot car to make sure The road ahead is clear for his Monster load.
With the oversized load that I've got, it's vital that I Don't crowd somebody out, so we Send pilot cars to let me know What's coming.
So you're just gonna ride in This right lane here until we Get up across the bridge.
Perfect.
Today, jack's Breaking in a new pilot car Driver, leah thiele.
Leah's not only trying to catch On as a pilot.
She wants to make the big jump To haul road trucker.
I'm not sure what I like more About trucking.
The open road or the big, bad Machines we get to drive with All the power.
My ultimate goal is to come up Here and drive up the dalton Highway hauling heavy haul.
Thought it'd be good to come Pilot jack and learn some Things.
And leah's plan to Become an ice road trucker Starts with trying to impress The haul road ace.
Hey, southbound, I've got two Hey, leah.
What got you to drive a truck Through? You know, I just got my cdl Through a heavy equipment school And then started driving trucks, Then I just fell in love with It.
Had tonka toys as a kid, huh? Oh, yeah.
While the rookie Rolls out into the freeze One of her role models is headed For fairbanks.
Geez.
It's freezing out.
I think the coldest I've ever Seen is, like, minus 52.
Despite the cold, Lisa's fired up and ready to get Back to the yard and grab Another load.
It's taken me an entire week To do one trip.
I waited for a storm for two Days.
After a tough week, Lisa is running behind schedule On her loads and fewer loads Means smaller paychecks.
That's a little bit of a Setback.
Only a few miles From the finish line, there's One last thing standing between Lisa and her next load: The d.
O.
T.
Checkpoint.
When is that? Trucks are usually Weighed and sent on their way.
But lisa's due for a more Thorough inspection.
I'm getting an inspection Because it's been a while.
All right.
He needs[bleep.]
My medical card expires in a Couple days.
That sucks.
I got to get that done now.
Lisa's expiring Medical card quickly takes a Back seat to more immediate Problems.
At the beginning there.
The straps can be Positioned no more than ten feet Apart.
Okay.
Okay, thanks.
I'm trying to take initiative And fix it.
I don't really want a ticket.
I don't really have the money For it.
But lisa's not out Of the woods yet.
Go ahead and hop up in there.
You can roll the window up.
So you can stay warm.
He's looking for cracks in The frame right now.
He's checking my lug nuts, tire Pressure, lights, anything funny And loose, brakes, broken Springs, hanging stuff.
Okay.
Go ahead and open them up.
Every truck is Required to carry emergency Equipment, including three Warning triangles.
You got two in there? Okay, there was three.
Somebody stole 'em.
I'm so pissed.
I'll get a new one.
Okay, do you have any flares Or anything? No.
The final verdict? This is the citation, okay? $160 fine.
I've never gotten a ticket Before and I got one for a Triangle.
I think it's odd that it's gone, Because I haven't used it.
It's kind of frustrating.
Lisa finally pulls Her load into the carlile Yard Knowing that her paycheck is About to take a serious hit.
I'll pay ticket and before I get fined for my expired Medical card, I got to get a Medical examination.
That's worse than paying the Ticket.
Across the yard Hugh "the polar bear" rowland Performs his own inspection Look at them straps.
And gives it a Thumbs-Down.
Look at that.
They think that's gonna make it Up the [bleep.]
road? That don't make sense if they're Strapping a load down to do it Like that.
Hugh's loaded up With 50,000 pounds of pipe.
If it ain't tied down, guy Goes off the road, the pipe will Come off and take the cab off The truck.
I just want to make sure the Pipe don't start going sideways On me and sliding back and Forth, so.
Pipe that isn't Locked down is a disaster in the Making.
If the long cylinders break Loose, one wrong move can turn Them into deadly projectiles.
I think they're doing this on Purpose.
They're picking on the canadians Here.
They know it's my load and I'm a Canadian.
I don't think the office knows Anything about it, but I think There's a bunch of guys up here That don't like us canadians Being up here and we're stealing Their roads this year when the Economy's down.
It gets my gander up sometimes, Yeah.
I know I'm the new guy, I'm the Canadian, but I just want to get Rolling and do my job.
I don't have nothing to prove to Nobody.
I just want to make some money And when the ice roads are over I'll go home.
Same as every year for the last I got [bleep.]
-All to prove to Nobody.
Coming up, alex Discovers that picking up Strangers could be a bad idea.
Oh, my god! You're gonna say what? There's amight be what? And jack heads into An oncoming truck.
Isolated dalton highway, alex is Getting acquainted with his new Co-Pilot on the way to the yukon River bridge.
I have a house to build.
Of course I got gas generators, Gas air compressors.
My dad hasn't been in town in Seven years.
Never has left the haul road.
He never lefthich? He's only been on the road One time.
No kidding? Oh, so he stays In the woods.
Oh, he stays out there? Yeah, he's going for the Record.
I bought my piece of property Sight unseen.
Didn't even know where I was Going to and then moved my whole Family.
Never seen it in our life.
We just bought it.
Oh, so you were living in But an hour into The trip, alex begins to wonder What he's gotten himself into.
Big fire came rolling up over The bunkers.
We had this huge white cloud.
A long story short.
Oh, my god! No! Started running wild.
Nuh-Uh.
You're gonna have to Burn us out.
And then you Three hours later I did have two vehicles and a Chauffer Did you just And then he took off with my Pickup truck I need to just start looking For a new girl.
Well, she's got to be fairly Tough to put up Oh, she's tough.
To put up with you.
Oh, yeah, to put up with me.
Yeah.
And he pulls in and he goes, "Oh, my god! You got a huge screwdriver Hanging out of your engine!" You're gonna say what? There's amight be what? So far, alex's only Worry is getting his ear talked Off, but just to be sure So you carry a gun? No.
I carry a knife.
At last They reach their destination.
Around there.
Give me a hand to unload, I Guess.
Getting ridgotta help Gotta help to get rid of you.
Thank you so much.
Hey, god bless you.
Nice meeting you, jeremy.
Thanks for the entertainment.
Oh, all right.
Oh, jeremy wasI'm glad I Picked him up.
It's nice to look at somebody Else's mixed up life for a While.
Maybe gives a little bit of Appreciation to me for my own Life, you know? It's not so bad.
Every hitchhiker tends to make a Trip more interesting.
Especially if they don't cut Your throat or rob you, but As the hitchhiker Heads home, alex heads across The yukon river bridge, which Has an interesting story all its Own.
While the road was built in just Five months, the bridge took Five years to complete.
Until then, the way across the Yukon was by ice road in the Winter, hovercraft in the Summer.
Just over the bridge Uh-Oh.
This doesn't look too good.
I have a bit of concern about my Steering wheel.
It seems to have more play in it Than it should.
I'm hitting the bumps.
See, when you This tends to be loose back and Forth.
Obviously, something in the Wheel is looser than it should Be.
Most dangerous road on the Continent is no place to lose Your steering.
Well, if the steering wheel Comes off, basically, you crash And everybody dies.
That's your standard procedure When the steering wheel's coming Off.
Have my pair of pliers in my Pocket, so if the steering wheel Comes off, I guess we'll just I'll pull out my pliers and Drive with the pliers.
The foot of atigun pass So I got everything locked in Here and we're gonna shoot for Atigun.
It's go time for Ray veilleux.
We're gonna keep trucking.
Get to prudhoe.
Hauling another Rookie is starting to rack up The loads.
He's in a dead heat for first in The dash for the cash.
And to stay in the game, he's Trying to save time by heading Into atigun without chaining up.
Everything's looking pretty Good.
The road's been good.
Gonna try it barefoot.
We're already spinning out.
Damn.
We're spinning.
We're spinning.
We're spinning.
We're looking for some traction Here.
Whoa.
Come on! Ray fights his way Up the ice.
Coming over the slipperiest Part right here.
This pipe crossing.
It's the last little stretch Right here.
Finally, he reaches The summit.
Yeah, it's pretty icy.
I got good traction now though.
Ray's starting to Get the hang of the haul road.
And the loads and paychecks are Piling up.
I keep trucking.
That's all I do and back and Forth.
I need the loads.
I want the loads.
I need the money.
I want the money and I'm gonna Get it.
As darkness falls On the short, cold day Another rookie, pilot driver Leah thiele, faces a challenge Of her own.
Big one just stopped out of The bridge.
We're coming up the yukon River bridge.
I got leah down there and she's Gonna tell me if anything's Coming.
Leah's first big Test will be guiding jack over The narrow yukon river bridge.
Okay, bridge is clear.
Be right on you.
Over.
See, with the oversized load That I've got, it's vital that I don't meet people in narrow Places.
You know, and god forbid I meet 'Em on the bridge.
I mean, it's wide enough for two Trucks, but it's not wide enough For an oversized and another Truck.
He makes it across The bridge Northbound, sand hill, Two 12-Wides.
But the danger's up Ahead.
Just across the Yukon river bridge Jack jessee and his oversized Load are headed full-Speed into A blind corner.
Man, that was close.
Okay, well, I didn't hear you Holler either, so.
The near miss is Exactly the kind of mistake that This rookie pilot car driver is Supposed to prevent.
Hey, leah? Can you hear me now? My c.
B.
Was on a different Channel.
It was on channel 17.
It was onmy c.
B.
Was on the Wrong channel.
What happened? I promise I did, but on the Other channel.
This time, they got Lucky.
Even a simple Miscommunication in the wrong Place can be devastating.
But another mistake Like that could cost leah her Career and jack his life.
Truck into coldfoot.
The steering wheel is kind of Loose inside the cab.
It wobbles back and forth when You hit the holes and I'm being A little uncomfortable with it.
I'm leaving my load of pipe here In coldfoot and I'm gonna return To fairbanks to have the Steering wheel checked.
His rig may not Make it north But alex has a plan to make sure His load is still delivered on Time.
It says 49,000, but I don't Know.
He finds a Southbound driver willing to Swap trailers and take his load Of pipe up to prudhoe bay.
Very good, sir.
Thank you very much.
You bet.
In exchange, alex Gets a pair of stacked Trailers to haul back to Fairbanks.
But as his load heads north Without him He finds that his new trailer Is anything but ready to roll.
Let's see what's up.
What's up.
The trailer's locking up.
In minus 50 Degrees, the trailer brakes Have frozen solid.
Obviously he just threw The brakes on and then unhooked And left it there.
And basically all the wheels Froze up.
You just use the bar, beat on The drums until they broke Loose.
I'm not absolutely thrilled About it.
I'd like to think the driver did It by accident and not on Purpose.
That's the way it goes.
Life in the fast lane, eh? The next morning Before dawn, the avalanche Control team convenes at atigun Pass.
Okay, we got about two to Four inches of new snow on The north side of the pass.
Reid bahnson has already Found trigger points in The snow pack.
This really weak sugary Stuff.
This stuff is just falling away.
So this is the big slab I'm Expecting to slide.
Now with more snow Piling up, reid can't afford to Waste any time.
So we're gonna go ahead and Get some shots out of the gun.
The team breaks out The big guna 105 millimeter Cannon.
The firing pin's on this Side, so you always grab your Hand right here so you don't Drop this bullet.
Using artillery to Trigger avalanches dates back to The bitter winters of the korean War.
They found that if they would Shoot these artillery rounds Above the troops, then they Would create avalanches.
And they could kill a lot more Of the enemy by the avalanches, As opposed to just the round Going off.
It wasn't to save lives, but it Was to take lives.
Make sure we get traffic Stopped.
Reid shuts down The road across the pass And gets his team in position So they can fire at first light.
Clear to the front.
Clear the rear! Their goal is to Blast the snow off the high risk Areas and reopen the pass to Truckers as quickly as possible.
Ready to fire.
Fire! A little low.
That's no good.
I shot a little to the right And hit a big rock.
It didn't do a damn thing.
Drat! We're clear to the front.
Clear the rear! Fire! Reid's second shot Isn't much better.
OhIt's coming a little Slower than I'd like.
It's gonna be a little more Reluctant.
Bag that one.
With limited ammo And trucks waiting at the foot Of the pass, every shell has To count.
Four, seven, one point zero, Correct.
Fire! There we go.
Now we're talking.
Cool.
We took that son of a gun out Four to five feet deep.
Hopefully this next shot will Do the same thing.
Fire! Nice one! That's a beauty.
Nice, hard slab avalanche.
That's what we like to see.
Two bullets left, where we Going, dave? We got it.
Cool! Nice dust cloud.
A nice avalanche.
This isthis is good stuff.
This is what we live for.
We got one more.
All clear, ready to fire.
Fire! Oh, there she comes.
Over the waterfall.
That's gonna clean it out Nicely.
Today's mission was A success.
All right, let's go.
Get the road open.
But reid's only Cleared three of the 40 known Slide paths throughout atigun.
Once again, trucks are rolling Up the dalton.
But 330 miles south Lisa is stuck driving The streets of fairbanks.
Hope I fit under here.
The things you gotta do in A truck.
Before she can get Back on the road, she's got to Pay her tick.
I'm having a really hard time Finding parking.
In fact, I'm having a hard time Fitting down the streets.
In my big ol' tractor trailer, My only piece of transpo.
And that's the way we park this Bad boy when it don't fit down One-Way streets.
Can I help you? I-I just need to pay this.
So it looks like it'll be $160.
Is a check okay? That's fine.
That's one ticket Paid.
Now lisa's gotta head to The doctor to avoid even bigger Fines.
Lisa? Lisa's medical card Expires in a few days.
Renewing it means passing A state-Ordered eye exam.
O, d, f, c, t.
If I can get you to identify Those six colors? This is just, likeis this A trick question? Like, this is, like, aqua? No.
Just really Okay, blue, red, white, Purple, yellow, green.
All right.
Well, let's see what we got Here.
Let me see here.
Relax.
Come on, say "ah.
" Ah.
There we go.
All right.
Your vision is fabulous.
You got eagle eyes.
Really? You don't wear glasses, right? So I can fly a jet? Yeah, we don't do youryour Jet exam today, but you can Definitely drive a truck.
Her total cash Spent for the day The medical visit.
Thank you.
I gotta get truckin' again To make some moolah to make up For today.
Next, the race to Supply bettles takes a dive.
Whoa, damn! And the polar bear's claws Come out.
You're kinda of a [bleep.]
.
Prudhoe bay, We got a big one here.
Okay, thanks.
Jack jessee and Pilot car driver leah thiele Are about to guide an oversize Pipe rack over atigun pass.
But before jack can tackle The pass, he's got a few smaller Problems to worry about.
Like these ptarmigan, also known As snow chickens.
Chickens.
Chickens all over the road.
And there's a crapload more Chickens.
Get out of the way, chickens.
Chickens, fly! Oh, crap.
I killed a chicken.
Before he climbs The mountain, jack pulls over to Make sure leah knows the game Plan.
You heard anything about Atigun pass? Probably the switchback will Be the hardest part, since as Long as I am, the trailer's Gonna drag down into the curve.
Last night, The rookie driver botched A crucial radio call.
My cb was on a different Channel.
On the tilting, Twisting slopes of atigun, Their radio teamwork needs to Be perfect.
But if not, you'll hear me Screaming on the radio, and You'll be the second one to Know.
Okay.
What do you see up there, Leah? How's it look to you? It looks a little slick.
It gets really slick.
I mean, just barely even Touching your brakes may be just The worst thing in the world you Can do.
Trailer starts to go sideways On you.
You gotta make sure you keep Everything straight in line, You know, so your trailer Doesn't come around.
Hey, southbound, I've got Two 12-Wides coming along Back there.
Wanna give your thanks.
With leah on Lookout, jack crests the summit.
Well, we made it up atigun Pass just fine.
But that's just half the Challenge.
You know, not only you gotta go Up the hill, you gotta turn Around and go right down it.
See, you can see right there Where you lose the snow.
So when you get on this, the Wind blows all the snow away.
'Cause actually snow is pretty Good traction up here.
It's a whole lot better than Being on ice.
There's a little ice in The southbound lane here.
Okay.
I'll move over and Get away from me.
Okay.
Following leah's Truck, jack makes it down The icy slope without a problem.
Okay, well it's the bottom Switchback.
At least if we lose it here, We know we're at the bottom of The hill.
While jack and leah Hit the last stretch to prudhoe, Mervin gilbertson is taking Another run at an icy trail.
The frozen path across The jim river that leads to The remote town of bettles.
I have had a lot of problems With the jim river.
The river ice makes Every day a new gamble.
With any luck, it'll be Frozen over.
On his first run This season, merv's wheels fell Through.
Ho! On the second try, A d.
O.
T.
Driver could barely get A pick-Up truck across.
Ow, damn! Now, as the coldest Stretch of winter bears down, The people of bettles are Running out of fuel and Desperately need merv's big Tankers to make it across The ice.
We just need to make sure That we can cross this with He's hoping the Recent drop in temperature has Thickened the ice.
The ice that we're on is New ice.
This ice is not over 24 hours Old.
You gotta be careful about Pockets that you can fall Through.
But that's still That's still pretty solid.
The first truck to Test the ice is merv's.
The 90,000 pound tanker punches Through the top layers.
But the ice holds.
With one rig across, the supply Convoy begins.
The trail is as good as It's gonna get.
Looks like this cold weather has Really helped us here.
And with just a few Weeks left of extreme cold, The race is on to stock the town For another year.
Well, we're done.
Putting my hose away.
Let's go get another load.
Hugh rowland.
We just hit the big minus 40.
That's why there was ice Crystals in the air.
As he approaches The tricky slope of the ice cut, The polar bear looks for A scouting report from A southbound driver.
Hey there, driver.
How's that ice cut today? He's not listening.
Going too fast.
Yeah, thanks, you bet.
You're kind of an [bleep.]
.
I said you're kind of an What, nobody else belongs here? You from alaska? Born and raised, are you? Right from here? They're [bleep.]
up for [bleep.]
On the radio, but I bet you he Wouldn't [bleep.]
get out and Say anything in a pullout.
God, I hate that [bleep.]
.
They think we're up here Stealing their loads, I don't Know.
He can't haul every [bleep.]
Load.
I mean, as many loads as me and Alex are gonna haul, big [bleep.]
Deal.
Coming up We're getting on The ice road right here.
The rookie makes His first run on thin ice.
Whoa.
On the frozen Shores of the arctic ocean Rookie ray villieux hits Dispatch after delivering his Last load of pipe.
He hopes to get a backhaul and Pick up a few extra bucks.
We're gonna have you go up To nuiqsut.
But he gets an even Better assignment.
A little village about two And a half hours out on The ice road.
SoYou ever been there? Nope.
Just so you know, yesterday The sun was out so the road was Actually getting slick for The first time.
When you get out there, you Really, really have to monitor Your speed.
Okay.
Today we're hauling a reefer Unit, which is a refrigerated Van.
It's my first time heading o To nuiqsut.
So I've never been there.
I always wanted to see What it's like.
So here I got an opportunity to Do it, so I'll take it.
With less than half A season on the haul road, The nuiqsut run is a chance for Ray to prove himself as a true Ice road trucker.
But a rookie mistake on thin ice Could mean the end of more than Just his career.
We're getting on the ice road Right here.
This ice road is right on top Of a river.
So the river just flows Underneath the ice.
It's pretty cool, so.
The ice is just on top of The water there, just making A bridge.
It's like a bridge, just going Up acrossup the river.
All season long, Ray's been running the haul road At full steam.
But on the ice, speed can kill.
Any quick movement Of the steering wheel, or Hitting a brake, I mean, this Truck just slides all over The place.
You just gotta be real careful, Do everything nice and smooth.
Don't get aggressive.
Well, if something went wrong Out here, there's not much you Can do out here.
There's a whole lot of nothing.
Very isolated out here.
Until you get out to one of These little villages that we're Going to right now.
Slowly but surely, Ray approaches the village.
Well, it looks pretty neat.
I mean, the sun's going down.
It's kind of cloudy, but there's The sun and it streaks out, and There's a little town right There, and all these rooftops.
So we're just about into town Here.
Hey, how's it going? All right.
Are you joe? Yeah.
All right, joe.
I guess they're all waiting for Their groceries.
So we'll get this unloaded for Them.
Here you go.
Safe trip back.
Okay, thank you.
Think it's pretty cool.
Three hours Later Jack's oversized convoy rolls Into the yard at prudhoe bay.
You know, the road was a little Slick, had quite a few Challenges.
For rookie pilot Car driver and aspiring ice road Trucker, leah thiele, it's A big moment.
Her mistake at the yukon river Bridge nearly sent jack into Oncoming traffic.
Thanks for letting me run With you, I learned a lot.
One word from the haul road Ace could either hurt her Reputation or set her trucking Career off and running.
It worked out.
I learned a lot from you.
I like helping anybody, Whether they're a rookie or not.
Sweet, appreciate it.
Never know, I might learn Something myself.
Yeah? I'll be learning the rest of My life.
Pretty much so, that's what I'm still doing.
Yep.
Don't know everything yet.
Probably never will.
All right, I'll see you later.
Have a good trip.
Okay.
This oversized load Keeps the haul road ace ahead of The pack.
But ray's bold moves have earned The rookie a place next to jack At the top.
Headed back south to fairbanks, It's not the load count that has Hugh fired up.
[Bleep.]
doesn't know Anything.
Like him to say that to my face And see what happens to him.
[Bleep.]
like that I'd like to Meet in the [bleep.]
parking lot.
But it's not all Bad news for the polar bear.
At least he had a better day Than his rival alex.
And I guess alex is sitting In fairbanks.
Unfortunately, we had to hold Alex up, because the top BearingI'm pretty sure it's The top bearing in the steering Column went out.
Sitting here is making my bum Sore for nothing.
I'm not getting paid for it.
So the sooner I can leave, The sooner I can start making A dollar again.
He's so [bleep.]
far behind now That he should be good-looking By the time he gets caught up on His sleep.
Next on Ice Road Truckers I heard there was possibly Some avalanches coming out.
All hell breaks Loose on atigun pass.
These avalanches, they can Move 100,000 pound trucks easy.
I have friends that have Died in avalanches.
Man, I sure hope that ain't Gonna be me one day.
And no one is safe From the fury of mother nature.
Get back, go back.
We got a slide down on The pass.