Ice Road Truckers (2007) s09e07 Episode Script
The Art Of Survival
Now on Ice Road Truckers Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! Thanks for the load, Mark.
It's chaos We're just gonna pound our way in there.
Flinging mud everywhere.
and destruction.
Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh.
I shouldn't have fucking been in here.
As the melt decimates to winter roads.
No, no, no, no, no! All season, two companies have battled on the winter roads.
It's taken years for me to get to the top.
I'm not gonna let anybody stand in my way.
You ready to do this, Lisa? I'm ready, let's do this.
Fighting off challenge Whoaaaaa! after challenge.
The biggest load in history across this ice right here, I'm hauling right now.
But now, mother nature's putting the drivers to the test.
As soaring temperatures are melting the roads weeks earlier than expected.
turning the trials into slush, and the crossings into death traps.
These roads are melting away.
It's coming hard and fast.
The warm weather is gonna kill us.
The warm weather will, will put you through the ice.
Hundreds of miles from Winnipeg, deep into the thawing wilderness, one trucker is about to tempt fate.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Polar driver, Art Burke, is on his way back from remote Sachigo Lake.
Facing a crossing that's quickly running out of ice.
Okay, b'y, we're gonna go gown on the ice road here.
So with all this warm weather, we're just gonna hold our breath and make it across this.
There's a lot of water here.
Well, talk about smashed.
I never seen it that beat up before.
Look! Usually you see cracks but that was totally shattered, eh? As a matter of fact, I'm gonna get over in the middle here a little more.
To try and survive the crossing, Art maneuvers towards the center, where what's left of the ice is at its thickest, but where the water below is at its deepest.
We definitely got some rough ice here and this is in the middle of fucking ice.
Shit.
No, no, no, no, no! What the fuck?! Get that fucking thing out of the way.
C'mon, baby, c'mon, baby, c'mon, baby.
C'mon, baby.
We broke through the fucking ice, man.
Shit.
Oh fuck me.
Well, that's a fucking first.
What's really fucked up, we went through the fucking ice in the middle of the lake, b'y.
Well, well, well, well, well, well, well.
Look.
Oooh.
Whoa! I fucking thought we were going, buddy! What the fuck are we gonna do now? I gotta get off and have a look at this.
I don't know if I wanna try that again.
To get a closer look at the damage and assess whether it's safer to go forward or back, Art breaks a cardinal rule of ice road trucking; never park your rig on the ice.
The water was coming right up through there.
That's where we were.
Look at all the fucking water come up.
I don't know how the fuck I'm gonna get passed this.
I don't fucking think I am, b'y, you know that? The only stretches of unbroken ice that lie ahead are on the edges.
I'm gonna try it one more time here, b'y.
But with a gigantic crater in the middle of the trail Let's go back a little further and get a good fucking run at this, b'y.
the narrow paths may not be strong enough to support the truck.
Art rolls ahead Okay, away we go for a second attempt.
hunting for solid ice Right over here.
and gambling with his life.
Oh, we're going through.
What the fuck?! What the fuck?! Wow.
If we go through this fucking thing, you'll never see us again.
Come on, baby.
We might go though the ice here, you got that? Keep your fucking door open, buddy.
In case we can't go CENSORED.
Can't go forward, and I can't go back.
Definitely gonna get through this.
Look at the water coming up.
The water is squirting up all around the fucking truck.
I don't know where the fuck I'm gonna go, but I know we're not gonna be going that way.
Okay, b'y.
I gotta turn this around and go back.
Out of options, Art makes a 180 on the ice and hightails it for solid ground.
Holy fuck, man! The fucking weather's too warm b'y.
Shit.
Shouldn't have fucking been in here.
That second time we veered back and forth, I could feel it going deeper all the fucking time, eh.
Holy fuck, b'y.
I got a rush when I fucked it, when she started dropping.
I could feel her going down more and more all the time, eh.
Well, we're getting off the fucking ice today anyway.
I don't know what's gonna happen from now on but I'll tell you one fucking thing, knock on wood, not that I'm superstitious, we're back on land again, b'y.
And am I ever fucking happy.
I gotta link a satellite phone and call Mark and tell him that that road is all fucked.
There might be another way out of here, eh.
Hey Art, what's going on? Well, I got some news for you here, b'y.
I went through the fucking ice, b'y.
You broke through the ice? And I'm not talking a little bit, Mark.
I was right up through to the tops of fucking nuts on the fucking wheels.
When I backed out, there was a fucking pile on the ice the size of a pie plate just gushing fucking water out.
Well, where are you right now? I'm off the ice.
I'm not stuck.
I turned around on the fucking ice and I came back.
I'm off the lake.
Okay.
Do not move that truck.
Stay on solid ground.
We're gonna get something figured out here.
Hang tight.
Okay.
Bye.
Nice talking.
Bye bye.
Well, I just talked to Mark and he wants me to sit here.
Now I sit and wait till he calls me back.
I think this might work.
Yes, buddy, how you doing now, Mark? It looks like there is some kind of Y in the road, about six miles back.
Okay.
Yeah, hang a left and head down that trail.
Okay, okay, Mark, talk to you later then, buddy.
Bye, bye.
Yeah.
Good luck.
Bye, bye.
Okay, I'm gonna go back to that fork to actually get us out of here the other way.
Having dodged a bullet, Art hits the road with Mark's escape plan.
Plan B, b'y, plan B.
Because this road is a bitch, a washout, literally.
Now I'm gonna backtrack and there's another road here and I'm gonna take that.
So this is the way we're going.
Well, I guess we're gonna be fine.
We made it this far, we're gonna make it the rest.
Coming up mud There goes my clean clothes.
sweat Good God.
This is way more challenging than it should be.
and gears Oooh! What am I doing out here.
Have I lost my mind? The thaw is wreaking havoc in the north and Polar's competition is in the thick of it too.
Not even halfway through here and I would say this road is deteriorating so fast.
Quite unbelievable to watch it go so fast.
Lisa Kelly is hauling the first half of a lucrative new contract.
The last two loads bound for the distant village of Deer Lake, 500 miles from Winnipeg.
It could be the upstart company's biggest payday yet and there's a reason for the high price tag.
Oh! Of course I banged the bottom of the truck on it.
No trail on the winter road system has experienced higher temperatures than the one into Deer Lake.
Boy, it is a slow trip today.
Ain't no going fast on this stuff.
But the renegades are willing to take a risk to try and ensure a profitable first season.
Boy we're gonna be lucky to get out of here.
I can't turn around and go back so There's only one direction to go.
Ooh boy.
I'm at an ice crossing.
Oh, I could clearly tell where the shore is and where the ice starts.
Now, Lisa's gotta brave the crossing at Sparling Lake.
Where the murky water on the surface is so deep most cracks aren't even visible to drivers.
All right, I'm gonna go for it but I'm gonna be very, very, very careful because I wanna go home after this.
I'm here to make money, not to go to heaven.
Lisa leaves shore hoping her 20-tonne load of building supplies stays afloat.
I'm on the ice.
I don't hear any cracking and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Super slushy right here.
It's turning into a lake.
The crossing is rapidly dissolving and the added weight from rising water is putting even more pressure on the thinning ice.
See it's popping.
Okay, now it's getting really loud.
Oh-oh, if this thing goes I'm outta here.
Okay, I don't usually ride out here because I'm pretty damn fearless, but I I've never seen this much water on the lake.
If this thing cracks, if this thing does anything, I'm so outta here, because it's enough water now that if I did go through, I think I'd have to swim to shore.
Holy cripes, pushing water.
Yeah, I'm about halfway because I can see the edge on that side.
With the ice splintering but no way to see through the muddy water Ooh.
Lisa's operating on blind faith to get her to the other side.
Cripes.
C'mon baby, a little bit more.
There, it's getting deeper.
All right.
Here comes the shore.
I might need to put a little power into it because if it bogs down at this idle it's not gonna make it.
Hang on, hang on.
I made it! All right.
I made it off the ice.
Lisa's conquered the crossing, but she still has 100 miles to Deer Lake.
I have this truck fully mud covered.
And the entire return trip still to go, if there's even a road left to drive on.
As Lisa trudges on back in Winnipeg.
They'll come and get that load.
Lisa's already grabbed the one, she's gone.
With a fixed up rig, business partner Darrell is looking to get going with the second half of the valuable contract.
What do you mean you gave it to Mark? I had both those loads contracted.
Lisa already took one.
He said he'd do it cheaper? Well, you know what, I'll cut rate, so Mark don't get it.
I'll come and get it right now.
I'll go right over to Polar's yard and I'll grab it.
All right, I'll talk to you later.
Thanks, bye.
Now this, this is fucked.
Mark's stealing my loads.
I'm gonna go see if it's over there.
If it, I'm taking it.
I have the contract on these loads.
I'm gonna pull into Polar and I'm gonna take my load.
I'm not gonna let Mark walk all over me.
I'm not gonna let him think that he can do whatever he wants.
I have the contract.
I already moved one of them and I'm getting the last one too.
Okay.
Hey! Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! - I'm taking my load.
- What the fuck are you doing? - I'm taking my fucking load.
- No, you're not.
This isn't your fucking load.
I called about these loads this morning and I have the contract on these loads.
You get the fuck off my truck, I'm leaving.
Thanks for the load, Mark.
Deep in the melting frontier Falling apart, falling apart fast.
Mark may have got lucky that I took this load.
Darrell Ward's slogging through the trail to Deer Lake.
Look at the water and the mud on the road.
Trying to bring in the second half of the big ticket contract.
Woo hoo! What am I doing out here? Have I lost my fucking mind? Lisa's in here too.
Holy fuck.
Ooh.
And it's rough too.
But with the road at ground zero of the thaw, Darrell's play to snag the load from Polar could backfire on his young company.
You can't screw up.
If you screw up, you're done, you're stuck.
Stuck, maybe sitting here till next winter.
May end up flying out of Deer Lake.
I still got a ways to go.
The sun's been beating on it now for about six hours and I can only imagine what this is gonna look like by seven o'clock tonight.
The load will be delivered.
I may not get out of here but the load will get delivered.
As Darrell goes to war in the slop, 150 miles ahead I got in here, I'm in Deer Lake.
Once I get it there and get this off-loaded, thank you, halleluiah! Partner Lisa Kelly survived the grueling road into Deer Lake.
Time to unload me.
And the first half of the big money contract is on the books.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! But now Well, I mean there's always, there's always a victory when you accomplish your goal, but then I've, it's already overshadowed by what I've gotta do next.
The return trip looms ahead.
You can't really breathe out.
You can use your breathe to celebrate a little but don't breathe a sigh of relief yet because I'm only halfway now.
I gotta turn around and go back now.
With a high sun cooking the path All right.
Lisa goes right back into the chaos.
Good God, this is way more challenging than it should be.
100 miles to the south It's gonna be rough.
I'm thinking lots of potholes.
an ice road legend's battling a melting trail of his own.
The road to Pikangikum was shut down days ago, deemed too unsafe for travel.
But with the last materials needed to finish the building of a new school the trail's been reopened.
So ideally, I get this load delivered and get out or I'll be stuck up there till next year.
And the veteran's gambling with his years of experience he can maneuver in and out before the roads close down for good.
Ohh.
Once the road goes out, then we can't drive and we really don't want the truck, otherwise-- and then we have to abandon the truck in the bush.
So I guess you could say we're just gonna pound our way in there and shake her up.
The road surface itself is breaking up.
Pounding her through here too.
I'm glad I don't have a load of eggs, that's all.
- Now - Holy mackerel! Alex must tackle the biggest hill on the entire trail.
Okay it's pretty big.
It's definitely steep.
Which has become nothing but a mound of slush and mud.
Now we gotta give her because this is the kind of hill you can spin out on.
And without steady velocity and traction It's gonna be rough.
it'll eat up his rig like quicksand.
Come on.
Get up the hill.
Come on, get up there.
It's some slippery, holy mackerel.
Whoa! Coming up Flinging mud everywhere! Uh-oh, uh-oh, it's not making it.
No fucking way.
On the mud filled road to Pikangikum Come on, get up there.
It's gonna be something slippery, holy mackerel.
Alex Debogorski's facing a mountain of trouble.
Whoa! This is just impossible.
This is-- Yeah, I don't believe it.
The conditions on the hill are too much, even for a seasoned pro like Alex.
I'm gonna try to back up there.
If he can't conquer the incline, there's no place to turn around and he may be forced to abandon the rig.
Okay.
I'm gonna put chains on.
This is gonna be one of those days.
So Alex will throw on chains for added traction and give it one more try.
This is about as ugly as it gets.
I don't usually get a chance to put chains on in the mud.
When I'm done, this truck's gonna look like 2015 outhouse.
She's gonna be baptized in mud.
That'll be right.
When you're working with mud a good thing to do is lay down there right off the bat.
Lay down, roll around in it, mud in the blood and the beer.
What do you think? Do you think a guy can take a chance to run that hill just two singles on the back axle? Okay.
We're gonna take a shot at 'er.
The odds of making it up there are very slim, but because I'm adventuresome, we're gonna give her a shot.
Okay, I'm gonna put it in manual, start out in a second.
Hang on to your shorts, here we go.
Nice driving.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby, let's go.
Giddy up.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
I don't believe it.
Thank you, Lord.
Yee-hoo! Okay, we're off again.
With the incline behind him, the mud covered veteran hammers down.
We're getting close to Pikangikum.
And makes it through the final 40 miles of the dissolving trail.
We made it.
That journey was muddy.
I'm still muddy.
Despite conditions that would have beaten most drivers, the old pro prevails.
And Alex delivers big for Polar and the community.
I got a little dirty.
I had to put chains on in the mud.
Get right up to your neck in mud.
But only a couple of mouthfuls, so it wasn't bad, I can handle that.
I'm ready to go home and have a bath.
Wash my clothes.
60 miles to the north Deer Lake right ahead.
Polar's competition's also pushing through the thaw.
Hopefully they can get this load off me within the hour and get me turned around and headed back out of here.
As Darrell brings home the second half of the richest contract in the company's history.
Looks like I'm the last load to Deer Lake.
This stuff is melting fast.
The road's bad.
I don't know how I'm gonna get out of here once I do get offloaded.
But with 200 miles ahead to get off the winter road, and the possibility the rig could get swallowed up as the trail's on the verge of shutting down.
Fuck that, I'm out of there.
Darrell's high stakes gamble is far from over.
Turn and burn baby, turn and burn.
Won't be burning the shit out here it's too wet.
I need to get out at night, during the coldest part of the day, because I don't think you're gonna get out of here after, after tomorrow you're done.
This road's done.
There's no more crossing it.
80 miles ahead Darrell's business partner, Lisa Kelly, has already been fighting the trail out of Deer Lake.
We're making it out of here.
So there.
Making slow progress on her way back to Winnipeg.
I got a hill coming up here.
I'm gonna try to get a run for it.
I feel like I don't even have any traction at all.
Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh, it's not making it.
I just didn't make it.
Oh shit, it's not stopping, it's not stopping.
It's sliding down this hill.
I cannot get it to stop.
It's not gonna stop.
Hang on.
In the melting north Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh, it's not making it.
I just didn't make it.
Oh shit, it's not stopping, it's not stopping.
Everything's going downhill for Lisa Kelly.
I cannot get it to stop.
It's not stopping.
It's not gonna stop.
Hang on.
Oh, now I'm in the ditch.
Fuck! You're kidding me.
And I'm still stuck.
I can't believe I'm that stuck.
Even fully chained, the mud and slush has proven too much to overcome and with no ability to move forward or back, Lisa's stranded miles from civilization.
Any ideas anybody so we're not here all night? But a maintenance crew on their last shift could be Lisa's best chance at freedom.
I'm uhh, I'm stuck.
If you could pull me downhill and then I'll let you go by.
So you can go up - Is that all right? - Yeah.
Come on, baby.
Just a little bit more.
Free of the snow bank, the road crew tows her down the hill.
Far enough to get a running start for her next attempt.
Lisa guns it with a giant incline in her sights.
Oh! Almost there, almost there! Hells yeah! Made it over the top.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
That was just a terrible nightmare.
I really appreciate it.
Lisa may be over the summit but with 120 miles to go, she ain't out of the woods yet.
I feel like I can barely go anywhere without getting stuck.
See I'm just spinning right now.
So I'm gonna do my best to get as far as I can before I get stuck and have to take a helicopter out of here.
While Lisa presses on at the competition's headquarters How you doing Mark, b'y? - You're alive?! - Can you believe this? Art Burke is finally off the road after his harrowing ordeal.
- Truck's okay? - Truck is great, buddy.
Geez, that must have been scary.
The water was all squirting up all around everywhere this morning.
No, no, no, no, no! I was thinking, when the water gets up to the door - I'm gonna bail.
- Yeah.
- I had to drive back out again to get up on the ice.
- Yeah.
Fucking shit that was pretty freaky, b'y.
C'mon baby, c'mon baby, c'mon baby.
Look at the water coming up.
I had to jackknife her around to get her turned in the ice - and then I got off of that, eh.
- Good.
It was a fucking rush buddy, I'll tell ya.
- Holy smokes.
- A really good rush.
Well, I'm glad you made it.
I'm glad I didn't have to send a helicopter for you.
I didn't have to send a body bag for you, never mind that.
Or the truck.
Well, the truck's can be replaced, Art, I mean, you know I don't Yeah, I don't wanna see anybody get killed.
I couldn't bail, b'y, I had to try my best to get it out.
- You did, yeah.
- And I did it.
That's the first time I've ever had the door opened like that CENSORED, thinking I'm gonna have to bail man, but we didn't, and we got out.
So I'm still just, just really grateful that you're here.
Thank you, buddy.
I was fucking sure we were gone.
There were some hectic, it was a hectic couple minutes, b'y, but we made her, b'y, that's the main thing.
We made 'er.
As midnight strikes in the north Oh my gosh.
I can't even get the wheels to start turning on this truck.
It's just like driving through molasses.
Lisa Kelly's leading the way back to Winnipeg on the deteriorating road out of Deer Lake.
Well, I'm only halfway out.
It's literally taking all of my concentration and everything I have to keep it on this road.
It's just if I look away for even a second it's gonna throw me into the ditch.
No matter how tired I am, how exhausted I am, I can't just pull over and quit because otherwise I'll be stuck here for a very, very, very long time.
This has been so bumpy.
Hang on, this is gonna fucking hurt.
What happened over on this side? A soft spot.
This tire's not even touching the ground.
So solid right here too.
The truck's dug so deep that her drive tires are suspended in air making it impossible to move.
This front tire just sunk right in, lifted my back tire off.
I'm so done.
I'm soaked, tired, cranky 50 miles back Ooh.
This road's in terrible shape.
The gnarly trail is putting Darrell through the ringer too.
I got chains rattling and shit wanting to come apart.
This road's so rough it's like driving through fucking oatmeal.
After the road's already been torn to pieces by Lisa's rig, now her partner's forced to suffer through the aftermath.
Everything you touch gets you wet out there right now.
I gotta get out of here.
Whoa, whoa.
Keep going, keep going, keep going.
Whoa, fuck me! What the fuck, dude? It's slick over here, I'm stuck on this edge.
I'm gonna be lucky to get out of here.
And it's not giving in, no fucking traction whatsoever.
I totally cannot move.
Now what the fuck am I gonna do about this shit.
I'm just fucking stuck on flat ground.
I don't know what the fuck I'm on.
I'm on something.
I don't know why this thing won't just go forward.
I got fucking chains on it and everything else.
Totally fucked on flat ground.
With Darrell and Lisa both stranded on a melting road that's on the verge of being shut down, they could be forced to abandon their vehicles, closing the door on their season and their company.
I don't have too many fucking options.
Fuck.
What a night this is turning out to be.
Next time It's slick over here.
on Ice Road Truckers Oh, come on.
They'll haul our shit out.
A king is to throne No way.
This could be the end.
and for a veteran Hold on.
it could be check mates.
Whoa! Hold on!
It's chaos We're just gonna pound our way in there.
Flinging mud everywhere.
and destruction.
Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh.
I shouldn't have fucking been in here.
As the melt decimates to winter roads.
No, no, no, no, no! All season, two companies have battled on the winter roads.
It's taken years for me to get to the top.
I'm not gonna let anybody stand in my way.
You ready to do this, Lisa? I'm ready, let's do this.
Fighting off challenge Whoaaaaa! after challenge.
The biggest load in history across this ice right here, I'm hauling right now.
But now, mother nature's putting the drivers to the test.
As soaring temperatures are melting the roads weeks earlier than expected.
turning the trials into slush, and the crossings into death traps.
These roads are melting away.
It's coming hard and fast.
The warm weather is gonna kill us.
The warm weather will, will put you through the ice.
Hundreds of miles from Winnipeg, deep into the thawing wilderness, one trucker is about to tempt fate.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Polar driver, Art Burke, is on his way back from remote Sachigo Lake.
Facing a crossing that's quickly running out of ice.
Okay, b'y, we're gonna go gown on the ice road here.
So with all this warm weather, we're just gonna hold our breath and make it across this.
There's a lot of water here.
Well, talk about smashed.
I never seen it that beat up before.
Look! Usually you see cracks but that was totally shattered, eh? As a matter of fact, I'm gonna get over in the middle here a little more.
To try and survive the crossing, Art maneuvers towards the center, where what's left of the ice is at its thickest, but where the water below is at its deepest.
We definitely got some rough ice here and this is in the middle of fucking ice.
Shit.
No, no, no, no, no! What the fuck?! Get that fucking thing out of the way.
C'mon, baby, c'mon, baby, c'mon, baby.
C'mon, baby.
We broke through the fucking ice, man.
Shit.
Oh fuck me.
Well, that's a fucking first.
What's really fucked up, we went through the fucking ice in the middle of the lake, b'y.
Well, well, well, well, well, well, well.
Look.
Oooh.
Whoa! I fucking thought we were going, buddy! What the fuck are we gonna do now? I gotta get off and have a look at this.
I don't know if I wanna try that again.
To get a closer look at the damage and assess whether it's safer to go forward or back, Art breaks a cardinal rule of ice road trucking; never park your rig on the ice.
The water was coming right up through there.
That's where we were.
Look at all the fucking water come up.
I don't know how the fuck I'm gonna get passed this.
I don't fucking think I am, b'y, you know that? The only stretches of unbroken ice that lie ahead are on the edges.
I'm gonna try it one more time here, b'y.
But with a gigantic crater in the middle of the trail Let's go back a little further and get a good fucking run at this, b'y.
the narrow paths may not be strong enough to support the truck.
Art rolls ahead Okay, away we go for a second attempt.
hunting for solid ice Right over here.
and gambling with his life.
Oh, we're going through.
What the fuck?! What the fuck?! Wow.
If we go through this fucking thing, you'll never see us again.
Come on, baby.
We might go though the ice here, you got that? Keep your fucking door open, buddy.
In case we can't go CENSORED.
Can't go forward, and I can't go back.
Definitely gonna get through this.
Look at the water coming up.
The water is squirting up all around the fucking truck.
I don't know where the fuck I'm gonna go, but I know we're not gonna be going that way.
Okay, b'y.
I gotta turn this around and go back.
Out of options, Art makes a 180 on the ice and hightails it for solid ground.
Holy fuck, man! The fucking weather's too warm b'y.
Shit.
Shouldn't have fucking been in here.
That second time we veered back and forth, I could feel it going deeper all the fucking time, eh.
Holy fuck, b'y.
I got a rush when I fucked it, when she started dropping.
I could feel her going down more and more all the time, eh.
Well, we're getting off the fucking ice today anyway.
I don't know what's gonna happen from now on but I'll tell you one fucking thing, knock on wood, not that I'm superstitious, we're back on land again, b'y.
And am I ever fucking happy.
I gotta link a satellite phone and call Mark and tell him that that road is all fucked.
There might be another way out of here, eh.
Hey Art, what's going on? Well, I got some news for you here, b'y.
I went through the fucking ice, b'y.
You broke through the ice? And I'm not talking a little bit, Mark.
I was right up through to the tops of fucking nuts on the fucking wheels.
When I backed out, there was a fucking pile on the ice the size of a pie plate just gushing fucking water out.
Well, where are you right now? I'm off the ice.
I'm not stuck.
I turned around on the fucking ice and I came back.
I'm off the lake.
Okay.
Do not move that truck.
Stay on solid ground.
We're gonna get something figured out here.
Hang tight.
Okay.
Bye.
Nice talking.
Bye bye.
Well, I just talked to Mark and he wants me to sit here.
Now I sit and wait till he calls me back.
I think this might work.
Yes, buddy, how you doing now, Mark? It looks like there is some kind of Y in the road, about six miles back.
Okay.
Yeah, hang a left and head down that trail.
Okay, okay, Mark, talk to you later then, buddy.
Bye, bye.
Yeah.
Good luck.
Bye, bye.
Okay, I'm gonna go back to that fork to actually get us out of here the other way.
Having dodged a bullet, Art hits the road with Mark's escape plan.
Plan B, b'y, plan B.
Because this road is a bitch, a washout, literally.
Now I'm gonna backtrack and there's another road here and I'm gonna take that.
So this is the way we're going.
Well, I guess we're gonna be fine.
We made it this far, we're gonna make it the rest.
Coming up mud There goes my clean clothes.
sweat Good God.
This is way more challenging than it should be.
and gears Oooh! What am I doing out here.
Have I lost my mind? The thaw is wreaking havoc in the north and Polar's competition is in the thick of it too.
Not even halfway through here and I would say this road is deteriorating so fast.
Quite unbelievable to watch it go so fast.
Lisa Kelly is hauling the first half of a lucrative new contract.
The last two loads bound for the distant village of Deer Lake, 500 miles from Winnipeg.
It could be the upstart company's biggest payday yet and there's a reason for the high price tag.
Oh! Of course I banged the bottom of the truck on it.
No trail on the winter road system has experienced higher temperatures than the one into Deer Lake.
Boy, it is a slow trip today.
Ain't no going fast on this stuff.
But the renegades are willing to take a risk to try and ensure a profitable first season.
Boy we're gonna be lucky to get out of here.
I can't turn around and go back so There's only one direction to go.
Ooh boy.
I'm at an ice crossing.
Oh, I could clearly tell where the shore is and where the ice starts.
Now, Lisa's gotta brave the crossing at Sparling Lake.
Where the murky water on the surface is so deep most cracks aren't even visible to drivers.
All right, I'm gonna go for it but I'm gonna be very, very, very careful because I wanna go home after this.
I'm here to make money, not to go to heaven.
Lisa leaves shore hoping her 20-tonne load of building supplies stays afloat.
I'm on the ice.
I don't hear any cracking and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Super slushy right here.
It's turning into a lake.
The crossing is rapidly dissolving and the added weight from rising water is putting even more pressure on the thinning ice.
See it's popping.
Okay, now it's getting really loud.
Oh-oh, if this thing goes I'm outta here.
Okay, I don't usually ride out here because I'm pretty damn fearless, but I I've never seen this much water on the lake.
If this thing cracks, if this thing does anything, I'm so outta here, because it's enough water now that if I did go through, I think I'd have to swim to shore.
Holy cripes, pushing water.
Yeah, I'm about halfway because I can see the edge on that side.
With the ice splintering but no way to see through the muddy water Ooh.
Lisa's operating on blind faith to get her to the other side.
Cripes.
C'mon baby, a little bit more.
There, it's getting deeper.
All right.
Here comes the shore.
I might need to put a little power into it because if it bogs down at this idle it's not gonna make it.
Hang on, hang on.
I made it! All right.
I made it off the ice.
Lisa's conquered the crossing, but she still has 100 miles to Deer Lake.
I have this truck fully mud covered.
And the entire return trip still to go, if there's even a road left to drive on.
As Lisa trudges on back in Winnipeg.
They'll come and get that load.
Lisa's already grabbed the one, she's gone.
With a fixed up rig, business partner Darrell is looking to get going with the second half of the valuable contract.
What do you mean you gave it to Mark? I had both those loads contracted.
Lisa already took one.
He said he'd do it cheaper? Well, you know what, I'll cut rate, so Mark don't get it.
I'll come and get it right now.
I'll go right over to Polar's yard and I'll grab it.
All right, I'll talk to you later.
Thanks, bye.
Now this, this is fucked.
Mark's stealing my loads.
I'm gonna go see if it's over there.
If it, I'm taking it.
I have the contract on these loads.
I'm gonna pull into Polar and I'm gonna take my load.
I'm not gonna let Mark walk all over me.
I'm not gonna let him think that he can do whatever he wants.
I have the contract.
I already moved one of them and I'm getting the last one too.
Okay.
Hey! Hey! What the fuck are you doing?! - I'm taking my load.
- What the fuck are you doing? - I'm taking my fucking load.
- No, you're not.
This isn't your fucking load.
I called about these loads this morning and I have the contract on these loads.
You get the fuck off my truck, I'm leaving.
Thanks for the load, Mark.
Deep in the melting frontier Falling apart, falling apart fast.
Mark may have got lucky that I took this load.
Darrell Ward's slogging through the trail to Deer Lake.
Look at the water and the mud on the road.
Trying to bring in the second half of the big ticket contract.
Woo hoo! What am I doing out here? Have I lost my fucking mind? Lisa's in here too.
Holy fuck.
Ooh.
And it's rough too.
But with the road at ground zero of the thaw, Darrell's play to snag the load from Polar could backfire on his young company.
You can't screw up.
If you screw up, you're done, you're stuck.
Stuck, maybe sitting here till next winter.
May end up flying out of Deer Lake.
I still got a ways to go.
The sun's been beating on it now for about six hours and I can only imagine what this is gonna look like by seven o'clock tonight.
The load will be delivered.
I may not get out of here but the load will get delivered.
As Darrell goes to war in the slop, 150 miles ahead I got in here, I'm in Deer Lake.
Once I get it there and get this off-loaded, thank you, halleluiah! Partner Lisa Kelly survived the grueling road into Deer Lake.
Time to unload me.
And the first half of the big money contract is on the books.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! But now Well, I mean there's always, there's always a victory when you accomplish your goal, but then I've, it's already overshadowed by what I've gotta do next.
The return trip looms ahead.
You can't really breathe out.
You can use your breathe to celebrate a little but don't breathe a sigh of relief yet because I'm only halfway now.
I gotta turn around and go back now.
With a high sun cooking the path All right.
Lisa goes right back into the chaos.
Good God, this is way more challenging than it should be.
100 miles to the south It's gonna be rough.
I'm thinking lots of potholes.
an ice road legend's battling a melting trail of his own.
The road to Pikangikum was shut down days ago, deemed too unsafe for travel.
But with the last materials needed to finish the building of a new school the trail's been reopened.
So ideally, I get this load delivered and get out or I'll be stuck up there till next year.
And the veteran's gambling with his years of experience he can maneuver in and out before the roads close down for good.
Ohh.
Once the road goes out, then we can't drive and we really don't want the truck, otherwise-- and then we have to abandon the truck in the bush.
So I guess you could say we're just gonna pound our way in there and shake her up.
The road surface itself is breaking up.
Pounding her through here too.
I'm glad I don't have a load of eggs, that's all.
- Now - Holy mackerel! Alex must tackle the biggest hill on the entire trail.
Okay it's pretty big.
It's definitely steep.
Which has become nothing but a mound of slush and mud.
Now we gotta give her because this is the kind of hill you can spin out on.
And without steady velocity and traction It's gonna be rough.
it'll eat up his rig like quicksand.
Come on.
Get up the hill.
Come on, get up there.
It's some slippery, holy mackerel.
Whoa! Coming up Flinging mud everywhere! Uh-oh, uh-oh, it's not making it.
No fucking way.
On the mud filled road to Pikangikum Come on, get up there.
It's gonna be something slippery, holy mackerel.
Alex Debogorski's facing a mountain of trouble.
Whoa! This is just impossible.
This is-- Yeah, I don't believe it.
The conditions on the hill are too much, even for a seasoned pro like Alex.
I'm gonna try to back up there.
If he can't conquer the incline, there's no place to turn around and he may be forced to abandon the rig.
Okay.
I'm gonna put chains on.
This is gonna be one of those days.
So Alex will throw on chains for added traction and give it one more try.
This is about as ugly as it gets.
I don't usually get a chance to put chains on in the mud.
When I'm done, this truck's gonna look like 2015 outhouse.
She's gonna be baptized in mud.
That'll be right.
When you're working with mud a good thing to do is lay down there right off the bat.
Lay down, roll around in it, mud in the blood and the beer.
What do you think? Do you think a guy can take a chance to run that hill just two singles on the back axle? Okay.
We're gonna take a shot at 'er.
The odds of making it up there are very slim, but because I'm adventuresome, we're gonna give her a shot.
Okay, I'm gonna put it in manual, start out in a second.
Hang on to your shorts, here we go.
Nice driving.
Come on, baby.
Come on, baby, let's go.
Giddy up.
Come on, baby.
Come on.
I don't believe it.
Thank you, Lord.
Yee-hoo! Okay, we're off again.
With the incline behind him, the mud covered veteran hammers down.
We're getting close to Pikangikum.
And makes it through the final 40 miles of the dissolving trail.
We made it.
That journey was muddy.
I'm still muddy.
Despite conditions that would have beaten most drivers, the old pro prevails.
And Alex delivers big for Polar and the community.
I got a little dirty.
I had to put chains on in the mud.
Get right up to your neck in mud.
But only a couple of mouthfuls, so it wasn't bad, I can handle that.
I'm ready to go home and have a bath.
Wash my clothes.
60 miles to the north Deer Lake right ahead.
Polar's competition's also pushing through the thaw.
Hopefully they can get this load off me within the hour and get me turned around and headed back out of here.
As Darrell brings home the second half of the richest contract in the company's history.
Looks like I'm the last load to Deer Lake.
This stuff is melting fast.
The road's bad.
I don't know how I'm gonna get out of here once I do get offloaded.
But with 200 miles ahead to get off the winter road, and the possibility the rig could get swallowed up as the trail's on the verge of shutting down.
Fuck that, I'm out of there.
Darrell's high stakes gamble is far from over.
Turn and burn baby, turn and burn.
Won't be burning the shit out here it's too wet.
I need to get out at night, during the coldest part of the day, because I don't think you're gonna get out of here after, after tomorrow you're done.
This road's done.
There's no more crossing it.
80 miles ahead Darrell's business partner, Lisa Kelly, has already been fighting the trail out of Deer Lake.
We're making it out of here.
So there.
Making slow progress on her way back to Winnipeg.
I got a hill coming up here.
I'm gonna try to get a run for it.
I feel like I don't even have any traction at all.
Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh, it's not making it.
I just didn't make it.
Oh shit, it's not stopping, it's not stopping.
It's sliding down this hill.
I cannot get it to stop.
It's not gonna stop.
Hang on.
In the melting north Uhh-ohh, uhh-ohh, it's not making it.
I just didn't make it.
Oh shit, it's not stopping, it's not stopping.
Everything's going downhill for Lisa Kelly.
I cannot get it to stop.
It's not stopping.
It's not gonna stop.
Hang on.
Oh, now I'm in the ditch.
Fuck! You're kidding me.
And I'm still stuck.
I can't believe I'm that stuck.
Even fully chained, the mud and slush has proven too much to overcome and with no ability to move forward or back, Lisa's stranded miles from civilization.
Any ideas anybody so we're not here all night? But a maintenance crew on their last shift could be Lisa's best chance at freedom.
I'm uhh, I'm stuck.
If you could pull me downhill and then I'll let you go by.
So you can go up - Is that all right? - Yeah.
Come on, baby.
Just a little bit more.
Free of the snow bank, the road crew tows her down the hill.
Far enough to get a running start for her next attempt.
Lisa guns it with a giant incline in her sights.
Oh! Almost there, almost there! Hells yeah! Made it over the top.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.
That was just a terrible nightmare.
I really appreciate it.
Lisa may be over the summit but with 120 miles to go, she ain't out of the woods yet.
I feel like I can barely go anywhere without getting stuck.
See I'm just spinning right now.
So I'm gonna do my best to get as far as I can before I get stuck and have to take a helicopter out of here.
While Lisa presses on at the competition's headquarters How you doing Mark, b'y? - You're alive?! - Can you believe this? Art Burke is finally off the road after his harrowing ordeal.
- Truck's okay? - Truck is great, buddy.
Geez, that must have been scary.
The water was all squirting up all around everywhere this morning.
No, no, no, no, no! I was thinking, when the water gets up to the door - I'm gonna bail.
- Yeah.
- I had to drive back out again to get up on the ice.
- Yeah.
Fucking shit that was pretty freaky, b'y.
C'mon baby, c'mon baby, c'mon baby.
Look at the water coming up.
I had to jackknife her around to get her turned in the ice - and then I got off of that, eh.
- Good.
It was a fucking rush buddy, I'll tell ya.
- Holy smokes.
- A really good rush.
Well, I'm glad you made it.
I'm glad I didn't have to send a helicopter for you.
I didn't have to send a body bag for you, never mind that.
Or the truck.
Well, the truck's can be replaced, Art, I mean, you know I don't Yeah, I don't wanna see anybody get killed.
I couldn't bail, b'y, I had to try my best to get it out.
- You did, yeah.
- And I did it.
That's the first time I've ever had the door opened like that CENSORED, thinking I'm gonna have to bail man, but we didn't, and we got out.
So I'm still just, just really grateful that you're here.
Thank you, buddy.
I was fucking sure we were gone.
There were some hectic, it was a hectic couple minutes, b'y, but we made her, b'y, that's the main thing.
We made 'er.
As midnight strikes in the north Oh my gosh.
I can't even get the wheels to start turning on this truck.
It's just like driving through molasses.
Lisa Kelly's leading the way back to Winnipeg on the deteriorating road out of Deer Lake.
Well, I'm only halfway out.
It's literally taking all of my concentration and everything I have to keep it on this road.
It's just if I look away for even a second it's gonna throw me into the ditch.
No matter how tired I am, how exhausted I am, I can't just pull over and quit because otherwise I'll be stuck here for a very, very, very long time.
This has been so bumpy.
Hang on, this is gonna fucking hurt.
What happened over on this side? A soft spot.
This tire's not even touching the ground.
So solid right here too.
The truck's dug so deep that her drive tires are suspended in air making it impossible to move.
This front tire just sunk right in, lifted my back tire off.
I'm so done.
I'm soaked, tired, cranky 50 miles back Ooh.
This road's in terrible shape.
The gnarly trail is putting Darrell through the ringer too.
I got chains rattling and shit wanting to come apart.
This road's so rough it's like driving through fucking oatmeal.
After the road's already been torn to pieces by Lisa's rig, now her partner's forced to suffer through the aftermath.
Everything you touch gets you wet out there right now.
I gotta get out of here.
Whoa, whoa.
Keep going, keep going, keep going.
Whoa, fuck me! What the fuck, dude? It's slick over here, I'm stuck on this edge.
I'm gonna be lucky to get out of here.
And it's not giving in, no fucking traction whatsoever.
I totally cannot move.
Now what the fuck am I gonna do about this shit.
I'm just fucking stuck on flat ground.
I don't know what the fuck I'm on.
I'm on something.
I don't know why this thing won't just go forward.
I got fucking chains on it and everything else.
Totally fucked on flat ground.
With Darrell and Lisa both stranded on a melting road that's on the verge of being shut down, they could be forced to abandon their vehicles, closing the door on their season and their company.
I don't have too many fucking options.
Fuck.
What a night this is turning out to be.
Next time It's slick over here.
on Ice Road Truckers Oh, come on.
They'll haul our shit out.
A king is to throne No way.
This could be the end.
and for a veteran Hold on.
it could be check mates.
Whoa! Hold on!