Original subtitles

I already have a bad feeling about this.

Sounds like I got a problem.

It all fell off.

I got to try to figure out how to get it back together.

Oh. Come on.

My brakes froze because it's so stinking cold out here.

Zach, you got a copy?

Did you break another radio?

We're not gonna make it. Nope.

We're stuck. We're sliding backwards.

I got the brakes on, and it's sliding behind.

Come on!

narrator: At the edge of the frozen frontier...

Once it snows, you can't see anything.

The road, the snow drifts,

everything just becomes flat white.

narrator: After a successful delivery up north--

Oh!

narrator: Veteran driver Todd Dewey is

fighting his way home.

Asheweig Road, it's a nasty road.

It brutally beats the crap out of you.

It beats the crap out of your truck.

Well, this road has literally kicked my butt

once before where we made it in,

but the truck never made it out.

Come on.

Oh!

I can honestly say for the first time,

I've actually been defeated on a ice road.

So right now, the score is even on this road.

It's one for the road, one for me.

This back haul out of here,

it's officially gonna be the tie breaker.

narrator: Todd may have won the last round,

but now he's attempting

the 600-mile journey back

to Muskie Creek with a monster load,

a 45,000-pound rock screener.

If I can get it out of here in one piece

and the truck out of here in one piece,

then I finally beat this road, beat my nemesis road.

Here we go.

Whoa. .

It'll get a little bit bumpy.

Hang on.

The amount of abuse on these ice roads

put your body through, it's incredible.

It's like a workout all day long.

Hang on.

Maybe I just feel I get more now that I'm getting older.

I'm just trying not to sit on my nuts anymore.

I'm sick and tired of crunching everything.

Is your truck gonna break?

Is your load gonna fall off?

All that stuff starts running through your mind.

But now that's part of the challenge of being up here,

you know?

The road's not gonna get any better.

narrator: Further north in the frozen wilderness...

Yeehaw.

narrator: Lisa Kelly's on her longest run

of the season.

She's burning 700 miles from Lac Brochet

back to Muskie Creek,

a marathon run she requested

to help win the bet with Scooter.

Who can run the most miles this winter road?

Yeah-hah. That's awesome.

I need miles.

What do you got that's a long, long, long ways?

I just picked up a load here that's perfect for you.

First time hauling for these guys.

A bunch of transformers, concrete,

and a pallet of propane tanks.

It could be a big client and be a big future partnership

between Muskie and Hydro.

As long as the load gets to where it's going in one piece,

that's all that matters right now.

Whoa.

Oh, for crying out loud.

I already got a strap hanging,

so I'm gonna go check that out real quick.

Brr!

It is so freaking cold.

Minus 40.

narrator: Negative degrees is so cold,

Fahrenheit and Celsius converge.

At this temperature, machinery starts failing.

And every second Lisa is stopped,

her truck gets colder.

Oowie, it's cold.

Love it.

Like it, love it, want more of it.

Up and over, buddy.

Trying to get out of this wind.

Very cold.

narrator: In the remote outpost of Keewaywin--

So what's your plan?

narrator: Scooter Ewell is loading up for his return trip

back to Muskie Creek.

We got this rubber tire backhoe

that we're gonna haul out.

narrator: And he's hoping lifting heavy machinery

goes better than the last time.

I already have a bad feeling about this.

We're gonna kind of pick up the front end,

back up the trailer beneath it, and then see if we

can't slide it on the trailer.

One wrong move, someone can get seriously hurt.

You're gonna slide right off the edge there, man.

Oh, .

They're going to destroy this thing.

Gentle. Gentle.

Try to back up a bit.

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa. Stop. Stop.

All right.

Yeah, there we go.

I'm liking it.

That's tight.

Try to conquer this road on the way out.

narrator: Despite driving in on the goat trail,

Scooter has no idea what to expect coming out.

Every single time a truck goes onto that road,

in or out, that road changes.

So it's gonna be an adventure of a lifetime.

narrator: Now he needs to survive the 400-mile minefield

back to Muskie Creek

with a 20,000-pound backhoe on his trailer.

Come on.

Yeah, baby. Dig it.

That's what I'm talking about.

I'm trying to be careful to get out.

We don't want to destroy our gear.

But sometimes you got to give the over

to get the hell up somewhere.

Come on, Big Bird.

Come on, baby. Come on.

Yeah, you can do it. You can do it.

Yep. Yep.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

Come on.

Come on. Come on.

It sounds like I got a problem here.

Oh, you bastard.

I need to stop.

narrator: Back on the notorious Asheweig Road...

I want to get off this road.

It's a nasty road.

It's almost like it's got a bone to pick with me, I swear.

I can tell by my airbags that I am right up

to full weight on my truck.

So the main concern is the ice crossings

being a maximum weight.

It's gonna be a little--little sketchy going across them.

The ice crossings, I mean, you're putting your life

on the line every time.

Every time you make it across, you're dodging a bullet.

People do go through, and people have died.

They do bust open, and away and through you go.

Big piece of machinery.

You're gonna be a bit heavy.

I got a load on that is right at the maximum load limit

that you could be allowed to go roll on the ice.

I actually might be a few pounds over.

Reading the ice, it's part of my job.

The load going up there is heavy.

You're quite heavy. A bit heavy.

Definitely got a good snow covering on it.

Being able to tell where the pressure ridges are,

where the cracks of the ice are,

where you kind of want to place your tire,

it's so important.

I can't even see the ice, though.

That's the problem.

It's just too much snow on the top.

I can't see it at all.

No visual.

It makes it concerning.

narrator: The fresh snow obscures

pressure ridges and holes.

On this crossing, Todd's flying blind,

and luck is his copilot.

All right.

Here we go.

Put her on the ice, see what happens.

I'm gonna crack my door.

I kind of hope that I can hear the ice.

I don't know if I'm able to hear it

with the snow covering on it.

I definitely can't see it.

Yeah, she's making some noise.

Even with that snow cover on there, she's still popping.

Ooh, the ice has got a lot to say today

for this type of weight on her.

You never know with this ice.

It could give out at any time.

. That's loud.

Holy smokes.

narrator: On a sheet of white

floating above a frigid abyss...

The ice got a lot to say today.

She is popping and cracking

with this type of weight on her.

narrator: Todd's pushing the limits

of the ice road and his nerves.

About halfway across the ice.

Come on, baby.

Come on, girl.

All right. I can see the other side.

I can see the bank where it's coming up.

Come on.

Hell yeah.

Yes.

Another successful ice crossing.

Super loud, super heavy load, lots of cracking and popping.

Adrenaline's pumping through my veins.

It feels amazing.

But you know what?

I still got a long way to go.

She's gonna be a rough one.

Oh, fun, fun, fun.

narrator: Todd's not the only driver locked in a battle

of skill and determination.

Oh, yeah.

The chain's broke.

narrator: The Keewaywin goat trail just

ripped open Scooter's chains.

It all fell off.

Ahh!

I need these chains to get me out of here.

Broke a link on my tire chains.

I'm pissed.

I don't have any other links.

narrator: Without working chains,

Scooter's going nowhere.

Ice road trucking, it's a different type

of trucking than the regular industry

that you see on the highways.

They got warm food, truck stops, showers every night.

Out here, you have to know how to survive on your own.

And I got to try to figure out how to get it back together.

I wonder.

I'm going to make my own link.

Just gonna make my own link.

That couldn't have been an outside link.

OK.

Now I'm gonna bend those two, tighten her up.

It won't be strong, though.

I'll hold it in.

I'll use a bungee cord to tie it in.

Out here--

For every mile, it's a battle.

Right now, I'm gonna throw some bungee cords on it,

tighten it up a little bit.

I'm gonna redneck the out of it.

This job, it does take a toll on your body.

Come on.

All right.

I hope this works.

It's probably not gonna work out the best the way

I want it to, but I gotta do what

I gotta do to keep it going.

Let's do this.

Let's conquer this road.

Will it last?

We don't know.

narrator: Across the northern frontier--

I'm not very tired.

I had a great sleep last night,

other than my terrible nightmare

about almost getting murdered.

narrator: Zach's nightmare is just getting started.

Riley, do you copy?

Yup.

Just making sure.

It's pretty cool doing a solo run without Dad, though.

narrator: The Harris brothers are blasting north

on their first run without their dad.

Today, we're running some steel up to Fond-du-Lac.

They need a barge repaired.

narrator: They're burning 600 miles

to the remote community of Fond-du-Lac

with a load of steel for the barge repair

and appliances for new homes.

Dad was pretty stressed about us making

it up here by ourselves.

But I think Dad will be happy.

We're gonna have you guys go up to Fond-du-Lac.

OK.

I want to semi-retire and let the boys take over

and let them carry on.

But they need to prove that they can continue on doing

what we do out on the ice.

Just remember to keep your speed down.

Do not speed on that road.

People have no radios and booting along.

Just be careful.

We've had some close calls.

You guys will be fine. - Sounds good.

I worry about my boys

when they go up and down the road,

not because of their capabilities,

but because of other people's incapabilities.

narrator: Riley is the more experienced driver

and takes the lead so he can radio Zach

when the trucks are coming at him.

We'll be seeing you shortly there southbound.

2-5 axle.

This is gonna be tight.

A little scary.

Zach? - Yeah?

Five axle behind me.

Copy that.

.

It's pretty damn narrow.

It's is not a great place to meet somebody.

Holy--

Oh, .

That was close.

We almost shared paint jobs.

We didn't know he was coming.

We didn't hear him on the radio.

It's not really the roads or the weather conditions

that make me nervous.

Usually, it's the other traffic,

especially if they don't have a radio

and you can't hear them coming.

It makes it feel like a lightning bolt

going through your body when you don't expect them.

Oh, boy.

There's not much room to spare.

Why isn't Riley telling me these people are coming?

Riley, you got a copy?

Riley, you don't hear me by chance, do you?

We lost our radio.

It's not working. It's dead.

There we go.

narrator: On a long and lonely road--

Oh, it's spring.

It's almost horse riding time.

But I'm out here working my butt off, so I can keep them.

narrator: Lisa's hitting hill country.

Oh. Not to the top yet.

It keeps going, and it keeps going.

Ooh.

That one's going to be tricky.

Try to get a run at it for this last little bit.

Oh, gosh.

Come on.

It's almost there.

Agh. I didn't make it.

Oh, gosh.

I gotta pull both the brakes here because I've spun out.

OK, I got to throw a chain before it slides

backwards down the hill.

It is so freaking cold today.

narrator: Stopping to chain up is a gamble.

Before it rolls away would be nice.

narrator: The steel should grab the ice

to pull Lisa up the hill.

It's cold out here.

40 below.

narrator: But the vicious, frigid air is attacking

the truck while it's stopped.

I'm freezing.

A little bit more slack.

OK, there we go.

My feet are very, very cold.

Hopefully, this will work.

Oh, what the heck?

My tires are trying to grip here, and nothing's moving.

That sucks.

What is going on?

narrator: On a frigid and remote ice road climb...

Why can I not get up the hill?

narrator: Lisa's truck is refusing to move.

Not moving.

Are my trailer brakes locked?

So cold.

I think they frickin' froze.

In these extreme cold conditions,

when the temperatures are, like, 40 below,

trucks break down at that point.

narrator: Negative 40 is the magic number

when machinery quits and most crews won't work.

But the ice queen pushes on.

All right.

I'm gonna have to go pound on the brakes.

narrator: Lisa thinks the trailer brakes froze shut

while she was stopped.

Smack it with a hammer, sometimes will pull it loose.

narrator: And a tried and true bush fix for frozen brakes

is once again percussive maintenance.

Man, I don't want to crawl under there.

It's so dangerous, especially on a hill.

My brakes froze because it's so stinking cold out here.

Oh, man.

If that doesn't come loose--

you better come loose.

All right.

Let me try that.

See how this works out.

Oh, I still can't go.

What the heck?

What the--

That thing is still locked.

I'm gonna try caging it and see what happens.

Here's one.

narrator: Caging the brakes is a last resort.

Screwing the bolt into the brakes manually

compresses the spring and holds the brakes open.

Caging this brake basically means

I won't have any brakes at all.

narrator: But Lisa is out of options.

I just have to get back on the road.

Oh, there, it turned.

That's what we want.

We want it to turn and be stuck in there.

It looks released to me, so hopefully,

I can get up the stinking hill now.

Ugh.

Come on.

Oh.

I'm moving forward.

Nice.

Got the chains, got it caged got them broke free.

When you're out on the road in the middle of nowhere,

problem solving is complete survival mode.

OK, here's our situation.

Here's what we got going on.

How can we fix this?

Holy moly, that was way harder than it had to be.

narrator: Less than 200 miles east...

My radio is totally dead.

narrator: Zach Harris has no comms.

Oh, .

narrator: Riley, the more experienced driver,

should be warning him of oncoming trucks.

Holy .

That was tight.

We're meeting an eight-axle here, Zach,

right on this curve.

narrator: But the rookie ice road driver's

not getting the message and barreling into the unknown

with no idea what's coming.

Holy .

Oh, my God.

That was probably one of the scariest times I've had.

I mean, if that had gone sideways, we'd have been dead.

Eventually, Riley is going to realize

that I haven't said anything in a bit.

Zach, you got a copy?

Then he's gonna wait for a good spot to stop

and start slowing down and see what the hell is going on.

Yeah, he's pulling over.

He's figured it out.

Did you break another radio?

No power.

OK, Dad.

How did you wire this?

He was telling me he had an issue before.

And it was just a fuse.

Yeah, it is blown.

Well, we've blown the fuse in the dash.

We'll replace the fuse.

And hopefully, that fixes our radio.

Let's see if we can burn .

Aha. That's the issue.

OK.

I think I'm going to jump in my truck.

I'll try it.

And we'll make sure.

But let's get the going.

Well, Dad's ultimate goal is

for me and Riley to take over.

And we have a great bond.

It's never really who's the boss of who.

It's just let's just get this job done.

OK, Zach, can you hear me now?

I hear you now.

Perfect.

Problem solved.

Let's give her.

Come on, baby. Come on.

Come on.

narrator: Across the frozen wilderness...

Oh.

Scraped the bottom out there.

narrator: Scooter's goat trail rematch

has pushed into darkness.

Come on, baby. Come on.

Lug it out. Yeah.

narrator: The route to the remote and tiny

Keewaywin community is rarely used and untamed.

You're gonna be the heaviest truck that's

gone in there this year.

I see another good steep hill.

narrator: Now Scooter's facing miles of hills

that almost took him out on the way in.

Go, go, go, go.

Of course, you can't get a run on.

You can't do nothing.

So we're gonna power through it and hope for the best.

Come on, baby. Come on.

Come on, baby.

Come on.

I lost my speed.

Oh, no.

Ahh!

me.

Come on, baby.

Come on.

narrator: On a dark and desolate hill--

I got to try to get us somewhere.

narrator: The goat trail slapped Scooter

into a snowbank.

Come on.

Holy .

This is gonna be a nightmare.

This road is kicking my ass.

Ugh!

That hill's pure freaking ice.

I'm stuck here.

Anyone on the road crew got a copy there?

I'm at the bottom of the hill 22, and I'm wiped out.

I'll be right there.

Give me a second.

10-4. Thank you.

Whee.

I called the road crew.

Loader's coming.

narrator: Scooter got lucky.

A road crew in radio range is heading his way.

But heavy machinery isn't fast, so he's got some time.

Hello?

Hi.

Hello?

- Hey. - Hey.

It's hard being away from home,

especially away from my wife, Kelly.

The way I'm sitting right now, waiting for help,

we're on the situation I'm in, yeah.

I'm looking at the stars.

It is hard on her.

But in her mind, she knows I'm coming home.

And that also keeps the pressure on me

to make sure I am coming home to her.

I'm gonna clear this out, and I'll call you back.

Love you. Bye.

My family does worry about me on the ice roads.

You know, you don't know what's gonna happen.

But it's the same thing with anything in life.

You can slip and fall getting out of the bathtub

and hurt yourself.

So that's the analogy I use to my mom to calm her down,

but you know, you know what mothers are like.

There he is.

Oh, buddy.

I'm just gonna try to lift your back end

of the trailer over and we'll see if we can get you back out.

- OK. - OK.

Let's get to work.

OK.

I'm just gonna try to swing your trailer over.

10-4.

Looks good to me.

OK. 10-4.

On the ice roads, we put ourselves through the wringer.

But if some guy breaks down, we stop, and we help them out.

That's why I enjoy the winter roads.

That old-school trucking bond is still out there.

I'll give her a good run.

Might make it over the top. I don't know.

Go for it.

OK. On my way.

Come on, please.

Hang on to your hat, boys.

Come on. Come on.

Come on. Come on, baby.

Come on. You can do it.

Ahh.

You can do it.

Yeah.

Whoo-hoo.

Thank you very much.

I'm gonna carry on the journey

and hope I can make it out of here.

Yes, sir. You have a good trip.

Thank you.

narrator: At a remote hydroelectric facility--

My hydro stop.

narrator: Lisa's offloading at the new Muskie Creek client.

Hey, Bill.

Hey. How's it going?

I made it all the way here, and I didn't break anything.

Well, that's what I want to hear.

It's a big account.

And the door opens up to a lot of potential opportunities.

So great work.

I would say that Lisa Kelly has definitely earned a spot

to be driving with Muskie Creek.

She knows what she's doing out there.

You're definitely holding up to your reputation.

Oh, right on. Thanks.

Keep up the good work.

You betcha. Thanks so much.

Nailed it.

I feel like the whole reason I drive a truck and go to work

is because I want to keep horses around.

Hi, Mabes.

Look at that pretty blue eye.

I go home. I play with my horses.

I do this for them.

I wish I was there.

If I didn't have horses, there wouldn't be

a reason for anything for me.

What do you do, sit around in the house all day?

I have no idea what normal people do without horses.

Right on.

Well, I'm gonna get trucking here.

Bye.

That is it.

I'm out.

Back to Muskie Creek.

A job well done.

Pat on the back.

narrator: As Lisa heads out of the bush...

Todd's still locked in a battle with his nemesis road.

Whoa, .

narrator: And 45,000 pounds of top-heavy equipment

is adding to his challenge.

.

Those are the holes that your truck hit.

And it will break your front axle

or break your leaf spring, blow out your airbags.

When someone says, hey, this can't be done or hey,

this load can't be hauled in, I'm the guy that says,

well, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I think we can get this done.

But that Asheweig Road is absolutely wicked.

That road is my nemesis road.

I just need to get up this last freaking hill.

And then it's gonna be a win for Team Todd.

That's for damn sure.

That's the hill I broke my axle on eight years ago.

It's probably about a 12%, 15% grade.

It's steep.

All right. Here we go.

Whoa. .

I've seen that come a little too late.

Oh, come on. .

Spun out the hill.

It's got a really big rough hole right at the base of her.

Hard to get any speed.

Getting up that mother hill.

.

. My gosh.

I gotta be able to get up this hill.

All right. Come on, girl.

Come on, girl.

We're not gonna make it. We're not gonna make it.

Son of a-- nope.

I'm spinning. We're stuck.

. Not again!

Come on!

Son of a--that hill's slick.

Can't get any traction.

.

I'm sliding backwards.

I got the brakes on, and it's sliding the tires.

It's sliding them.

Not again! Come on!

Let it roll back all the way.

Whoo!

narrator: As the sun sets on Todd's battle

with Asheweig Road--

I can't get any traction.

narrator: He's having second thoughts

about following the rules.

It ain't gonna crawl up through there.

You gotta get some chains on her.

It's just too icy.

Not exactly what I wanted to do.

They don't want their ice road tore up.

They don't want their ice crossings tore up,

so we're gonna follow the rules.

No chains.

But without chains on there, there's no way

I'm gonna get up that hill. It's just too steep.

I'm not pushing the truck any harder.

I'm going to end up breaking it.

Be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.

I'm going to hit her hard one more time.

All right.

Come on, girl.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

Whoa. .

Whoa!

Barely.

That was barely made right there.

Whoo! My goodness.

My heart's pounding.

But I am home free.

The chains got me up the hill.

But I'm gonna respect the winter roads.

I'm gonna to pull my chains off

and load them up, get back on the road.

Rock and roll.

Finally, I beat that frickin' road after all these years

because I never did get a chance to come back

and see if I could do it again.

And that was my chance.

And I succeeded, so I'm feeling pretty damn good about it.

That road just fought me to the bitter end.

The ice road just brings out that fight inside of you.

Hell, yeah.

Oh, my body.

narrator: After a long night through unforgiving terrain--

Keewaywin Road was brutal.

narrator: The Keewaywin goat trail is finally

in Scooter's rearview mirror.

How's it going?

Well, let's get this unloaded.

Keewaywin Road, by far, the roughest road

I've ever been on.

Come on. Here we go.

It's put me through some challenges,

but it's a matter of overcoming them, adapting.

Come on, buddy. You can do it.

It's a sense of accomplishment.

I am stoked.

All right. Pull ahead.

It's off my neck.

It's not my problem now.

Time to get some much needed rest.

That's for sure.

And then do it all over again.

narrator: At the eastern edge

of one of North America's largest lakes...

Zach, we're right at the ice, so.

10-4.

narrator: The Harris brothers are staring down the barrel

of a 20-mile ice crossing.

That's a whole different ball game.

narrator: And they're hitting the lake for the first time

without their dad.

Dad is going to see this as a good test for us.

Well, she's 30 inches thick.

We'll do 15K.

We'll stay at 1,250 meters apart.

Let's go slow and play it safe.

Yeah.

The ice roads, you can't get overwhelmed.

You can't panic.

You have to be a calm thinker.

But I always worry.

My uncle fell through, and he died.

You want to go first, or do you want me to?

I'll go first.

See you there.

One five-axle off the overland onto the ice.

You gotta go damn slow.

Oh, .

There's some cracks in here that are absolutely huge.

Oh, my God.

narrator: Floating above one of

the continent's deepest lakes...

There's some cracks in here that are absolutely huge.

narrator: Riley and Zach are approaching

the end of their first solo run.

There's always that kind of

unsettling feeling of knowing how much

water you're driving over.

I've been told blue ice is good ice.

OK, we are at the end of the Athabasca crossing

here into Fond-du-Lac.

It feels pretty good.

I am having a blast.

Dad can stay away and keep doing

the pencil-pushing .

We got this, I think.

It takes a little bit off of his plate,

puts a little bit more on ours.

But I guess it'll all be here next winter.

I wouldn't mind coming back and doing some more.

And I think it actually will be a good thing for dad

to slow her down a little bit

and not be running all the time.

He's a micromanager, though.

I feel pretty good.

We got there in one piece, had some little hiccups.

But we caught it, fixed it, carried on.

Can't ask for more than that.

I think we've proven that we can run the business.

It'll be great peace of mind to my dad

to know that we can do it.

Ooh, .

We're just doing what we got to do

to get the loads in and keep our clients happy.

Light the world on fire, as my dad always says.

I think we'll be all right.

Oh.

I am glad that's done.

narrator: With her truck at Muskie Creek for repairs--

My window just fell down in the door.

Now it's just stuck.

My trailer brakes freaking froze.

Hi, fluffies.

That's Sassy, the greeting committee.

This one reminds me of Rocky, my Vinny.

narrator: Lisa is also recovering

and refueling after her longest run of the season.

He's really pretty.

Nice.

Oh, I miss these guys.

I've been out battling the road.

It's been nonstop.

It's just been a lot of work.

And to have, like, a day off and just come out, and like,

chill for a minute, it's just like, oh.

My world again.

She's a Gypsy.

They're the golden retrievers of horses.

I got my own little group at home.

Oh, right on. How many do you have?

I have way more horses than I can handle.

For Gypsies, I think six.

But I have, like, 11 horses.

That's awesome.

This is good therapy.

Horses are good therapy.

All right.

Finally made it back into Muskie Creek, this rock screen.

Super excited to get the load delivered.

Asheweig Road, my nemesis road,

it's just one of those ice roads that a guy's not

gonna forget too soon.

It was brutal from the start to the finish.

But you know what? I got through it.

And I'm still in one piece.

I'm a very happy son of a gun.

narrator: After an epic run,

it's a triumphant return for Todd, ending eight years

of second guessing himself.

Mission accomplished.

Delivered and done.

Thank goodness.