All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S09E08.720p.WEB-DL.x264-KangMus_track3_[eng]

(wind)

AGNES: Survival bag.

TINMIAQ: You have enough
oil and spark plugs?

-Yeah.

Today, me and Tinmiaq are
going to be packing up and
taking the snow machine and

sled to Kiwalik.

We're going to be picking up
a freight sled down there.

It has our tarps and teepees
that needs to come back
to town and get repaired so

they'll be ready
for use next season.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones
live nomadically
in Northwest Alaska,

tracking and harvesting
the area's resources
for their survival.

But with Agnes's husband,
Chip, serving a 15-month
sentence in Anchorage,

she and her five daughters
have been forced to endure
dark winter on their own.

With spring approaching, the
family will soon be setting
up their camp in Kiwalik where

they will hunt, fish,
and gather throughout
the warm months.

They must retrieve their
teepee to make critical
repairs or their seasonal

harvests are at risk.

AGNES: It's gonna be pretty much
six, seven hours of total
riding today at good speed.

It's not gonna be
the best weather.

It's gonna be cold, stormy.

We're gonna hopefully
get to camp and come back
without getting lost.

Ready then?

-Yes, ma'am.

AGNES: It's gonna take us
120 miles to get there
and 120 miles to get back.

It's just gonna
take a lot of time.

We're just gonna go all the
way to camp today and get our
freight sled and hopefully

we'll come back safe.

Whoa, what was that?

(theme music plays)

♪ ♪

My snow machine's
not going anywhere.

I just burned it up.

Not going nowhere.

Just cruising along the trail
and stuff, and just going,
and then all of a sudden,

it just stopped.

I think this cancels
our trip for now.

We're not even one mile
away from town, and so,
this is kind of messed up.

Just doesn't seem like
we're gonna be able
to go anywhere now.

The only place this is going
is right back to the shop.

I could almost cry.

This ain't going anywhere.

I just take the belt off and.

-Ready to be dragged back?

-Ready to be dragged
back to town.

There's absolutely nothing we
can do for this snow machine.

That's it.

I guess it's better
off we break down right
here next to town,

than in the middle of
the whole adventure.

Or we get all the way to
camp and then break down.

-(bleep),(bleep).

-Look like we're not gonna
be going anywhere today,
except back to the house and

work on the snow machine.

And if the weather's
still good tomorrow,
we can just try again.

At least we got our own trail.

ANDY: It's the little everyday
things that you don't pay
attention to that come back to

bite you oftentimes.

Puppy, puppy, puppies!

It's a new day today!

You guys get to
be big dogs today!

You guys get to
be big dogs today!

No more feeding in the pen.

NARRATOR: For Andy Bassich,
using sled dogs along the
Yukon River is a way of life.

The dogs allow him to
access winter resources and
haul heavy loads year-round.

Maintaining a kennel
requires him to breed
and train new dogs,

and today is the first
day of school for his
two newest puppies.

-Come on, let's go
out, let's go out!

Let's go get chow-chow.

What I'm trying to do right
now is transition the puppies
from living in the dog pen to

big dogs in the kennel.

And the first step
of this is to associate
food with being in the,

the kennel with the big dogs.

Come on Naty,
Naty, Naty, come!

Where'd she go off to?

Okay, you get your chow.

Come on over here, G.

Right here with the big dogs.

There ya go, big guy.

Oh boy, Naty, Naty, come on!

Chow-chow.

G is definitely ready to go.

He's ready to be in the, in
the dog lot and transition.

Naty's being a lot more aloof.

She's obviously realizing
there's some, some
change in the routine.

Come on, Naty.

Let's go, let's go, come on.

Oh, you're getting to be
too big a dog to carry, Nat!

(laughs).

Look at that girl.

Let's go get chow-chow.

Let's go get chow-chow.

So I'm gonna have to take her
over and give her a positive
experience to get fed today.

Here, you want some of that?

Mm-hmm, that's
pretty good stuff.

They're at an age now where
their head space is good.

My goal right now is to get
'em into the team, and learn
all of the routines that go

into being a sled dog.

We're just gonna hook
up like, nine dogs.

Take a run downriver
and hopefully the
puppies will follow.

Good boy, G.

Okay, let's go, hup, hup!

In the course of my
30 years of mushing, I've
probably had 150, 200 dogs.

It's all about
good-quality food, good
training, and consistency.

Woo-hoo, all right.

The puppies are doing good.

If I can transition 'em
this spring into being an
active member in the team,

then next fall when
I begin my training,
they're already into it.

They know what to
do, and then they will
actually be a working,

productive member of the team,
instead of just a tag-along.

Up we go.

Come on, Geo!

Come on, G-man!

Hey, all right, good boys!

Good run!

These dogs did great today.

They had a lot of fun.

Plenty strong enough, plenty
fast enough, and now they need
to be in the team and just

keep doing this over
and over and over again.

And pretty soon,
they'll be sled dogs.

JESSIE: You only get a
certain amount of time in life.

Why spend it sitting idle?

You only get one shot.

♪ ♪

It's been snowing for
the past week really heavy.

Wet snow around here, and
it's really accumulating deep
and more snow than we usually

get around here.

The last week, we've gotten
nearly two feet of snow.

Gotta start digging
everything out and try to
get this snow out of my way,

so I can actually
function around here.

NARRATOR: For Jessie Holmes,
recent storms have buried
his camp in deep snow.

He must take advantage of a
break in the weather to clear
the snow so he can resume

training his sled dogs
for races, his source
of income in the bush.

-Get cold again here soon,
and none of these jobs are
gonna be that easy to do

in the cold.

'Cause everything
will harden up.

So I was trying to get
this all done before the
cold comes and makes it

twice as difficult.

Just getting my dog food
cooker dug out here.

Dig some fish out of the snow.

Get my dogs' food cooking
up, and then I'm gonna start
digging all the dog houses out

of the snow, and it's coming
to where there's just too much
snow and it's coming right

into the dogs' doors as
they go in with their chain,
the straw's getting wet.

So I need to get these
dog houses all popped
out of the snow.

Now what I gotta do is go
get some hot water, get it in
here, and get a fire going.

While that's heating up
to boiling, I'm gonna
go dig out some fish,

get some fish in there.

I've only got a couple
months of winter left here,
and got a lot of fish that

needs to be cooked up.

The fish saves me
a lot of money.

Maintaining this size of
dog kennel, you spend a
lot of money doing this,

and a lot of
resources doing this.

It's gotta pay back
for itself somehow.

Water heating up.

I'm gonna go get myself seven
to eight fish to put in there.

Right now, I'm just gonna
get myself enough fish to
throw in the dog food cooker.

But once I got the dogs'
houses all busted out, I gotta
come and excavate this whole

pile of fish out, and get it
to where I can easily use it.

'Cause it's not gonna be
efficient for me to come
over here and pop seven

fish out every day.

All right, looks like
my snow thawed out.

My water's warm.

All right, let
that do its magic.

I'm gonna get to popping
these dog houses out.

Right here is what the
problem is, is all this
snow's starting to spill

right into his dog house,
getting way too high.

I'll get your house
fixed for you, buddy.

Running dogs is a lot
of fun, but what it boils
down to is a lot of work.

I'm a little bit behind the
curve right now, but I'm gonna
dig myself out literally.

Dig myself out from the
snowstorm and get things
jumping efficiently

around here again.

Time to get these guys
some dry straw and get 'em
comfortable for the night here,

'cause the temperature
is starting to drop quick.

Good boy, Flash.

Tomorrow's gonna be
a whole 'nother day, it's
gonna be a lot colder out.

It's probably gonna
be pretty hard popping
all those fish loose,

so just get these guys fed,
get myself something in my
belly and rest up for another

hard day out here.

The job's never done.

365 days a year.

GLENN: I just take advantage
of the opportunity,
wherever it comes up.

That's one great thing
about it out here.

I never know what the
day's gonna bring.

The breeze is picking up.

This is just what
I've been waiting for.

Because with this wind,
I'm gonna be able to try
out a new tool I've got.

I'm gonna be able to
try out my paraglider.

What I need to do is practice.

The first step is to try it
out right here on the lake.

I'm gonna take this wing
out on the lake and try
flying it right here first.

Once I get that
mastered, then I'll
head up the mountains.

This winter, I went down
outside Alaska for the
first time in seven years,

in order to study
about paragliding.

And I brought a
paraglider back with me.

A paraglider is something like
a parachute, but it's designed
so that you can take off from

a mountain just by running.

If I can really get this
mastered and learn how to fly
this paraglider well enough,

I'll be able to go
up on the tops of all
these mountains here.

It's gonna open up all
kinds of possibilities.

What might have taken me
two or three hours to walk,
I might be able to fly

in ten minutes.

Gotta make sure I
got this harness on right.

I don't wanna fall out of it.

I wanna get my wing out
and practice flying it
like a kite, right here.

Once you get kiting really
mastered, then you're ready
to actually take to the air.

Whoa, there it goes!

That's a pretty strong gust.

I gotta be careful.

I don't wanna get dragged
all over the place out here.

Whoa, whoa!

Whoa!

GLENN: Whoa!

Whoa!

Woo!

Okay, it's a real challenge.

The wind is strong.

It's a big wind, and
it just dragged me.

There's a lot
going on, though.

Okay, I'm gonna try again.

Whoa, whoa!

(grunting)

It's wild, I was
actually flying.

I took right off the
snow, about a foot high.

It's a lot of fun.

I think I gotta
practice a little more.

I think I'll get
the hang of it.

I just gotta keep trying.

Whoo!

This is primal flight.

Just me and a wing.

Whoa!

When I get this thing
up in the sky, man,
that's gonna be cool.

I'm gonna fly like a bird.

I've been bound right by the
mountains around this valley
for the last several years and

look at all the country
I haven't explored yet.

Whoa!

I'm gonna be free.

I'm gonna head
over the mountains.

I'm gonna climb the peaks,
I'm gonna go explore.

Whoa.

I could shoot a caribou up
on a mountain, throw the meat
in my backpack, and fly home.

Man, why didn't I get
one of these sooner?

Look at this thing,
look at it go!

Woo-hoo-hoo!

Hey, it's up there!

Woo-hoo-hoo, yes, I got it!

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Whoa.

A lot of fun, but I
think it's time to
pack this thing up.

And I got some good
practice in today.

When the conditions
are right, I'm ready to
head up the mountain.

JESSIE: Death is
nothing to fear.

Not living is
something to fear.

If I were to die tomorrow,
I'm pretty satisfied with
the effort that I've put in.

Yesterday, I got my
dogs' houses all removed,
and next on my project list

is start chipping
all these fish out.

It's never an easy job.

Now, the temperatures
have dropped, we've got a
few more inches of snow,

and then it got cold out, so.

My goal right now is to
get enough of these fish
popped out and stacked up

by my cooker, so I can
easily cook my dog food
over the next month,

so I can save some
time, just focus on
training the dogs.

NARRATOR: Along the Nenana
River, harvesting fish during
the fall and summer months

is essential to
Jessie's lifestyle.

The bounty allows him
to feed himself and his
sled dogs year-round.

Exhuming the fish from
the aftermath of recent
storms is a priority.

-If I don't do this, I just
gotta do it every day, you
know, seven fish at a time,

and that efficiency has
not been working for me.

I know I've used close
to a couple thousand
already this year,

so there should be
at least 1,000 here.

You're best off
to just enjoy whatever
task you have at hand,

and look at it as fun and
a challenge instead of,
"Oh God, I gotta do this."

Keeping a positive
attitude has been what's
led me to success in living

the way I'm living.

That's just the life I love
living, and I enjoy the
cold, and I enjoy all the

difficulties that come
along living up here.

This gives me something
that engages me every day.

There's always
work to be done.

Out here, I'm working for
myself, not for somebody else.

I'm working towards my
own goals, not making
somebody else money.

Got myself a nice pile here.

Next step for me is getting
it over by my dog food cooker.

All right, ready?

Let's go, hike!

All right, hike!

All right, tighten up.

All right, straight.

Stay.

Some people wake up
and think they wanna be
on a beach in Hawaii.

Well, if I was on a beach
in Hawaii, I'd wake up and
think, I wanna be in Alaska,

running dogs.

All right, ready?

Hike, straight up, hike, good.

First time I was ever
out in the wilderness on a
dog team, I knew right away

that that's what
I wanted in life.

I wanted it to be something
that was my lifestyle,
not just something to do.

You know?

Not a hobby.

To where I can be out
here doing what I want
and working for myself.

We work hard for what we
love, to do what we wanna do.

This hard work equals
me running dogs, so
it's no problem to me.

It just depends on if you're
doing what you love or not.

I put in a good,
honest effort here.

Got a lot of fish, got
more than I planned on.

This is gonna last my dogs for
at least six weeks, you know,
and that's the main priority

around here, is the dogs.

Everything I do goes
around full-circle and
comes back to the dogs.

ANDY: I love
experiencing life.

I love experiencing
new things.

I love experimenting.

And if I can do that,
I'm a happy person.

It's fish time!

You guys ready for your fish?

NARRATOR: In Eagle, Andy
is training his two puppies
to become working members

of his sled team.

Getting the dogs adapted
to their new surroundings
is essential, and tonight,

they face their
biggest challenge yet.

-So I got a big night
for the puppies tonight.

It's gonna be their
first night getting
a collar put on 'em.

And their first night,
hopefully, spending a
night over in the dog lot

in their own house.

And what they need
to learn now is they need to
learn what it means to have a

collar on them.

They've never had a collar
on, pulling on their neck.

And that's a hard thing
for a puppy that's been free
their whole life to deal with.

All right, puppy,
puppy, puppy.

Ready for your fish?

We're gonna get a fish-fish!

Yes, we are.

We're gonna get a fish-fish.

Ready for your collar?

Let's see how you
do with a collar on.

Look at you, Geo.

You're like a real dog now!

Naty says, "Me too, me too,
put a collar on me too."

Okay, you got a collar too!

Good girl, let's
go get a fish-fish.

Geo says, I know what to do.

All right, come on, come on!

That'a girl, yeah.

You're a good girl.

Oh, you're handling
this pretty good.

I thought you'd
fight this more.

You're doing a good job.

Come here, G!

Come on, big buy!

Come on, yay, look at you.

You got swagger butt.

Good boy.

Let's put this chain on.

Yay, let's get you a fish!

So far they're
doing pretty good.

I can see Naty...

she's kind of at the
end of her chain there.

And it takes 'em
a while to figure out how
to manipulate the chain

around the, the post.

And just how
to step over it and not
get tangled up in it.

But that just takes time.

Come here, Naty.

Fish-fish?

Oh, look at that.

You got fish-fish.

Can you sit, Naty?

Sit, good girl, good girl!

There's a fish.

Good girl.

Hey, G-man.

You ready for your fish?

Yeah, can you sit?

Okay, Good job!

There's a fish, yay!

Be a sled dog and eat a
fish with the big boys.

I'm really surprised
that they're not fighting
that chain harder.

I've had dogs that
fought the chain for 12
hours, just freaking out,

not liking it at all.

And these guys are
handling it really well, so I
think the timing's pretty good

right now for, for them to
become a part of this kennel.

So that makes me feel good,
'cause I want it to be a good
experience for them, too.

And I'm real excited
because this is my future.

AGNES: It's a healthy
living and we also enjoy it.

So, this is the snow machine
that broke down earlier.

You can tell it's
not going no place.

You can't even
pull or nothing.

It's totally seized.

There's no moving it.

Ting and I broke down a mile
out of town and we walked back
to town and got on the VHF and

asked on the VHF if anybody
was willing to go haul
our sled and bring our snow

machine back, so one of the
neighbors did and now we have
the snow machine in the yard.

NARRATOR: With winter
nearing its end, the Hailstones
must prepare for spring

and summer hunts.

They will travel 120 miles to
Kiwalik, and retrieve their
teepee for needed repairs.

But a broken snow
machine has forced Agnes
to come up with an alternative

plan for the journey.

-Froze.

It's not going anywhere.

I'm not even gonna
take the time to repair
this snow machine.

I'm just gonna take Chip's
snow machine and use that.

I don't really know what
the condition Chip left
his snow machine in.

Hopefully, nothing's
really wrong with it.

I haven't touched it, the
girls haven't touched it since
he left, and so hopefully,

it'll start right up.

Spark plugs are
on, so that's good.

You can see there's no
belt on the snow machine.

He probably purposefully
took the belt off, just so
it wouldn't go anywhere.

I'm gonna just take the spare
belt off the snow machine that
broke down and get this snow

machine started and
continue on with my trip.

Getting kind of dark here.

Usually, Chip's the
one who goes out and repairs
all this stuff and tows

whatever needs towing.

I have at least an idea
how to put a belt on,
or change a spark plug,

or make sure you have all your
details on your snow machine
up to par and there we go.

Once you have all
the little details, it
usually runs pretty good.

So all I pretty much gotta
do is start pulling on it,
and it's fairly warm out.

Hopefully it should
start right up.

Okay, here's the
moment of truth.

Ah, come on.

(engine stalling)

Yay!

Yee, yee, yee!

Looks like we're
going on a trip.

♪ ♪

Beautiful day.

Oh, my goodness.

There should be no problems
with this snow machine.

I haven't used it all winter,
but it should be running good.

We really need to get down
to Kiwalik and pick up the
sled with the teepee in it.

I definitely need to do
some repairs to the teepee
before this next summer.

♪ ♪

I like to stop before
I get into the ocean and look
around and see what's going on

in the area.

Oh, no.

You could see a pressure
ridge out there.

It's pretty much just ice
going up and back, when the
ocean tide comes up and down.

Even though it's frozen,
there's still water
moving under there,

and it's still breathing,
what we call it.

-We'll have to walk on,
walk, walk it both sides?

-Yeah, we'll just walk
up to it and check, make
sure there's no water,

and then if there's water,
we'll just have to find
a place to go around it.

It's pretty dangerous
when you try to go
over pressure ridges.

You have to keep
your eyes open.

There's people who died out
there, people who's crashed
and hurt and bumped a pressure

ridge trying to fly from
one side to the other without
really looking how far it is.

All kinds of stuff
happen out here.

So all these pressure ridges.

Oh, my God.

AGNES: Oh, my God.

Go look.

Crack there, but we
can go right over it.

Right there.

What you're looking for is
if it's too far wide apart,
that your snow machine

will just fall right in.

Or if there's
water or overflow.

There's no water.

The crack is not as big.

So it's safe to cross,
so we're just gonna go get
back on our snow machine and

just cross right here,
and carry on.

Carry on.

Hold on!

Yee.

♪ ♪

Good, we made it!

It's good to see that
the sled is still here.

And inside the sled,
there's the teepee and the
stuff that we need to get

repaired in Noorvik.

So we're just gonna
take the basket sled off,
put this freight sled on

because it's gonna be
a bigger, heavier load.

Ready, Ting?

You'll just push.

-Now we just gotta
tie this one down.

-That should work.

-Hopefully it'll last
the 120 miles back home.

-Yeah, we gotta start going.

It's starting to
get windy and dark.

Ready then?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Okay, no stopping.

ANDY: Experience is knowledge.

Knowledge is confidence.

Confidence is success and they
all go together in that order.

♪ ♪

Today, I'm gonna take
a small team of dogs
out, just three adults.

Puppies are gonna
be running behind.

I want to hook my puppies in
to the actual team, and see
what they're gonna do pulling

the sled, running.

See if they balk at all,
if they fight the neckline.

NARRATOR: Andy's puppies are
entering the most critical
phase of their training,

running in line as
part of the sled team.

But the safety of the dogs is
vital, and for now, Andy must
take precautions to ensure the

young dogs can handle the
raw power of the team.

ANDY: It's a big day.

First day ever for
them to actually be
in front of a sled,

pulling a sled
with the big dogs.

They took to getting on
the chain and being in
the dog lot really well,

much better than I expected.

That's an indicator that
they're ready, maybe,
to go into the team.

So today's the big test.

Are you guys ready
to go for a run?

Look at this!

Oh, boy.

Here comes a harness.

We're going for a run!

All right!

Naty's ready to go for a run.

I don't have to really
teach him too much.

I just have to get him into
the team next to some dogs
that are gonna teach him.

I'm gonna be a sled dog today!

Because I like pulling sleds!

I think I'll take
Iceberg loose today.

I'll cut him loose, and
if he wants to follow us
and have some fun with us,

he can do that today, too.

Okay, let's go.

Hup, hup.

Come on Iceberg,
come on, buddy.

I think Iceberg is to
the point where he's
gonna get retired now.

It's time to go out with the
old, and bring in the new.

Yeah, all right, let's go!

All right, Krugy.

We're gonna go haw.

Haw, haw.

They have to
learn to trust me.

And I have to be very,
very careful that I don't try
and make them do something

they're not ready for.

And if I can do that,
and they can do their part,
then it's a team and I'm the

leader of the pack.

All right, Krugy.

Let's go over to the edge.

There you go, buddy.

Good boy!

That was good, Krug.

Come on, Bergy.

Puppers are doing a good job!

Good boy, Foge.

Everybody, come!

Everybody, come!

Come on, Naty.

You're pretty independent
little crapper, aren't ya?

Come on Naty, come on
Geo, come on, Berg.

Iceberg come, Iceberg, come.

I'm gonna take off.

They'll follow us.

Everybody, let's go!

That'a boys!

I've just gotta be smarter
than the damn puppies.

Yay Naty, yay Geo!

Come on, boys, let's
go over to the edge.

There you go, buddy.

Good boy, all right!

Yay, puppers, yay
Naty, yay Naty!

Good girl, yay, Naty!

You're gonna be with this
big old guy right here.

Big old Shilling's
gonna teach you how to
be a sled dog now, Naty.

You guys gonna be sled dogs?

Okay well, the puppies are
in the team, and we're gonna
see if they're gonna do

this or not right now.

And uh, so this is a
big moment for them.

Big moment for me.

Let's do it!

Hup, hup, that'a boys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
good girl, Naty!

Good girl Naty, good girl
Naty, good girl Naty!

Yay, Geo, good boys!

Okay Naty, good boy, Geo.

All right, good puppers.

I'm really excited about
how well they're doing.

They're doing exceptionally
well for their first time out.

All right, whoa, good boy!

You're a good boy,
you're a sled dog, Geo!

G probably handled
everything the best.

I notice with his personality,
he's very happy-go-lucky.

He's very trusting.

He's a very loyal dog.

Naty's a very intelligent dog.

She's constantly looking
and analyzing at everything
that goes on around her.

I'm feeling really
good about this.

They're having fun.

And that's what
it's all about.

You know, it's been
a long time since I've
had some young puppies,

and I forgot how much fun it
was to have young puppies,
and have them in my life.

Most importantly, what
I really missed was being able
to take a young puppy and mold

'em into what I want them
to be for a sled dog.

Oh, boy!

GLENN: When you're using
your knowledge and your
skills to get a job done,

it's satisfying.

This could be the day.

The wind's calm right now.

I think this could be the day
that I go fly this paraglider.

I'm gonna head right up
the mountain right here.

Hopefully when I get
to the top of the ridge,
conditions will be good.

And I should be able to fly
right back down to my camp,
in just five or ten minutes.

I'll be back on the ground.

NARRATOR: Glenn has recently
acquired a paraglider,
a device that if mastered,

will increase his mobility
in the Brooks Range.

After testing the wing
on the lake, Glenn will now
attempt his first flight from

a nearby ridge, over
3,700 feet above sea level.

-Right there!

That's the ridge top.

That's where I wanna
fly off of, right up
on top of that ridge.

It's pretty cold.

32 below zero.

But the conditions are good.

If it's like this, nice
and calm when I get up on
top, I'll be able to fly.

I've spent years and years
and years walking this country,
walking these mountains,

paddling these lakes,
paddling these rivers.

I wanna fly this sky.

The main thing I'm
thinking about on my way down,
I've got to make sure I get

over all these trees.

I wanna land out
there on the lake.

If I land in the trees,
it'd be a big problem.

I'm almost at the top.

Yeah, I'm a long ways up.

I've probably stood
at this spot 100 times, but
it never felt quite like

it does right now.

Definitely want everything
right before I take off.

I just got to get all
my ducks in a row.

I got to make sure that
my lines aren't tangled up,

make sure the wing's
in the right position.

Got to make sure everything's
clipped in right.

Okay, I'm gonna try and
get this wing in the air.

Whoo!

This is gonna be
incredible if it works.

I'm a little bit nervous.

It's a long way
back down to camp.

You got to take a
chance sometimes.

GLENN: Whoo!

I'm gonna try and get
this wing in the air.

This is gonna be
incredible if it works.

I'm a little bit nervous.

It's a long way
back down to camp.

You got to take a
chance sometimes.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

I'm flying!

Woo-hoo!

Look at that, I'm flying!

Woo-hoo-hoo!

Wooo!

Paragliding, it's
something new.

I love it.

It's very important to try
new techniques and activities,
because it's a question of

mental health.

If you don't do something
new, you're gonna stagnate.

Look at the view.

The sun's setting over there.

And the moon's
right behind me.

I've been dreaming
about this for so long.

This is incredible.

I'm not putting
limitations on myself.

I'm giving
myself possibilities to
explore things done in

a different way.

I wanna experience
something different.

I just don't wanna
end up in these trees.

Okay.

Whoo!

There, just made
it over that.

Woo-hoo-hoo, awesome!

I made it right to my camp.

That was incredible.

That was a fast trip
down the mountain!

All the way down here
in less than 10 minutes.

Amazing.

Kind of afraid for
a minute there.

I had to do some turns down
here, and I got a little low.

And then I was a little
worried I got too low.

I came in over
the trees there.

Luckily, I still had enough
altitude, and landed right
here in my front yard.

Flying's the way to go.

No motor, no gas, no
complicated maintenance.

Just a fabric wing and
you can fly like an eagle.

That was amazing.

But the real highlights
of this year, I
got a beautiful moose,

called it right in close
to me during the rut.

(gunshot)

That was exciting.

I got a bunch of ice.

Argh, I got it!

Yeah!

And packed in to that
refrigerator hole real tight.

I saw a super moon one night.

Closer to the earth
than it normally is,
it was incredible.

I survived a night at
44 below zero.

Still got all my fingers,
still got all my toes.

And this winter, for the
first time ever in my
life, I built an igloo.

To top it all off,
the best part, I learned
to fly a paraglider.

And I'll tell you, when
I get this thing mastered,
the sky's gonna be the limit.

JESSIE: There's never an
easy day in the dog yard.

It's all work.

But it's a rewarding life.

This roof is old,
this cabin's old.

I can't afford to have my
roof just collapse on me.

I just got to be preventative
and get the snow off the
roof, and prevent a lot of ice

build-up, and problems
in the future.

♪ ♪

This has been the best
winter of my life so far.

I've been up here doing
this for many years, and
I'm getting better at it,

so I was way more ahead
on proficiently catching
plenty of fish for my dogs.

I got a new sawmill
set up now, that I can
mill up my own lumber.

Went out on some amazing
camping trips in the Alaska
Range, saw some new country.

I've been able to get
really good training on
the dogs early this year,

and figured a lot
of things out.

I come out on my first race
of the season, and I won it
with an incredibly fast time.

All right, I did what I
got to do up here, get a,
I probably got, you know,

couple thousand pounds
of weight off of my roof
that my roof probably wasn't

gonna be able to sustain.

Now, I'm gonna get on
to get the dogs hooked up
and get out on the trail,

and get some running in.

We're about to go
have a good time!

All right, boys.

This has been an
awesome winter for me.

I've accomplished a lot, and
I'm just looking forward to
getting better in the future.

Right now, I am on
to the next goals.

I've accomplished a lot, but
that just gives me motivation
and drive to continue on and

to keep setting higher
goals, and higher standards.

The future's wide open for me.

I've proven that my hard work
will pay off, and if I just
keep being humble and working

hard, and staying true to
who I am, I'm just gonna
keep gaining ground.

Straight ahead.

ANDY: If you
wanna be independent, you
got to be independent in all

aspects of life.

You got to suck it up and
do what you got to do.

I'm taking my puppies out
on their first camping trip.

I'm expecting temperatures
to be pretty cold, but
that's the way it goes.

NARRATOR: After days
of practice with the
veteran sled dogs,

Andy's puppies are ready for
their final test, an overnight
journey into the wilderness.

If they perform well, they
will complete their training
and become full-fledged

members of Andy's dog team.

-I really don't wanna hook
up the puppies to an 11-dog
team leaving the yard.

It's way too fast, way
too much power, really
scary for the puppies,

so I'm just leaving 'em
loose until the big team
of dogs settles down,

and then I clip
those puppies in when things
settle down and they can be

a part of the team.

Hup!

Let's go!

I work really hard to try
and have good discipline
with my dog team.

I work really hard to
make it to where it's
easy to deal with them.

Straight ahead, on by.

Hup, hup, whoa.

Oh, I'm gonna clip these
puppies in now, and head up
through a woods trail

for a while.

We'll adjust the speed of
the team to the puppies,
not the other way around.

I'm trying to
put the puppies next to
mature, easy to handle,

well-behaved adult
dogs so that they learn that
behavior directly from them.

That'a boys, hup, hup, hup!

Let's go, hup, hup, on by.

I don't wanna put 'em next to
screaming psycho dogs because
I don't want them to think

that that's what
they're supposed to do.

I have noticed that sled dogs
love to go on adventures,
and they like camping out,

and they like
going new places.

So it's a nice valley,
it's a comfortable
place for me to camp,

it'll be a fun place
for the dogs to camp.

It's just gonna be
a great place for them to
have their first experience

going out camping.

That'a boys!

Haw, whoa!

Yay Geo, yay G-man!

Puppies did great.

Once I clicked 'em into
the team here, they were
keeping up pretty good and,

and having fun.

It's a good night for a first
camping trip for the dogs.

This last period time, getting
the puppies all introduced
into the, the dog lot,

introducing them to
their collars and
within a day or so,

putting a harness on and
having 'em follow, what really
surprised me today was running

'em in a, in a 11-dog team
like this, that's extremely
rare for puppies this young,

to be able to handle that.

Transition from being a
puppy to being a sled dog
has gone extremely well.

This is what being a
sled dog's all about.

Busting trail, exploring
the country, camping out.

Dogs are meant to live in the
wild, and some people are too.

All in all, it's
been a good year.

Freedom and independence is
probably the two things that
are most important in my life,

and I feel like I have that,
not only through my food, but
also through my power and in

my transportation now.

With new batteries,
I'm back to being gas
and diesel-free again.

I really love getting
out on Ford Lake and
getting some muskrat,

which is a highly
renewable resource.

I had one of the more
serious accidents that
I've ever had out here.

I just dealt with it myself.

On three, one two...

Not too many people can
say that they can live
90% free of the rest of

the world like I do.

AGNES: I enjoy traveling
around the many
camps around the area.

And I love doing it
with my daughters.

-The next
time we go out hunting, we
could use the teepee after

we repair it, huh?

-Yup.

-I'm glad we still got out
there and got the tent, even
though we broke down with the

first snow machine.

-I almost thought maybe we
should wait until next time,
but then since your dad's snow

machine was sitting out
there and the weather
was good and everything,

I thought we should go get it.

-That way we could
repair it before.

-Next season or next
time we go out, yup.

Hopefully your dad
will notice the repairs
we do to the tent, huh?

-It's been a hard
year without dad, huh?

-Yep.

-First time he ever
leave us that long.

-Even though we go through
a lot of challenges
with your dad being gone,

we successfully
did our hunts, huh?

-Yeah.

-This is it, girls!

This is it.

We went to Kookoochiaq
and did some fishing
with the net and all.

Whitefish.

We had to get our own wood.

Whoa!

QUTAN HAILSTONE: Timber!

-It's been pretty much
challenging for us, it's...

-Now we're preparing
for when he comes back.

-I can't wait until
he gets back and joins
us, but most the time,

I try not to think about
him gone so I don't start
to miss him and dwell on

the (bleep) and
the sadness and stuff.

And I just look forward for
tomorrow, and I tell myself
every day's a new day.

We're getting ready for the
next adventures and the next
hunt, and stuff like that.

So we can continue to feed
ourselves, clothe ourselves,
be warm in the extreme

Arctic and stuff like that.

Yeah, it's the hardest
thing, but yet, I'm trying
to live and have a good time,

so whatever comes our way,
us girls will handle it.

Let's go (bleep)
do something awesome.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.