All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S14E06.Bone.Cold.720p.WEB-HD.x264-Pahe.ph

[dark brooding music]

[door creaks shut]

57 below zero Fahrenheit.

Oof, it's cold.

[footsteps crunching in snow]

It's cold out here.

You can tell by the way,
your feet sound, too,

on this hard path.

Snow has a different sound
in this cold weather.

It's like styrofoam.

Everything is different
in 50, 60 below.

If you blow air from your lungs,

you'll hear that air
freeze in front of you.

Don't wanna breathe
through heavily out here,

also, in this cold air,

because you could damage
your lungs real easy.

I wanna throw this water up
just to see the phenomenon.

-[water crystals crackling]
-[haunting ethereal music]

[whistles] Ooh,
you can hear that.

You could literally hear it
go [imitates ice crackling].

Damn, that's crazy.

That's boiling water
in negative 57 below.

It basically freezes
before it hits the ground.

Right now, as the
saying in Alaska goes,

"It's fucking cold out."

Been a lot of warm winters
over the past 10 years,

but this is not one of
them, extremely cold.

My snow machine isn't gonna
start in this weather.

It's just too cold.

And if I'm even able to get
my snow machine started,

now is not a good
time to be out there.

I'm gonna stay close to
the cabin and do some work.

My first job right now to
fight against this cold weather

is I'm gonna bank
the side of my house

so that I don't get such
a draught coming in.

[shovel hitting snow]

I do have my degree
in snow shovelling,

so I'm the right
man for this job.

[soft dramatic music]

Snow is cold, but it also
acts as an insulation

to keep the cold from
coming into my cabin.

I'm gonna go all the way
around and build snow up

so I have a nice insulated
barrier to the outside world.

And this should make
a huge difference.

Having to fix my fire
constantly does get old,

but the worst part is
waking up freezing cold

at night, and without good
sleep, I'm a grumpy guy.

A lot of animals use snow
out here, like moose.

If there's a winter out
here in 50, 60 below

and there's no snow that winter,
the moose have a hard time,

and a lot of animals,
they basically curl up.

That's how they stay warm

is the installation
of that winter snow.

There's not much to snow
shovelling, but it takes energy.

[shovel scraping up snow]

Ooh, don't wanna breathe too
hard out here. It's cold.

[haunting ethereal music]

Easy to freeze your
lungs in this weather.

It's a lot tougher out here in
Alaska, deep snow, cold air.

Just doing a couple hours
of work outside feel

like I worked all day long.

So I just gotta watch
how hard I push myself.

Don't try to breathe too
much of this cold air.

Slow it down.

I wanna get the
job done right away

and go back in the
cabin, but realistically,

I just gotta work
slower, breathe easy.

[shovel hitting snow]

Even though it seems
like I'm working harder,

I'm thinking smarter also.

In the end, I'll be a
lot warmer at night,

I'll sleep better, I'll eat
better, and I'll feel better,

and it's vital to staying alive

in the woods out here
is having a warm cabin.

[haunting ethereal music]

Is it brutally cold
here? Absolutely.

It's a place like no other,

and I wouldn't trade
it for the world.

[haunting ethereal music]

[footsteps crunching in snow]

Well, this is my
little no-tech cabin,

and this is all the firewood
I have left for 'em.

About half of this is what
I'd use to cook a meal with,

let alone try to heat it for
a few weeks to a few months.

So this is not acceptable.

This property is been
dubbed the Chena cabin.

I have not been able
to come down as often

as I like and maintain things.

I will work on it, but the
first chore I need to do,

what's the first thing you
do in any winter in Alaska?

Get your fucking heat
supply in. Here, it's wood.

I don't think about wood often

because it's not something
I deal with in Kavik.

[Narrator] Sue Aikens
has returned to Chena

where she will spend the rest
of winter improving the camp

for her life after Kavik.

With temperatures
well below zero,

it's urgent that she
gets situated quickly,

and her first vital task
will be to source firewood

to combat the brutal freeze.

I'm between 20
and 30 below zero.

I've got my hat on, but I
also put a little hand warmer

up in here, and it keeps your
heat at the top of your head.

This dead is the one
I wanna take out,

and I need him to go this way.

It's the way he
wants to go anyways.

-[tense music]
-[chainsaw rattles]

[chainsaw buzzing]

I haven't used a powered
chainsaw in awhile.

I need to go slowly,
think about it,

hopefully not make
mistakes 'cause this area

will kill me just as
frigging fast as Kavik will

if I don't have
my wits about me.

[chainsaw buzzing]

All right, I'm gonna
make my back cut.

Ooh! It's getting colder.

I'm having a hard
time seeing the blade

in between the fog
coming out of my breath.

-[chainsaw buzzing]
-[dramatic music]

I can feel it
pinching, so I stopped.

Well, this is a little bit
of a problem right now.

As I'm trying to make that cut,

it's almost changing
direction, which is not good.

So I'm gonna get behind
here and gently push,

bearing in mind I
need my exit strategy.

[tense dramatic music]

This standing dead,
sometimes they just

don't go the way you want.

I don't wanna jerk it 'cause I

don't need that
top breaking off.

Inside the wood, you can't
tell how rotten is it,

is it not, and it starts
going the way you think,

and then if bucks and twists
and goes another direction.

Ugh.

[tree crackling]

There it goes.

-[grunts]
-[tree crackling]

[tree thuds]

Phew!

It came down where I wanted it
to, but it was pretty dodgy.

But every cut is a
little more variant.

So it's time for me to
get going and chop this,

stack it, and get
on to the next one.

[dramatic music]

Winter's long, but
the daylight's short.

So if you're gonna be
effective out here,

you have to figure out ways

of killing two birds
with one stone.

-[tense music]
-[wind blowing]

[dogs barking in distance]

Got my gear packed up for a
couple nights out in the bush.

Nice thing is I'm
heading to a camp

that's got a wood stove and
it's got some nice dry firewood

and a good spruce bed
to sleep on in there.

I have a camp over
by the Susitna River.

I've been using it
for dog training.

I gotta go out and
take care of this camp.

I'm gonna travel 40 miles.

Why not throw on my ice auger
and all my ice fishing gear

and go out and see if I can't
provide myself some food?

[slow dramatic music]

[Narrator] Jessie Holmes
is in his first winter

as a resident of Brushkana.

To provide himself with
food, Jessie will travel

to a remote training outpost
he set up in the fall.

But in these
freezing conditions,

he must be wary of the
uncertainty of the trail.

[Jessie] It's a moose,
a moose, a moose!

[snowmobile humming]

That was pretty cool.

Always exciting to
see wildlife out here.

Holy crap.

[thumping dramatic music]

Wow.

I see a moose, and she's
got a calf with her.

This is really
great moose country.

It's just completely
opposite country in Nenana.

This is a damn pretty place.

-[tense brooding music]
-[snowmobile humming]

Oh wow, this thing is
totally buried here.

Damn. It's somewhere
under there.

My tent is just
completely under the snow

and just a little
bump under there.

It's snowed about
two and a half feet

since I've been here last.

First things first before
I go do any fishing,

get camp set up.

Oh man, it's gonna
be a lot of work.

But the reward for the work
is gonna be pretty amazing.

I'm gonna be in there in
a nice, cosy wall tent

for the night,

[shovel hitting snow]

fire to dry out my clothes,
get prepped for tomorrow.

Moving out here has just been
adapting to a whole new scene.

It's tonnes of snow out here.

There's a lot of places
out in the high country

already got six feet of snow.

I've been living in the
interior where you're lucky

to get three over the whole
year, so constantly learning.

[tense music]

That's what this
tent being buried

under the snow symbolises.

This woulda stood
just fine in Nenana,

but out here, [laughs] no go.

A little bit more
work to do here.

Just gonna work into the dark.

[contemplative music]

And just enjoy being out here.

Not a lot of responsibility
out here other

than getting up
early and going out

and doing something
I love to do,

exploring, trying to
put a meal on the table.

All right, can't wait to get
going fishing in the morning.

[dramatic music]

[Agnes] There's a lot
of dangers out here.

That's what happens
when you want

to live outdoors and live
the subsistence life.

It's a lot of fun to be out
here. Just gotta be careful.

[haunting ethereal music]

[Iriqtaq] Yeah,
ready to go see Ana?

[child laughs]

You're such a goofball.
Come on, let's go inside.

Let's go see Ana, show
her the maps we have.

-Hi, Idi Bitty.
-Hi, Mama.

[child talking indistinctly]

-The maps.
-Oh wow, Idi.

These are what we
were looking for?

Yup.

[Narrator] In Noorvik, Idi
Hailstone is set to embark

on a rite a passage
as a native Inupiaq.

Idi's heritage allows her to
claim land in northwest Alaska

to build a life for herself,
so long as it's approved

by the region's
native association.

She and her mother Agnes
will scout the region

for a suitable plot, but
with freezing temperatures,

pinpointing known trails
for the voyage is critical.

I know Melvin Channel best.

I know how to drive a boat
up and down Melvin Channel.

I want somewhere where
I could go every summer

and provide my own
food, and I want a place

to be able to call
my own and be able

to support my family the
way my mother showed me how.

-Ready?
-Yeah.

So we'll just take this
road till the road go down,

and we'll hit the river, and
we'll go to the main cabin.

-Sounds good.
-Okay.

This is the first time
I'm gonna go with my mom

and go say, "Hey, this is
where I wanna build my camp."

-[snowmobile humming]
-[ethereal music]

It's gonna be
interesting riding.

It's been extremely cold.

The extreme cold
temperatures caught me

while I was travelling, and
it was already too late.

I already frostbit my face.

Frostbite is almost like a burn

from when you burn
from like steam

or touch something real hot
and it blisters up and stuff.

That's the same thing
that frostbite does,

so just gotta be careful.

-[dramatic music]
-[wind blowing]

[snowmobiles humming]

Hold on, Mom. I have to stop.

[Agnes] Oh gosh, I see!

-Look, you're freezing!
-I know, I felt that.

[Agnes] You got a frostbite
started right there.

-Ooh!
-You're gonna look like me.

[Iriqtaq] Felt my freeze
coming on, and I had to stop.

[Agnes] You gotta
put something on it.

Frostbite, it's
your face freezing.

Out here, the best
thing for our frostbites

are our saliva or our
[speaks in foreign language]

from our nose or mouth.

-Ooh, bubble up already.
-Yeah, it's white.

-Does it sting?
-Yup.

You need shelter. Get
out of this weather.

-[wind blowing]
-[dramatic music]

You have to really
watch it, temperatures,

when you're out here because
the weather changes real fast,

and sometimes, you
just have to stop

and hunker down and
wait out the cold.

We made it!

This is our lower camp cabin.

This is the halfway point
between Noorvik and Kotzebue.

Your face is all red.

Ah, I could feel it right here.

A while ago when I noticed
when I first looked at you,

it was white and swollen,
and that's why I knew we had

to come to shelter
for a little bit.

Frostbite, it's a
stinging sensation,

but by the time we
were able to feel it

while you're out there,
it's already too late.

Your skin is damaged and frozen.

You're not really
able to do anything

about your frostbites
except for thaw 'em out

and dry 'em up as best you
can without peeling your skin.

Oh God, I'm always so
happy this cabin is here.

It's always in the perfect spot.

Yeah.

I grew up here fishing,
playing all around this area.

The little lake's
close by. This is old.

It's time for us to start
new for your kids's place.

Anytime that I get a one on one

with my mom is always great.

We're able to talk more
without being interrupted,

and we have more
deeper conversations,

and it just feels great to
be out there with my mom.

Your cheeks look a lot better.

-Still slightly red.
-Yeah, I feel better.

I'm good if you wanna
keep going and go mark.

-Yeah, I feel a lot warmer.
-Yeah, me too.

I'm glad we came here to warm
up and stop for a little bit.

All we gotta do is just
go find that property now

and carry on.

[haunting ethereal music]

Everything's out here trying
to get a mil, me included.

[dramatic music]

[tense music]

[tent rustling]

Beautiful morning.

Clouds cleared out, can
see the mountain now.

Perfect morning to get
out there on the lake

and go try my hand at
some ice fishing out here.

Had a nice night's
sleep, super peaceful,

so I'm gonna head to the
Lake and do some fishing.

[tense dramatic music]

[Narrator] In need of
food for his survival,

Jessie is heading to a
Lake near his training camp

to fish under the ice.

But he's 40 miles
from his cabin,

and in the dead of
winter, caution is vital.

[snowmobile humming]

I see signs of danger.

[tense music]

Okay, I got some water here.
It looks like it's overflow.

Gonna have to check it out,

see if there's good
ice underneath it.

[ice pick hacking at ice]

Okay, it's got good
ice underneath it.

Just gonna have to
keep checking as I go,

make sure nothing changes.

Always better safe than sorry

and to take your time
chucking your way out.

I'm gonna need at least seven,
eight inches of solid ice

if I'm gonna get
out on this lake.

I'm not gonna do anything
that's gonna risk my machine,

so I had to take my
time, go every 20 feet,

check the ice depth,

make sure I'm not
running into a variance.

Okay, I've gotten to where I'm
getting out of the overflow.

I got about six,
seven inches of ice.

That should be good enough
to support the machine.

It's some really hard ice.

I'm gonna pull the
machine up here

and make the straight
shot to that point

because I think that's where
the best fishing's gonna be.

I'm gonna cut over
towards this point.

That should give me
some good shallow water.

Lake trout like to hunt
in the little shallows.

Gonna get my auger out,
start drilling some holes,

start setting some lines, and...

[auger rumbling]

Woo!

[auger rumbling through ice]

Woo hoo! Hit water.

It looks like I might be in
the ice fishing business.

[bright contemplative music]

That looks like about eight
feet of water to me right there.

I think this is
gonna be a good spot.

Hopefully, I can come
outta there with some fish.

I don't know about the
fish in this region,

so it's important for me to
get out and start learning.

If I wanna eat good out
here, I have to go out

and learn the ways of this land.

I'm not used to
fishing on lakes,

and I'm not used to fishing
under the ice in lakes for sure.

Been a long time since
I've thrown a rod and reel

in the lake before I even
came to Alaska, probably.

[auger buzzing]

So far, I've been able
to be pretty successful

at travelling this country.

Keep trying to go
out and get better

at providing meals
for myself out here

'cause that's what I really
take a true pleasure in

is the subsistence
lifestyle, being able to go

down the trail for myself
and go get some birds,

go get some caribou,
go get some fish.

What more could a man ask for?

All right, I got all
my set lines out.

I'm gonna get out my jig and
started jigging for some fish

and keep an eye on all
of these while I do it,

and hopefully these
fish are hungry.

[bright ethereal music]

Story of my life out
here, wood and water.

It's a everyday struggle.

You gotta stay warm, and
you got to stay hydrated.

[haunting ethereal music]

I haven't seen this cold out
here in at least 10 years.

When it's 57 below,
my stove is burning

like four times more
wood than a normal day.

I really need to
stack up more firewood

because I don't know how long
this cold spell's gonna last.

There's wood right near my cabin

that I leave for
times like this.

Hard times firewood, I call it.

When it comes to firewood,

standing dry spruce
is where it's at.

If it's got any green limbs
on it, any living branches,

that means there's moisture
inside of that wood.

I wouldn't be able to burn it.

Ooh! This is on deep
snow. [breathing heavily]

Having this firewood
right near my camp

is really important
in times like this.

I can't start my snow machine.

It's a danger for me to travel
long distances from my cabin.

[axe hacking tree]

If I'm cutting this
tree down and it starts

to fall a different
direction, I wanna be able

to get out of the way.

So try to anything that
might hinder my movement

under this tree when
I'm cutting it down,

basically, the canopy branches.

[tree rustling]

Ooh, snow.

-[tense dramatic music]
-[tree branches cracking]

I'm fighting with a birch tree.

Heating up quick out here.

It don't feel so cold when
you're struggling out here.

The most important thing out
here is managing my body heat.

Probably what I'm wearing
right now is like 10 times more

than the average person in the
lower 48 just to stay warm.

Holy.

I gotta know when to shed
some clothes so I don't sweat

and also when to
put clothes back on

so I don't get too cold.

So it's all about temperature
management out here.

This is a big ass tree.

To me, it looks like this tree

is gonna fall against the hill.

I'd like to drop it on the lake
where it's easier to access,

but I don't wanna
saw this street down

and have a fall on me, either.

So I pretty much gotta go
with the way it's leaning.

[chainsaw buzzing]

I have to work a lot slower
so I don't breathe harder

and just be careful no
matter what I do out here

because if I get hurt
in these temperatures,

that's a death sentence.

-[chainsaw buzzing]
-[dramatic music]

Whoa, shit!

-[tree cracks]
-[chainsaw buzzing]

Success. Okay, now I
gotta limb the thing.

And it's a little hung up,
but I'm gonna use my axe

and just knock as much
limbs off if I can

and cut it down from the
little canopy it's hanging on.

-[tense music]
-[axe hacking limbs]

[tree limbs cracking]

When it's 57 below, you gotta
move a little different.

[exhales sharply] I don't
wanna fatigue myself

by getting too much work
in in this cold air,

so try to move a little slower,

and just walking alone
out here is hard work

in this deep snow trying
to get this firewood.

Okay, it's gonna
fall once I hit this.

[limbs crackling]

There we go. [exhales sharply]

It might be easy in the city

where you turn on the thermostat

and then you crank it up
or down for warm or cold.

Out here, it's not like that.

This is the hard part of
living out here is hard labour.

It's good, though.

I'm sure as hell not bored
in my cabin, that's for sure.

[exhales sharply]
I'm fucking sweating.

Now I gotta buck it
up with the chainsaw.

I'm gonna start at the top.

[tense dramatic music]

Stairway to heaven right
here. [breathing heavily]

-[chainsaw buzzing]
-[dramatic music]

It's a lot of work dealing
with a big tree like this,

but once it's said
and done, this is like

at least a whole week's
worth of warmth in my cabin.

So one day of work,
seven days of comfort.

I guess that math adds
up for me out here.

There's no way around this

it's either get firewood and
stay warm or lay down and die,

so today, I'm out
here getting firewood.

This hill is taking half
my motherfucking energy.

[breathes heavily]

Only a fool would
think a woodpile

is a good enough woodpile.

You always gotta have
more wood out here,

and you got to be ahead
of the game on firewood.

You can't wait till last
minute and go get firewood,

especially if I'm out
here and I get hurt

and I don't have a sufficient
supply of firewood.

I'm gonna freeze
to death out here.

So if you're not ready and
you get hurt in your cabin

and you only have a
week's supply of firewood,

you only got a week to live.

People have died out
in this country just

by not being ready.

[grunts loudly] There we
go. [breathes heavily]

I'll start carrying
'em back to the cabin.

Then I can saw 'em up,
split 'em up, stack 'em up,

and I'm set for firewood
for at least a week.

Beautiful firewood.

[dramatic music]

Take a lot of pride
in most people

couldn't survive 10
minutes out here.

I spend all day and
all night out here.

[tense ethereal music]

it's just a slight
motion I wanna do.

I don't wanna do
anything too unnatural.

Not only is this awesome
to be out here fishing,

it's a really good way
to test my survival gear

'cause I'm just not
moving around a lot.

Seeing that I can stay
warm in this wind out here

at zero degrees, which
means the wind chill's

probably making
it about 20 below,

it's a good way to
test your clothing.

Most people who go ice fishing,

they go sit in a little hut
and drink beer, watch TV.

This is the real hardcore side
of ice fishing right here.

[up-tempo chiming
contemplative music]

It's getting late out.

It's time to give these
guys a check here.

Tried jigging, didn't
catch anything, so...

I might have something.

[stick cracking ice]

Nothing on that one.

Four more holes to check, so
it's a game of probability

whenever you're
fishing like this.

You put out five lines,
and you hope for the best.

A lot of people say
they like fishing,

but I'm not gonna lie.

I like catching
more than anything.

Okay, check the rest of these.

[tense music]

Nothing on that one.

This is a different style
of fishing for me, period.

I'm used to using the fish wheel

and catching lots
of fish all at once.

Out here, there's no mass
amount of fish to be caught,

so it just makes the value
of that fresh fish even more.

Maybe?

Maybe?

Oh, there is something
on this one. Holy shit.

Oh, it's big, too.

Break this ice out. I
hope I don't lose it.

Oh yeah. Oh, it's a burbot.

It's a burbot, yes!

Oh, that's a trout! No,
that's a lake trout!

Woo hoo! I've never caught
a lake trout before.

This is so cool. Wow, that's
a nice fish right there.

Oh man.

That's gonna be some
delicious eating right there.

The beauty.

It's just pretty cool to
see that I can come out here

and put the work in
and come away with man,

that's a huge meal.

I can't eat that
all in one sitting.

It's getting late here.

I could head home, but
the fish are biting.

I can't leave these
holes unattended.

But if I camp out here,
right here on the ice,

I can keep these guys going.

So I'm gonna rebait this one,
and I'm gonna keep trying.

Got my sleeping pad here.

That's really
important if you're

gonna sleep somewhere like this.

You gotta have something
between you and the ground.

Pretty windy out,
so trying to think

of a way to break the wind here.

Make myself a nice windbreak.

That'll make it a lot
warmer to sleep here.

Yeah, that should work.

One thing when you're
camping out in the cold,

you don't wanna take
your time getting

into your sleeping bag,

and you don't wanna take
your time getting out of it

and into your clothes in the
morning and get moving quick.

For me, this is just another
night practising being

on the trail with my dogs.

There might not be no dogs,
but I'm putting myself

to the test always.

It's around zero.

I'm sure to most people,
this seems insane

to come out here and just
get in your sleeping bag

and go to sleep, but to
me, that's just the norm.

[tense ethereal music]

All right, tomorrow's
another day,

and I can hardly wait for it.

[tense music]

[Iriqtaq] We live in the Arctic,

but that ain't gonna
stop us from going out.

The weather never holds
us back from anything.

We just work around it.

-[dramatic music]
-[snowmobiles humming]

[Narrator] After sheltering
from the bitter cold,

Idi and her mother Agnes
are continuing their search

for land that Idi
can claim as her own.

A shift in weather has
made for easier travel,

and they must seize
the warming conditions

and remaining daylight if
they are to find an area

that will be bountiful
for Idi's future.

As we left town, it
was a little cloudy

and snowing and a
grey foggy feeling.

And as worked our way
down to the coast,

the sun started to pop
out a little bit more.

[snowmobiles humming]

-Wow!
-Wolf prints!

-Fresh ones.
-Yup. Wow.

[Agnes] They're
chasing a caribou.

-See how they're far apart?
-Yeah.

[Agnes] The farther they're
spread out, they're running.

When they're closer,
they're just walking.

You could see in the
tracks that the wolves

were pestering the caribou,

and you could see 'em
turn the whole group

around a few times.

And to just see all that
gives me a good idea

about what the resources
are around those lands.

All kinds of tracks!

Rabbits and marten.

Whoa, it just gets beautiful
the more we walk up here.

The main thing I'm looking for

in this property is
just high ground to stay

out of the water during
high floods and stuff

because the floods come
about twice a year.

Those trees are still alive,

so it doesn't flood
too much over here.

Those trees make me
really comfortable

because I could go
right over there

and go get myself
a load of wood.

[Agnes] Yeah.

[Iriqtaq] Just being
that close to the river,

to set the net, it's
a pretty good spot.

[Agnes] I think this
is a great spot, Idi.

I love the animal trails
that are all over the place.

Oh, this is just a
good spot all around.

I'm pulling out my ribbon,
and I'm setting it right here.

[soft dramatic poignant music]

Seeing the tracks and
being able to walk

and find a piece of property
with my mom is really great.

And all my life, every
time I go to that camp,

I'll always be
grateful for my mom

because she's showing me a
great area that is plentiful.

[Agnes] This is
a special moment.

[Iriqtaq] Feels pretty special.
I feel great about this.

It's really close to
where my mother's camp is

and where I grew up,

and it's a beautiful,
wonderful experience.

She chose a beautiful spot.

I think you selected a good
spot, Idi. I'm proud of you.

[tense ethereal music]

[Sue] Far as I know, we
get one trip on this ball.

When you're done, you're
done. Make it good.

[tense music]

Here it goes.

Boom!

[chainsaw buzzing]

[Narrator] With current
temperatures dangerously cold

in Chena, Sue must
stock up on firewood

to provide heat for her cabin.

Not only is it crucial
that her current stores

are plentiful but also
that she has a supply

for the year to come.

The sun is now gone and it's

gonna start getting
markedly colder fast.

My next tree is
this live one here.

I'm trying to thin the
ones that are closest

to the road that are
gonna become issues.

The goal is to drop
this tree right

where I've dropped
this other one,

but we'll just have to see.

I wanna clear some
of these branches

so I don't get caught by 'em.

I'm picking out some
live trees, too,

because it's not just about
the dry timber for this year.

It's about letting stuff build
for a pile for next year.

That means some live cuts that
need to leave the property.

They're too close to the
road. You get a wet spring.

It's gonna slide right
over and block everything.

I don't want anything
that's gonna be in the way.

If it goes the wrong way,

I've got to get the
hell out of Dodge.

-[chainsaw buzzing]
-[dramatic music]

And living in Kavik as
many years as I have,

there are no trees.

They don't cut down trees there.

So chainsaw, trees, not
my favourite comfort zone.

Mistakes taking down trees,

a tree gets stuck
doing something or
it pops the wrong way

and we call those things
widow makers, why?

Because men used to
be the lumberjacks,

and mistakes like that,
you don't have a wife,

you have a widow.

Now my back cut.

[chainsaw buzzing]

Ooh. Oh, shit!

[tree crackles and thuds]

I'm not sure.

I'm gonna have to
go over and look

to see exactly how I
messed that one up.

That could've been
a real life mistake.

Feeling a little shaky about it.

Looking at it, I
actually dished it.

I didn't stay exactly
in the same groove,

and this is exactly what
I didn't want it to do

is to get hung up
in the other trees

because it makes it
dangerous to start cutting.

But tree down. Go Sue.

What I wanna do now is
start the chainsaw back up

once I'm down with
my little willies,

and I need to get
this thing limbed

and then assess how I'm
gonna get it cut up.

[tense dramatic music]

I misjudged putting the
back cut in a little bit.

Turns out to be a
big mistake of mine.

That could've been
a widow maker.

That could've been a
life-threatening mistake.

I'm learning from it,

but learning from
almost losing your life

is not the way that I wanna
learn, but it's a quick study.

It's not my happy
place cutting above me,

but if I cut it up,
hopefully it'll just boom!

And this'll drop.

[chainsaw buzzing]

There we go. I'm done
falling trees now.

I wanna cut up these rounds

and start getting the
wood into the cabin area.

I've got at least 10,
12 loads, probably more.

It's been an
old-fashioned winter,

lots of 40, 50, 60
below zero temps.

You burn through the wood.

Get your supply close to
where you're gonna use it

so you're not caught
with your panties down.

Stock pile it now.

I don't depend on anybody
else at this point.

I don't wanna have to start

because I was too
slow to get it done.

[tense dramatic music]

[chainsaw buzzing]

I still enjoy physical
labour. I'm in my late 50s.

You go to the
doctor's and you go,

"Oh, I think I have a problem.

The leg doesn't
work all the time.

The arm doesn't wanna work."

Automatically, they ask,

"What accident is
this referring to?"

And I'm like, "Bitch,
a life well lived."

90 miles an hour,
flames in my hair,

you gon' bound to bounce
into shit once in a while.

Come on, baby. Cowabunga!

That's a nice little
pile of wood just

from those few pieces,

but I've got a lot
more to get through.

But I still got it, and
Granny's still got it.

I got a pile going.

I've got more to learn,
a lot more work to do,

and hopefully a lot
more years to do it in.

[axe thuds into wood]

[tense music]

One of the keys to staying
safe is good rest, I believe.

If you don't sleep good,
you don't eat good,

you don't shit good,
you don't feel good.

[tense ethereal music]

I woke up this morning.

It's 57 below zero,
but I have work to do.

I can't lay down and just wait
for this weather to go by.

Now I need to get up on the roof

and take some of the
snow off the roof.

There's about three foot
of snow in my cabin.

That's a lot of weight.

I could hear logs popping,

and things start to
shift under that weight.

We're gonna take some off,
leave some for insulation,

but I wanna get a lot of this
weight down off the roof.

Probably shortens the lifespan

of your cabin by
having all this weight.

Having this much snow
on my roof is not good

because that's basically
like sitting a truck

on your roof all winter.

Eventually, it's
gonna do damage.

-[snow crunching]
-[breathes heavily]

Shovelling snow, it's
not very gratifying.

It's a lot of work.

I guess you feel a little
better when a job is done,

but it's not like you
get brag about it.

Can't tell your buddies
how much snow you shovel.

You can't get a good
job for shovelling snow.

It's just a lot of work.

-[snow crunching]
-[breathing heavily]

Whoa. Starting to
get slippery here.

Woo! It's slippery on this part.

Gotta be careful where I step.

[tense music]

-[tense chiming music]
-[grunts]

Lot of work shovelling the
roof, but a step I have to take

to make sure I
sleep good at night.

Being tired out here is
not only uncomfortable.

It's dangerous.

If I let myself get too
tired, too run down,

it's easy to make
mistakes out here.

You gotta be comfortable
when you're in the woods.

So this seemed like
just shovelling snow,

but it's more than that.

Job done.

It was 57 below out here,

but I got a lot of
work done today.

Got my cabin banked,
shovelled off.

I got a firewood right nearby.
The stove is burning hot.

It's all gonna pay
off, this work I did,

because now I'm
gonna be more secure

as far as staying
warm, sleeping good,

and anything else needs
to be done around here,

it makes the job so much easier
having a comfortable cabin.

[tense ethereal music]

I'm a hunter. I'm a predator.

I'm one of the top
predators out here,

so I'm always keeping my
eyes open for opportunity.

[tense ethereal music]

-[grunts]
-[sleeping bag rustling]

It's a beautiful morning, but
it's cold out here for sure.

There's this kind of fine line

between discomfort and danger,

and I'm definitely on
the discomfort side,

not the danger side.

Oh, hopefully I caught
something on these sets.

Late last night whenever
I caught my first fish.

Decided to camp out and leave
the sets to soak overnight,

see if I might get lucky
and get some more fish.

Once I pull these out, if
there's nothing on 'em,

I'm gonna be moving on.

[shovel hitting snow]

Come on.

Something got my bait right
there. Well, that was a miss.

There's a lot of perfecting

to the technique
to be done here.

This is just my first trip.

[tense music]

[shovel hitting snow]

I don't feel like I
got a fish on that one.

No, another one of my
bait's gone. Geez, dang.

That's a bummer. That's
a real big bummer there.

I didn't catch
anything this morning,

but I'm not disappointed that
I spent a night out here.

I got a real good night's rest,

and just a good way
to test my ability

to sleep out in windy,
cold conditions.

Maybe don't always
get what you want,

but you're always gonna
come away with an experience

every time you come out
to places like this.

Oh man, there's a caribou.

I'm just getting ready to leave,

and I just seen a caribou
come out on the lake.

That's the first caribou
I've seen in awhile.

Wow, that's amazing.

There's just not much caribou
in this country right now.

Everything that happens
out here has a story.

You're constantly
reading the tracks.

You're reading the signs.

You're reading what
the animals are doing.

You're reading the weather.

Seeing this caribou,
what kind of sign

is that animal
trying to show me?

There's something to
everything you see out here,

so you have to have a
mind who thinks like that.

[soft ethereal music]

Okay, it's been an awesome
trip out here to the lake.

Before I leave, I'm gonna
go pay a tribute to a place

that this dream all started
from, the tree of life.

Can see it right over
there in that thick timber.

Go see if I can't find that
spot I camped four years ago.

-[snowmobile humming]
-[dramatic music]

That's it. That's the
tree of life right there.

Really underneath this tree
with my dogs four winters ago,

this dream started.

I came out here, and I
was looking for a place

to camp whenever
it was 40 below.

I had five of my
best dogs with me,

just coming across this
lake breaking trail.

I saw this big tree and I said,

"Man, I'm heading
right for this tree."

And I coined this
tree the tree of life

because when it's 40 below
and you're out there,

you need a good camp.

It's all came together, and
coming back here just floods me

with memories and
just those dogs.

Those dogs are the foundation

of the amazing dog
team that I have

and just time I spent
out here surviving

in the deep cold with my dogs.

Man, I just wanted to
live out in this country

and be a part of this country.

This amazing view,
mountains everywhere.

It's just absolutely incredible.
This'll never get old.

[poignant instrumental music]