All language subtitles for Gold.Rush.S15E00.Miners.vs.Mother.Nature.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[man] Let's mine some gold.

[narrator] Over six
short months

from spring to fall,

-the Klondike's toughest
gold miners...
- [grunts]

...battle Mother Nature.

[man on radio] I need
help now.

I broke through the ice.

[narrator] From
violent storms...

[man 1] What [bleep]
do we do here?

Somebody give me
a [bleep] radio.

-[narrator] ...to floods...
-Please don't sink,
please don't sink.

Oh, I'm goin', I'm goin',
I'm goin'.

[narrator] ...and summer
wildfires...

[man] [bleep] It's coming
this way now.

[Tony speaking]

-[narrator] ...in their
quest...
- [men screaming]

Plant's on fire!

[narrator] ...to bring in
as much gold

as possible before winter

-shuts them down.
-[man 1] Wholly Moses!

[both] Yeah!

[man 2] You guys,
you just broke another record.

[narrator] The Klondike,

one hundred and fifty miles
south of the Arctic Circle,

in winter, temperatures drop
to minus 50 degree Fahrenheit,

blanketing the landscape
with upwards of six feet
of snow

and freezing everything.

So when the miners want
to get a jump on the season...

So much snow

we have.

Oh, jeez.

[narrator] ...they have to
battle these
frigid conditions.

[Tony] Come on in.

[narrator] And fire up
machines that have been
frozen solid for six months.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] March 2021,

king of the Klondike,
Tony Beets,

is determined
to start his season early

and needs his D10 dozer

to clear hundreds
of tons of snow and ice
from his claim.

[engine misfiring]

[woman] Well, they're frozen.

[Tony] [bleep]

At minus 30 nothing wants
to work with you.

[narrator] The engine oil
is frozen,

but Tony has a plan.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The bush fix
warms the air above freezing

to thaw out the fuel.

Okay, I'm ready.

[Tony speaking]

[engine ignites]

[engine revving]

[engine sputtering]

[Michael speaking]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The D10
back in action,

Tony opens up
his Paradise Hill mine site.

[narrator] And gets
his season underway.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] We're in a big push
right now to expose the cuts.

Get them all ready to go.

Gold is high right now.

So strike
while the iron is hot.

[narrator] In April 2022,

rookie miner, Fred Lewis,

is waiting for the breakup
of the mighty Yukon River.

-[man] You guys, watch out!
-Oh, yeah. Back, back, back.

[narrator] So he can get
to his California Creek claim

and start his season.

-[snaps]
-[all exclaiming]

[men laughing]

-[Fred] Listen.
-[engine blaring]

-[laughs]
-[camera shutter clicks]

it is official. It's go time.

[narrator] Once the ice
clears completely,

Fred ferries across

and heads 40 miles
to his mine site.

Only for Mother Nature
to punch him in the gut.

What the [bleep] is that?

Holy crap.

-[man] That's--
-[Fred] Oh, my [bleep].

Wow.

Our entire claim is under ice.

[narrator]
A quarter-mile long,

thirty-foot thick sheet of ice
covers his entire claim.

Making his gold rich
pay dirt inaccessible.

Our entire infrastructure
is gone.

If we don't break this ice up,
we're gonna be sitting here
losing money.

This ice has to go.

It's stealing our gold, guys.

[narrator] Fred can't afford
to wait

for Mother Nature's thaw,

so he goes to war
on the giant block of ice.

[Fred] I'll try and break
the ice with the bucket.

Oh, [bleep].

-Oh!
-[man laughs]

[Fred] Fire it up.

[Stuart] We've got water.

That should facilitate
this [bleep] to melt faster.

[whirring]

[Stuart] [bleep] crazy.

Really gonna treat
a poor chainsaw like this?

It's ice.

[narrator] But all Fred's
attempts failed
to clear the ice.

[Fred] This ice
is really [bleep] everything.

It feels like
we're coming here

with our hands tied
behind 100 backs

and just getting punched
in the face.

It's not the way
to start a season.

[Stuart] We are
so far behind schedule
at this moment in time,

so we have to take action
and take control of the creek.

We don't have any other way
to do it, I think,
but to go up there

and, uh, and try and make
the creek go back
where it belongs somehow.

And that should facilitate
melting the ice
on the right side.

[narrator] The clock ticking
on his season,

Fred throws a Hail Mary.

He deploys an excavator
to create an ice bed,

redirect the creek
over the top of the ice sheet.

And speed up the melt.

[Fred] All right, ice.

You may be
winning this battle,

but we're gonna win this war.

It's a little bit risky.

If we sink this 220,
we're freaking done.

[man speaking]

[Fred] Oh!

Wow.

That's like 20,000 pounds
of ice you just broke.

Yeah!

That was massive.

Whoo!

-[man] Go get that.
-[Fred] Here we go.

We've got a little bit of ice
that's holding.

Fingers crossed it works.

Wow.

[Fred] Just be really careful.

[Fred exclaiming]

[Fred] [bleep]!

Well, there goes the ice dam.

This is definitely
not gonna work.

[bleep]

[narrator] Forced to wait
for the ice to thaw,

Fred loses
months of his season

and his battle
with Mother Nature.

[Fred] I'm just
at the end of my rope, man.

[Parker] All right,
here's the first push.

[narrator] When
the Yukon spring's
rising temperatures

melt the snow and ice...

[man speaking]

-[narrator] ...the miners rush
to start sluicing.
-[man] Fire it up.

[narrator] And put gold
in the box.

[man] Here we go.

[narrator] But the big thaw
brings its own problems.

When the frozen ground
turns into a sloppy sludge.

The [bleep] killing us.

The trucks are
wallowing in the mud,

dozers getting stuck
everywhere.

It's a mess.

Oh, [bleep].

Come on!

[bleep] slimy as [bleep] hell.

[bleep]

[Parker] Damn it!

[narrator] In 2016,

twenty-one-year-old
Parker Schnabel

is under pressure
to get on the gold

when disaster strikes.

[man speaking]

[bleep]

-[bleep]
-[engine revving]

[Parker] Why around here
does it always have to be
a worst-case scenario?

That is monumental [bleep].

Why around here does it always
have to be
a worst-case scenario?

[narrator] Parker Schnabel
is battling
Mother Nature's spring thaw.

That is monumental [bleep].

[narrator] His vital
46-ton excavator
is stuck in the mud.

[Parker] What'd you do?

[Gerald] Backed in a little
and then
it's just a little too far.

The next thing you know,
it's sunk.

[Parker] You couldn't
walk across that,
like, with your legs.

Let alone a [bleep] excavator.

[Gerald] It really
wasn't that bad
when I got in there.

[Parker] There's nothing
to even say about this

because it's how big
of a [bleep] it is.

-[Gerald] I agree.
-[Parker] Yeah, so just...

let's just keep our
[bleep] mouths shut.

Mitch, Brennan,

grab a couple hose
and help pull me out of here.

You ready?

[Mitch] We can get it.

[Parker] Come on.

[bleep]

[Mitch] Oh, man.
It's really leaning now.

[Brennan] Stop! Sinks.

It's suctioned into the bottom
with all that mud.

It's like quicksand,
so you [bleep] sink instantly.

[Parker] We just got
to get the mud out
so we can break the suction.

It's gonna be messy.

Maybe we can just pull out
some of this soft stuff here,

-and then we kind of
work this down a little bit.
-Yeah.

[narrator] To help release
this stricken excavator
from the mud's vice-like grip,

Mitch and Brennan
dig a trench alongside it.

[Mitch] It's movin'.

[Mitch] The machine's
sinking as we speak.

Come on! Go, go, go!

[Brennan] Get
in there, Parker.

Come on, baby.

[all] Come on!

Come on.

[Brennan] Come on.

[Parker] I should be able
to make it.

[Mitch] Whoo!

[Brennan] Slick, Mitch.

[Mitch] Giving.

-[Parker] I'm glad
that worked.
-[Brennan] Yeah.

[all cheering, laughing]

[Mitch] Back open
for business.

-That's awesome.
-[Parker] Let's get back
to work.

[narrator] Along with the mud,

spring's warm temperatures
bring another threat...

[man 1] Oh.
All right, look at this.

[narrator] ...that halts
miners in their tracks.

[man 1] Oh, this thing
is raging right now.

[narrator] Snowmelt
high up in the mountains...

[man 2] You're about ready
to tip over.

I wanna go. I'm goin',
I'm goin', I'm goin',

with the throttle on.

[narrator] ...floods
the valleys down below.

[man 3] Oh!

[narrator] Wreaking havoc.

[man] [bleep]!

[woman laughs] Uh-oh.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] In 2020,

melt waters raging down
Honker Creek

smash a hole in the berm
protecting Tony Beats'
hunker cut.

Submerging
the gold-rich pay dirt

under 2.5 million gallons
of water.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony first repairs
the gap in the berm.

[man] What?

Watch the track.

Oh, [bleep]!

The actual [bleep].

He has no [bleep] track.

[narrator] Despite
a crippled machine,

one track
and almost no maneuverability,

there's no stopping
the king of the Klondike.

[Ruby] He's having to use his
boom and arm
to lift himself up.

And walk the strong track.

I mean, it's Tony Beets

who'll probably do it
like it's just another day.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] 38 tonnes
of mud and rock plug the berm.

Sealing off the cut
from the creek.

Once he drains a cut,

Tony will be back on track.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The Yukon summer...

[man] Here comes the cavalry.

Break some pay in here.
Let's go!

[narrator] ...the halfway
point of the season.

[Parker] We have
to hammer down
like never before.

[narrator] Dried out,
easy to dig pay

makes it peak time
for catching gold.

-[all cheering]
-[bleep] yeah!

[man speaking]

[narrator] But temperatures
soar to 90 degree...

-[Mitch] Once again,
we've got a sunny day.
-[Brennan] It's hot.

[narrator] ...turning the land
into a tinderbox.

[Brennan] This is hotter
than the gates of hell.

[narrator] Sparking wildfires
that rage through the region.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] On average,
100 wildfires

blaze across the Yukon
every fire season.

In 2017,

wildfires larger
than the state of Rhode Island

were visible from space.

And a 350-acre inferno

head straight
for Parker's claim.

[Parker] I don't know
how hot it is, but it's hot.

There's something
burning over there.

[Parker] Yeah.
Forest fire. Yep.

-Lightning or...
-[Parker] Probably
from the lightning.

[Brennan] Yeah, that wind
keeps blowing at us.

[bleep] The fire's
movin' fast.

I don't wanna see my trailer
go up the flames.

[man speaking]

All right, I'll be right down.

[narrator] The local
fire marshal has arrived

to discuss evacuation plans.

[officer speaking]

[woman speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Parker speaking]

[officer speaking]

[Parker] That's closed
the distance.

It went from 20K away
to seven.

Holy [bleep].

[Parker] Yeah,
she's [bleep] coming.

[bleep]. It could be
here tonight.

-We need a Cat out there.
-Okay.

Fire lines like try to get
a barrier,
so it don't burn us out.

So who's the man for that?

Um, it doesn't
really matter to me.

I thought
Al's done this before.

We could send him out there.

I was not very worried
about this until now.

It's all going to depend
on the wind direction.

What the [bleep]?
That mountain
just went out of view.

All right. The dozer
is just up here.

If you could take it up
that ridge up there

and start cutting fire lines.

And they need to be
at least 30 feet wide

so the fire doesn't jump over
to our side.

And we're [bleep].

[Al] Sweet.

-Yeah, we're good.
-All right. Sounds good.

[Al] We're gonna go
build a fire line

to protect everybody
so everybody can keep mining.

If it gets any closer,
it could be
the end of our season.

[narrator] Parker's
crew member, Al Salewski,

uses a dozer
to rip out a fire line,

a 30-foot-wide gap
between the trees.

When the wildfire hits,
the break in foliage

should starve
the flames of fuel,

preventing it

from reaching Parker's claim.

[Parker speaking]

[Al] Yeah, that looks
pretty apocalyptic.

[narrator] A massive
350-acre forest fire

is raging
towards Parker's claim,

threatening to wipe out
his season.

Their only hope,

a fire line
cut by dozer operator Al.

[Parker] What a [bleep]
in the balls!

[narrator] But the next day,

with the fire
still approaching,

Al and other crew
have cleared out.

Well, there's the hole
that you used to have

Al and old
Frenchy's trailers.

Obviously, the fire
is pretty damn close.

It's basically
one valley away.

If the wind starts
blowing this way

at 20-mile an hour,
it'll be here tonight.

I'll stay, as long
as we can still see,

you know,
I'm willing to stick it out.

What if the [bleep] thing
jumps overnight
when we're sleeping?

We can't get out of here.

-You're gonna stick it out?
-[Parker] Yeah.

I'm not going anywhere.

But I wouldn't blame
any of you if you want to go.

-Um...
-Well, I was
planning on taking off.

Get out of here
before the fire blocks
our road and so.

Get out of here.

I hope my trailer
is still here when I get back.

I don't want to see a big
charred pile on my belongings.

I'll have a [bleep]
end of my season.

[narrator] It is now Code Red.

Wildland firefighters
install a sprinkler system

capable of delivering
over 100 gallons of water
a minute.

I think maybe I'll just
hook my truck up to my trailer

before I go to sleep tonight
in case I got to evac.

[Parker] I've never been
so happy
to see paddles in our yard.

[Al] Dude, you know,
I heard it started hitting
last night

as I was going to bed,
and I just went to sleep
with a smile.

[all laughing]

That was a hard rain, huh?

I'd say that took care
of the fire.

[Parker] I would think so.

-It sure
looks like it anyways.
-[Parker] Yeah.

[narrator] The rain
has stopped the wildfire

just three miles
from Parker's claim.

But it's decimated
over 400 acres.

[Parker] Hopefully now
with that fire behind us,

we can get back
to focusing on

getting gold
out of the ground.

[narrator] Summer's
torrential downpours

can be a blessing
and a curse.

[thunderclap]

In 2016, Parker plans
to move his wash plants,

Slucifer, to a new cut.

[Rick] They naming
this thing Slucifer
was the best idea.

Both times.
First time we set it up

it started pouring rain,
and now we're trying
to move it

and it's thunder
and lightning.

Good?

So far so good.
She's rolling.

[narrator] While lightning
strikes carry a low threat

to heavy equipment operators,

they can take out
the machine's electronics.

Parker risks dragging
his $600,000 washplant...

Seems to be
pulling along just fine.

[narrator] ...up to a giant
60-foot high pad.

[Parker] That's probably
pretty damn close.

-That's [bleep] close there.
-[man] Good?

[thunder rumbling]

[shouts] Slucifer!

[rain pattering]

[narrator] When the rains
finally stopped,

Parker fires up Slucifer
at its new home.

[Parker] All right,
let's get everything
rolling and shaking.

[Rick] Okay?

Gonna get
everything moving.

[engine whirring]

Hey!

[Rick] 1st scoop
into Slucifer.

Sluicifer is hungry

and this cut's big,
so it's all up to us
to keep her fed.

[Parker] For [bleep] sake.

[shouts] Rick!

Put this hole
on the other side,

[Rick] Get out
of the way, fellas.

Well, Rick's trying to save
our [bleep] plant here.

Look down there.

[narrator] The heavy rainfall

has saturated
the wash plant pad,

destabilizing
its foundations.

[bleep] this.

[narrator] Now,
Slucifer is pumping out

3300 gallons
of water a minute.

Undermining the pad
even more.

[Parker] Once the pads starts
to wash away like that,

only thing it's gonna do
is work itself back
underneath the plant.

And the plants gonna take
a dive off the pad.

Obviously, we can't
have that happen.

[narrator] Rick attempts
to break the force of water

pummeling the burn.

[Rick speaking]

Somebody get me
a [bleep] radio.

[over radio] Shut down.

Don't step [bleep]

Stop it, just shut down.

[Parker] We've got
to shut it down
and reevaluate.

We're about to lose
everything here.

[thunderclap]

[narrator]
Despite shutting down

torrential rain,
continues to erode the ground.

Threatening to swallow
Slucifer holes.

[Parker on radio] Hey, Rick,
can you hear me?

[Rick] Got you.

I got this coarser stuff,

maybe you can shove
that up and around
the top part.

Pulling coarse tailings
this way is probably
the best bet we can

in a few hours,
we'll be able to build

a pad up in front.

[metal clanging]

The loader is gonna dump
some tailings over the edge.

Parker's gonna pack it up
against the plant.

And then we'll just
keep on doing that

until it decides to stay.

[engine whirring]

[Parker] Let's fire back up.

Hey.

Second time's
a charm.

[engine sputtering]

All right,
just add water.

It ain't looking
too bad.

If we can get
the bigger rock to hold up,

we're gonna be all right.

Anyway, Slucifer's
making money.

-There you go.
-Good job, man.

I got you.

[thunder rumbling]

[crackling]

[man 1] The trees going down.

-Come on!
-[man 1] Come back.
Come back, guys.

[narrator] Gold miners,
battle Mother Nature's,

fast changing
extreme weather.

[man] We're going in the fall,
and the conditions

are getting pretty brutal.

[narrator] When summer ends,
temperatures cool

and heavy rainfall returns.

It's been puking rain
for three days straight

and just making an absolute
mess of the cut.

[in English]

[narrator] And the miners
have also learned

to expect the unexpected.

[dramatic music playing]

[bleep] my--

Hey, Kevin.

Shut it down.

All we're pumping is
freaking mud.

-10-4.
-[Freddy] Shut the pump down.

We don't have any fresh water.
[bleep] fresh water's off.

We're sluicing out
of a mud hole.

[narrator] Fall
2016 Colorado.

Mother Nature throws
Freddy Dodge a curveball.

[Todd] Hey,
what's going on?

[bleep] Waters off.

Look at my mud puddles.

[Todd] Tell me you're
freaking kidding.

[bleep]

[narrator] The intake pond
that feeds the wash plant

is almost dry.

We have no water
coming into the pond.

So the water
is getting lost

somewhere up above us.

Got to figure out
what the hell is going on.

[narrator] Freddy checks
the intake ponds,
water source.

A creek that lies
on higher ground.

[Freddy] Yeah, it's dry.

That creek should be about
a foot deep right now.

And there's nothing
coming down.

It's not good.

There's a big ass problem
up here somewhere.

[Freddy] Hey, Todd,

meet me a quarter of a mile
west of double trouble.

I found the real problem.

[Todd] What's going on here?

The reason
we're out of water,

the freaking Beaver's
got this culvert plugged up.

Diverted the water.

[Todd] Really?

[Freddy] It's plugged solid.

[Todd] Now then
what do we do?

[Freddy] We got
a backhoe here.

I'm gonna weigh up it.

-You feed me the chain.
-[Todd] Okay?

And it'll drag it out.

[narrator] The beavers
have built a dam
inside the culvert,

which channels clean water
to the intake pond,

stopping water
flowing from the creek.

to the wash plant.

[chain clanging]

Kinda had the flu.

Kind of need water
to mine gold, so.

Let's get the
son of a gun unplugged.

[Todd] Are you sure
you want to do this?

[Freddy] This is freaking
cold, boy.

[narrator] Freddy's plan...

Clear the end.

[narrator]
Use a grappling hook

attached to an excavator
to haul out the debris.

I don't wanna go back
in that [bleep] again.

Give her hell, Todd.

Everybody clear.

Go ahead
and pull it through.

[bleep]

Jumped up over the top.

We'll have to do it again.

We have to go
underwater on this, Todd

[splashing]

[Todd] Freddy.

Freddy.

You good?

[bubbling]

[whooping]

[Freddy] I'm okay.

-[Freddy speaking]
-[bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

Pull.

[engine whirring]

God, keep going.

God, keep going.

God, keep going.

Fine. Is the water
coming through?

[Todd] Good job, Freddy.

I win, beaver.

We'll have water now.

us one, beaver zero.

[dramatic music playing]

[Freddy] Plant's coming hot.

-[alarm buzzing]
-Everybody clear.

Fire it up.

[engine clanging]

Let's make some gold.

[narrator] As fall
turns to winter.

Only weeks of the mining
season remain.

It's cold in here.
My feet are freezing.

[narrator] Days shorten

and temperatures
dive below zero.

[in English]

[narrator] And the miners

face the renewed
challenge of frozen ground.

[Brian] It really hurts
when you can

stare at your pay

and you can't get it
because it's frozen solid.

It's like a block
of concrete.

If we don't get some pay in,
we're gonna be screwed.

[narrator]
Eureka Creek, 2023,

Brian McCaughan
needs nearly 200 oz of gold

to hit his 1500 oz target.

But his pay
is locked in ice.

[Brian] We need some
kind of a Hail Mary.

So I had to come up
with a plan,

and the plan
is on this trailer.

[Wayne] What do we
have here?

[Brian] What do you think?

What in W. T. F.
is this thing?

[Brian chuckles]

Well, it's a drum cutter.

They use them
for ripping rock.

You'll go through this frost
like nothing.

I'm thinking we can
tunnel under the sides

somewhere around 20 ft.

What do you think?

[Wayne] I've never seen
anything like this.

By any chance
you've ever seen
this done in the frost.

I've never seen
nothing like this ever.

I'm anxious as hell
to give it a spin.

I can't think of any reason
it won't work.

[narrator] Brian plans
to use the drum cutter.

armed with a 100 tungsten
carbide teeth

attached to a spinning drum.

To churn through
the frozen gold rich pay layer

trapped in the wall
of the cut.

He'll then be able
to run the pulverized

pay dirt through
the trommel.

[clanging]

[Brian] If we don't do it,
we're shut down by the cold.

This keeps you up.

Okay, let's go.

I'm gonna have that frickin
grinding rock in no time.

[Wayne] Here we go.

[Brian laughs]

[Wayne] Okay,
so bring her down.
We'll hook her up.

Fire it up.

[motor whirring]

This thing works.
Unbelievable.

[Brian] Okay,
I'm off to the cut.

[engine whirring]

Man, I'm so stoked.

This is like your first day
of school right now.

I'm just looking
at this frozen wall

and I'm coming hard.

I'm gonna tear
this [bleep] up.

[clanging]

Here we go.

Yeah, baby!
She's going. [chuckles]

I'm going dead straight
into some solid frozen ground.

This thing is awesome.

I'm like, [chuckles]

I'm trying to hold back
my giddiness.

It's really mulched up
to a nice size.

I believe we'll be
able to run this
right through the plant,

frozen right now,
right through

Get the rock trucks down here
and start hauling.

I'm gonna run up there
and watch the first few
loads go through.

[narrator] If the frozen
chunks of pay
clump together,

it could clog
the wash plant.

[Brian] I'm watching
for anything that's not rock.

Basically,
any piece of the clay

that might still be
frozen together.

Everything's
coming through,

thawed and clean,
like spotless.

Yeah, there's no
big chunks in it at all.

[over radio]
It's beautiful.

[Brian] So it's
a 100% success.

Holy [bleep]

I'm getting down there.
I'm just hammering out

as much as I can
because this is incredible.

I've never been able
to stay late in the season

like we're going to be able
to do this year.

Like this is a complete
game changer for us.

[narrator] Thinking
outside the box,

Brian has found a way
to overcome the big freeze.

Yep, 1500 here we come.

[whirring]

[man] We gotta dig up
a lot of ground to get gold.

But that doesn't mean
we've got to leave it,

you know, a mess.

[narrator] It's not always
a constant battle
against the elements.

[Parker] We're just trying
to make sure

that we do things
right here.

You know, I want to have
a future up here,

and that means
doing things the right way.

[narrator] Once a claim
is mined out,

miners are required to restore
the land to its natural state.

[Parker] Good job, man.

Thanks, buddy.
[chuckles]

It looks good.

Yeah, it looks good.

[Parker] I feel proud of
what we've done here.

It's an area that we've
mined and reclaimed.

We've spent a lot of time
building a whole new creek bed

and putting in
frisk structures

and building the banks right
and all the slopes, right?

And it's
a complicated thing.

And it looks good.

Not only does it
look good, but it's good
habitat too.

You know, we've done
a good job

of... of putting things
the way they should be.

[shouts] You're
welcome, otters!

They love it here.

[Brian] We're into
the minuses.

Everything's
got to keep moving.

Even us.

[Rick] We've got to get it
all through tonight,

because at this point,
we shut down
we're frozen out.

[narrator] By October,

miners have stripped
and prepared all their ground,

and a final bounty in gold
is just waiting to be sluiced.

But winter threatens
to shut down mining
at any time.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Miners must fight
frozen ground and equipment.

[clangs]

[man] Solid as [bleep] rock.

[narrator] Snowstorms.

[Parker] This is next level.

[engine whirring]

[man shouting]

[narrator] And subarctic
temperatures...

[crashing]

...as low as -18 degrees.

Everything's going
to keep freezing.

Everything's going
to keep breaking.

[man shouts]

[narrator] As they face
a desperate battle

to get as much
gold as possible.

-[engine spluttering]
-[man shouting] It's alive!

[Fred] If Mother Nature's
gonna stop us,

it's gonna take
a lot more than this.

[Parker] We aren't leaving
this piece of ground

until we've got
all the gold out of it.

But we're running
out of time.

[narrator] 2018...

7 degrees
below on Indian River.

Parker Schnabel
has spent the season

stripping ground
and stockpiling pay.

Now he's determined to catch
every last flake of gold

through Slucifer,

before the big freeze
ends his season.

[Tyson] Okay, fire up.

[engine starts]

[engine squealing]

[Parker] Whoa, whoa!

This thing is
probably frozen up solid.

-It's kind
of a disaster, isn't it?
-Yeah.

The belt stopped
and just [bleep] everything.

[man] This belts frozen
into the rollers.

Oh, for [bleep] sake.

[narrator] Parker's crew
try to free the belt

by cranking
the frozen head roller.

[muffled grunt]

[metal creaking]

[man 1] Sounds like
you need some lube?

[man 2] Or somebody
with some muscles

that ain't old
like mine.

Send me up.

[Parker] You got muscles
high here.

[man 2] Go one more time.

-[cracking]
-[grunts]

Oh, lovely.

Blow the breaker.

[engine starts]

[man 1] Oh, there she goes.

Yep. Looks good.

[man 2] Good work, everybody.

When it ices up,
it's always this belt

that gets it.

We got to do
something about it.

[Parker] Yeah, go get
one of the big old tanks

and plummet in here

and keep her hot
as we can.

Hopefully, a little heat
will delay the end for us
a little bit.

[narrator] Parker's plan:

Use a tiger torch
to heat the head drum.

This should
keep the tailings belt

moving in subzero
temperatures.

Let's go ahead
and fire this thing up.

The first shot over the bow
for the winner.

Right, and we've got to
keep sluicing.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] As night falls,

the crew keep running
in temperatures
10 below to stops.

to stop Slucifer
from freezing solid.

[Parker] This pay is starting
to get quite chunky.

It's freezing up
on us a bit.

But they usually
break up pretty good.

[clanking]

[Tyson] Oh! [bleep]

[bleep] There's no
[bleep] on the belt.

[huffing]

[Parker] What's going on?

[Tyson] Go to jam
in the hopper.

Just--

-[panting]
-[bleep]

[bleep]

[Parker] Must be
a chunk in the feeder.

[Tyson] It's not good, man.

Oh! [groans]

Big [bleep] chunk
[bleep] in here.

We better hurry
because the plant's gonna
freeze up if we don't.

[cracking]

[narrator] Tyson Lee attacks
the block of frozen pay

with a sledgehammer.

[crackling]

-Here you go.
-[Tyson] Oh, yeah.

[Parker] Yeah, Buddy.

[cracking]

It's gonna go
through now?

[Tyson] Give her a try.

[sighs]

[Tyson] Holy,
look at that!

Oh! [bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

[Parker] Flaps on fire!

[narrator] When Parker
shut down Slucifer

to free the hopper,
the tailings conveyor stopped.

The Tiger torch left heating
the stationary rubber belt

has set it on fire.

We'll meet another one.
Go get another one.

[Tyson] That's
the only one we got.

Should I turn on the water?

[Parker] Wait, wait,
wait, wait, wait.

[blazing]

[fizzing]

Oh [bleep]

We're gonna do
something else.

[Tyson] Yeah. I'm gonna
turn on the water.

[fizzing]

[coughing]

[spitting]

[bleep]

[Tyson] All happened
so fast, man.

Did you get a look
at any damage?

[Parker] There's a lot of it,
I'm [bleep] sure.

We just need
to make sure it's out

and come back in
the morning
and assess.

[Tyson] Fine.

[Parker] Honestly,
right now, I'm tired.

[narrator] At first light,
Parker arrives
to see if they can fight on.

[intense music playing]

[Parker] Oh, man.

[sighs wearily]

The belt smoke,
now it's got four inches
of ice on top of it

[Parker] Well,
I think she's fried, Dean.

[Dean] Pretty much.

[Parker] Fire and ice.

It's been
a hell of a season.

[narrator] No matter
how hard miners
push in the Yukon...

Mother Nature
eventually wins out.

But the spoils
of this hard fought war
are extraordinary.

We have 8309.75 oz.

[all cheering]

[narrator]
Battling the elements

one season
after another.

Wow, that's a good
[bleep] pour, isn't it?

[bleep] Yeah.

[narrator] Gold Rush
miners have hauled

in more than
101,000 oz of gold.

[man] This represents
you guys bonuses.

[all laughing]

[narrator] Today worth
more than $230,000,000.

[whooping triumphantly]

[man] You guys are the best.