Original subtitles

NARRATOR: At the top of theworld, there's a job only a few

would dare.

Last season, the dash for the cash

was fought on the smooth playingfield of Canada's arctic ice.

This season, too old pros--

I came for the cash.

NARRATOR: --join four of America's bravest truckers.

Come on, boys, saddle up.

Let's go.

NARRATOR: --to tackle the continent's deadliest ice

passage.

Just when you thought extreme trucking couldn't

get more dangerous--

The most dangerous road I've ever been on.

They say she's a treacherous one,

so I'm here to give her a shot.

NARRATOR: --"Ice Road Truckers" take on Alaska.

[theme music]

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, on the Arctic Ocean,

holds the motherlode of the 21st century--

oil pumped by the billions of gallons

down the Trans-Alaskan pipelineto supply America's increasing

demand for energy.

The oil business is obviously the bread and butter

of the state.

It's the lifeblood in the state of Alaska.

NARRATOR: But there's only one road to these riches.

And it's the most fearsome on the planet.

This is the unpaved, ice-coatedtrack called the Dalton, better

known as the haul road.

It's an ice road of a deadlier breed, where trucks smash head

on or fly off instead of breaking through, averaging

a dead man for almost every one of its 414 miles.

It's dangerous.

There's no two ways about it.

There's a lot of trucks that's upside down up there to prove

it.

It's curve after curve after uphill, downhill curve.

It's amazing.

NARRATOR: For an ice road trucker,

this road is the ultimate challenge,

because every mile through the Alaskan wilderness

is met with a new and unpredictable threat.

The gauntlet of terror begins with a brutal initiation--

56 miles of icy hills and sharp curves.

There's a white-knuckle stretchcalled the Roller Coaster

and a hairpin turn whose name says it all.

Oh [bleep] corner.

[laughs] Oh [bleep].

NARRATOR: 250 miles in, themost feared enemy of the road--

4,700-foot Atigun Pass, whereavalanches strike at any moment

and bury truckers alive.

You can freeze to death out there in half an hour.

NARRATOR: The final assault--

50 miles of windswept ice called the bluffs,

where temperatures dive to 70 below and the row

can suddenly vanish in a total whiteout.

Can't see a [bleep] thing.

NARRATOR: And if the ice on the Dalton Road doesn't kill you,

the final stretch over the Arctic Ocean just might.

They say it's not if you wreck, it's when you wreck.

You could easily die out there.

NARRATOR: The ice road truckers' mission--

to haul more than 6,000 loads from Fairbanks to Deadhorse,

the gateway to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.

And they have just 12 weeks to do it in.

It's such a deadly route that they earn the equivalent

of combat pay--

$120,000 and up.

The more loads, the more cash.

That's the highest-paying job there is.

They don't pay us this good because it's easy.

The Girl Scouts are not up there doing it.

NARRATOR: 24 hours before the winter season begins,

Northern Lights flare in the sky.

The ragged thunder of diesel engines builds in the yard.

But the trucks are at a standstill,

waiting for the last mile of ice road to be built.

Time to go make an ice road.

NARRATOR: The Dalton is paved with ice

because big rigs require a smooth driving surface.

And no other material can hold up to the extreme conditions.

An 8,500-gallon tanker unloads water onto the road bed.

One mile of road, we basicallylay down 32,000 gallons

of water per mile.

NARRATOR: And then, a grater does a pass

over the fast-freezing slush.

We've raised this road surface almost two inches.

This here is two inches of ice exactly.

NARRATOR: But the tradeoff for an even surface of ice

is a road that can turn as slick as a skating rink.

The trek north begins in the city of Fairbanks.

Here in the yards of Carlile Transportation Systems,

thousands of loads are piling up.

The blue trucks of Carlile areone of the most familiar sights

of the Far North.

They move a third of thefreight that goes up the Dalton

and over the ice.

It's a challenging, dangerous road.

And our goal in our company is to run it 100% safely.

We've got a really big season going on this winter.

It's the biggest one we've had for about 10 years,

probably, this winter.

NARRATOR: With so much freight to move,

dispatchers send out the word--

drivers wanted.

We're just swamped with business.

We just don't have enough drivers right now

to get on the road.

We're basically looking for anyone that's

capable of running the Dalton.

We've got a couple of leads on bringing some drivers out

of Canada right now that are going to help us.

NARRATOR: Across town in Fairbanks,

the Canadian invasion has already begun.

[western music]

Yee-haw, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Dalton Highway, here I come.

NARRATOR: Hugh "The Polar Bear" Rowland has conquered just

about every ice road in Canada.

Now he's on the prowl stateside.

HUGH ROWLAND: Everybody knows polar bears have

the right of way.

NARRATOR: And he's not alone.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Good morning, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Looks like it's going to be a nice morning.

All I need is a truck, a load, a map, and the Dalton.

Lord, go with me.

NARRATOR: Alex and Hugh have a combined 60 years' experience

as ice road truckers.

But they've never seenanything like the extreme hills

and curves of the Dalton.

They know the legend.

Now, they're here to drive it.

You spin out on one of these hills,

and she's a long way to the bottom,

and you're upside down by the time you get there.

That's for sure.

NARRATOR: Finally, opening day of the ice road season.

[engines roaring]

The 500-mile race to the oil fields is on.

[dramatic music]

[horns honking]

One of Carlile's top drivers, Jack Jessee,

is chosen to move the first heavy load of the season.

In Alaska, there are truck drivers,

and then there are heavy haulerswho move anything oversized

or overweight.

They put it on the trailer.

They tell me to get it there safely.

I get it there.

NARRATOR: 20 feet long, 18 feet high--

the massive modular, or MOD, is a structure

used to house heavy equipment.

This load will hang so far into the oncoming lane

that it's at high risk for a head-on collision.

To run interference, Jack commands a small fleet

of three pilot cars.

There's going to be some spots where I'm really going

to have to slow down to go through some

of the things like this.

That loaded, it will be all kinds of--

all kinds of weird stuff.

NARRATOR: Jack's convoy is first out of the gate.

Priority-- critical.

You know, a heavy haul driver has a lot more responsibility.

They may have a module worth $10, $12 million.

And a lot of times, there might be a work crew

of maybe 20 or 30 guys waiting on that to show up.

NARRATOR: The MOD has to reach an oil

rig in less than 48 hours to keep production on schedule.

The express mission will take Jack over 414 miles

of steep mountain ice.

And if that doesn't take him down,

he'll face the final stretch over a frozen Arctic Ocean.

Virginia-born, college-educated,Jack found his calling

on the haul road.

JACK JESSEE: It's a freedom thing--

you know, an Easy Rider, get on the motorcycle and go.

You're just doing it in a truck.

When you're driving a truck, itkind of gets into your blood.

You hate it sometimes, and sometimes you just love it

to death.

NARRATOR: Now that he's at the very top of the game,

he aims to stay there.

JACK JESSEE: My goal for this year is to survive the year,

make a living for my family, be around to do it next year,

and keep doing it.

I'm doing a job that I love to do.

NARRATOR: 70 miles north of Fairbanks,

the pavement drops off and the solid ice of the haul road

begins.

The road narrows.

Jack's pilot car drivers begin their vigilant watch

for oncoming traffic.

JACK JESSEE: There's a pretty high level of trust going on

with the pilot cars.

You know, I mean, they're my eyes--

they're my ears out ahead of me.

There's spots that I can't meet anybody.

NARRATOR: Almost immediately, the great ascent begins.

Jack hits the first hill of the trip, called 2 and 1/2

Mile, with a steep grade of eight degrees.

To climb it, a heavy hauler needs plenty of momentum,

but not so much speed that he can't stop.

When you're that heavy, it takes a long distance to stop.

It's like a train.

NARRATOR: Jack slowly inches his way to the top, tires holding

on the ice.

But this is just the first of many hurdles.

The monstrous Roller Coaster is dead ahead.

Back at Carlile, the American veteran of the ice

rolls in to begin his 30th and final year on the road.

George Spears started driving the haul road

because it's the closest thing he could find to combat.

Veterans like myself seekout something that's dangerous,

something that's right on the edge like that.

People ask what's worse--

you crash into another truck or go off a cliff.

I just as soon not do either one of them.

NARRATOR: In fact, he's done both, including flipping

his truck over a cliff.

Boom, boom, boom-- went bounding over the hill,

rolled over twice.

I walked out the windshield.

It happens real fast up there.

I don't care how good a driver you are

or what, if you don't have a good respect for that road,

sooner or later, it'll reach out and grab you.

NARRATOR: The list of fallen drivers is long.

At the last truck stop before the Dalton begins

stands a memorial.

And many of George's friends' names are on the wall.

GEORGE SPEARS: There's my good friend, Dale Harris.

We called him Spud.

He was just an outgoing guy.

He was just a lot of fun be around.

And he's been sorely missed.

NARRATOR: It was just last winter

that Dale was driving south on a long, winding hill.

He was only 60 miles from home,rounding a blind curve, when

headlights stabbed the darkness ahead.

This is the haul road's greatest danger--

two big rigs meeting suddenly on a narrow stretch of ice.

The oncoming truck, loaded with cement,

jackknifed as it approached.

The heavy trailer drifted into Dale's lane.

It was an accident.

It was an accident.

It was a trucker's worst nightmare on both sides.

GEORGE SPEARS: Because he was about my age.

He was about ready to retire, same as I am.

So it's a shame to go that long and then not make it.

NARRATOR: Fairbanks, Alaska, January 20, opening day

of the ice road season and day one on the job

for haul road rookie Tim Freeman.

I'm all nervous.

Well, I've listened to people talk about the Dalton

all my life.

NARRATOR: A fourth-generation driver from Minnesota, Tim

is here for trucking's ultimatechallenge and biggest payday.

Make some of that money.

[laughs] I just feel confident because I was trained

by my father, who's been around trucks 51 years

he's been alive.

I taught Tim how to drive.

I'd say anybody that starts out running

that road is under pressure.

The minute you're not nervous up there, you better

start looking for something elseto do is the way I look at it.

NARRATOR: Before Tim Senior sent his son to the ice roads,

he enlisted an old friend as his mentor.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: Scrap Iron Georgie Spears--

[laughter]

--George is a good family friend.

He is a case too.

I love that guy.

NARRATOR: But the haul road breaks rookie drivers.

This is bad.

NARRATOR: And if Tim's going to succeed on this road,

he's got to show something special.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: There is no guarantee.

All I can do is hope.

I'm ready to go truckin', man.

NARRATOR: Over in the Carlile shop,

Tim's truck is being refitted with a set of arctic armor.

It's the first and essential step

to surviving the punishing road ahead.

These trucks have what you would call an arctic package

from the factory.

But their version of arctic and our version of arctic

up here are two different things.

We're going to start off wrapping these lines here

so that we can keep this power steering warm.

The cold that we deal with up here,

you probably don't see 60 or 70 below down in the States.

NARRATOR: In this kind of cold, just about every fluid

could freeze solid.

JARID LANE: Once you get up there

in that wind and that cold weather,

you can't steer this truck.

The fluid becomes so thick that it will not turn.

NARRATOR: If brakes aren't protected from the elements,

they can lock up without warning.

JARID LANE: They're packed with ice.

Well, then you go to step on your brakes,

and you don't have brakes.

NARRATOR: Jarid rebuilds the brake assembly with heavy duty

bushings to prevent ice from building up inside.

Weather-beaten batteries need replacing.

And finally, the engine needs protecting.

This will actually keep the truck warm so

that the driver is not freezing to death

while he's driving down the road.

NARRATOR: 150 miles north is heavy hauler Jack Jessee,

just entering a set of dips like nothing else on Earth.

OK, so we're dropping down in the roller coaster.

[radio chatter]

NARRATOR: These are thetreacherous coils of ice called

the roller coaster.

JACK JESSEE: Oh, you're [bleep] me.

NARRATOR: Just ahead, a trucker is in serious trouble.

I've seen more than one guy slide backwards on this hill.

NARRATOR: The truck spun out in front of Jack,

making it easier for him to do the same.

When tires spin out on the ice,they act like polishing wheels,

making the surface evenslicker for the next truck that

comes along.

That's something I call-- you know,

we all call breaking loose up here or wiping your feet.

But if we're to get in his marks where he spun his tires,

I could easily spin mine and actually spin out

in the same place.

So I got to be sure not to be in the same place that he was.

NARRATOR: Jack slows down to make

sure the driver's been rescued.

JACK JESSEE: It may be him this trip,

and it may be me the next trip.

NARRATOR: But it cost him precious momentum

for getting up the hill.

Suddenly, he loses traction.

[tires whirring]

Then Jack's tires start slipping with 32,0000 pounds dragging

him down.

JACK JESSEE: Most of our biggest fear

would be sliding backwards because you have no control.

And then all of a sudden you start spinning your tires,

and you stop.

And instantaneously, you start sliding backwards.

And there isn't a thing you can do--

just hold on for the ride, I guess.

Well, looks like we just broke loose.

NARRATOR: Jack backs off the power

to stop his wheels from spinning, then

precisely feathers the throttleto keep just enough forward

momentum.

[engine roaring, tires whirring]

He gives it all the power he dares.

And his tires grip the ice just enough to keep climbing.

Nice and easy-- we'll just nurse this truck right over

the top.

NARRATOR: And finally, he rounds the top of the roller coaster.

[laughs]

NARRATOR: But yet another terror of the haul road

lies dead ahead--

Avalanche Alley.

Day two of the ice road season, high in the Brooks Mountain

Range, a fresh new snow has created a whole new danger

of avalanches.

[laughs] 17 inches of new snow is what I'm looking at.

Once the wind hits this stuff, it's

just going to turn to rock-hard avalanches.

NARRATOR: At 4,700 feet, Atigun Pass

is both the midpoint and highest reach

of the haul road, the Avalanche Alley of the north.

If we do not shoot this down, very likely

there would be trucks hit and trapped and maybe even knocked

over the guardrail and down into the canyon.

NARRATOR: Avalanche control expert Reid Bahnson

and his crew set out to defusethe danger with a very big gun.

The weapon is a Korean War era recoilless rifle.

It fires shells packed with eight pounds of TNT.

Conditions are near whiteout.

REID BAHNSON: With the lack of visibility we have today,

we're going to have to blind fire the weapon.

If we get a break, we use the sight.

It's a lot more fun.

Is the road closed?

CREW: Road's closed.

REID BAHNSON: Clear to the front.

CREW: Clear to the rear.

REID BAHNSON: Reload track 305.

All clear.

Ready to fire.

Fire!

[gunshot]

NARRATOR: The rifle has no recoil because it vents

the explosion out the rear of the gun in a ball of flame.

Powder!

[gunshot]

NARRATOR: When the shell hits, the TNT detonates.

REID BAHNSON: Report!

NARRATOR: And invisible in the whiteout, a tsunami of snow

rumbles down the mountain.

All clear.

Ready to fire.

REID BAHNSON: Fire!

[gunshot]

Report!

[gunshot]

Report!

We're good.

We caused three pretty good-sized avalanches.

NARRATOR: With three big slidesdown, the pass can reopen.

The big rigs can get through.

But the danger is far from over.

On the haul road, like wrecks and breakdowns,

avalanches are inevitable.

In Fairbanks, rookie Tim Freeman gets his first chance

to drive the haul road, provided he

runs with his mentor and family friend George Spears.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: Yeah, I'mnervous about running up there.

There's lots of hazards in the way.

I'm most nervous about the hills.

[dramatic music]

[horn honks]

NARRATOR: George is hauling 13 tons of ThermaSteel panels,

enough to build five heat-efficient houses

for the oil workers in Prudhoe Bay.

Behind him, Tim pulls a typical rookie load--

25,000 pounds of canned food, which is difficult to damage.

Headed to Prudhoe for my first trip,

something I've been waiting to do since I started driving

a truck.

All right, George, no sweat.

NARRATOR: Tim first has to navigate a 75-mile stretch

of icy curves before the pavement ends and the Dalton

itself begins.

GEORGE SPEARS: There arepretty steep grades along here.

If it doesn't get you spinning out going up the hill,

you're sliding off the other side.

Yeah, that's a son of a bitch, that hill.

I think I just slipped a little bit on that last hill.

NARRATOR: Tim feels the rearend of his truck losing contact

with the road, which is usuallythe last feeling a driver gets

before he goes off the edge.

Back in Fairbanks, Hugh Rowland reports

to Carlile Transportation to take on America's ice road.

HUGH ROWLAND: They say she's the road from hell.

So I'm here to give her a shot,take a little American money

home with me.

NARRATOR: On the Canadian ice roads,

he's the one and only Polar Bear--

first in hauling freight, first in moneymaking,

last in humility.

Walk tall.

Carry a big stick.

The ice road trucker with the bigger stick wins.

NARRATOR: But on American soil, the Polar Bear

is just another rookie.

But before he can be trusted in the Alaskan wilderness,

he has to prove himself on a video game.

ROBERTA KLEMA: So this is a simulator.

We're going to get this crankedup and let you see what it's

like to drive the Alaska roads.

All right?

So if I can get you to put your seat belt on,

and whenever you're comfortable,go ahead and start it up,

and let's roll.

[buzzing]

HUGH ROWLAND: Ready to go, nobody coming

through the intersection.

NARRATOR: The instructor tests Hugh's driving skills

on varying terrain and how quickly he

can react to sudden obstacles.

[laughs]

I tipped it over.

ROBERTA KLEMA: You did tip it over.

HUGH ROWLAND: Roberta'sprobably messing with the storms

out there.

I blew out your left steer tire--

left steer tire.

You noticed you had yourtrailer swinging back and forth.

NARRATOR: Hugh narrowly passes the exam.

He walks away from this wreck.

But if this happens on the Dalton,

he might not be so lucky.

230 miles north is the shelf, a narrow high-walled passage

cut into the mountainside,notorious for causing rollovers

and head-ons.

It's dangerous for any two trucks to meet here.

And Jack Jessee approaches it with the widest load

on the road--

an 18-foot modular.

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: There you go.

[radio chatter]

NARRATOR: Oncoming trucks clear his rig with as little as six

inches to spare.

Got a little snug there, wasn't it, Todd?

NARRATOR: But there's an even more dangerous stretch just 50

miles ahead, at 4,700-foot Atigun Pass.

It's starting to blow or something?

NARRATOR: When high winds blow through this terrain,

avalanches follow.

JACK JESSEE: What happened up here?

Avalanche?

Or they're just cleaning the road?

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: They had an avalanche.

[inaudible] you'll be able to fit between there.

It's up higher than my truck.

When did that avalanche happen?

Just a little bit ago?

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: Itmust have happened pretty fresh.

NARRATOR: Minutes ago, an avalanche tore down the pass

and buried the road ahead in 12 feet of snow.

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: Yeah, if you

copy, we need to hang tight here on the chain up there.

It's definitely going to be cleaned out.

It's too narrow for us to get through there right now.

Oh, lovely.

NARRATOR: Jack narrowly escaped being buried.

He pulls over to wait for the plows to clear the way.

Every minute the load waits, an oil rig crew sits idle.

Yet Jack still faces the heart of Alaska's Avalanche Alley.

I don't know if I'd want to go up there, you know?

When one avalanche falls, there's

a good chance there's going to be more of them.

NARRATOR: On 4,700-foot Atigun Pass,

the highest point of the Dalton,the road suddenly disappeared

under a 12-foot wave of snow.

Heavy hauler Jack Jessee and his convoy

just missed getting hit by the avalanche.

Then they were delayed for two hours by the cleanup,

losing money as the load stands idle.

Finally, some good news.

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: Yes, you're good to go now.

Jack, did you copy that?

Yeah, yeah, I'm moving.

Well anyway, they got theavalanche cleared enough for me

to go through.

Well, this right here's where the avalanche was.

You know, that'll stop a truck.

OK, guys.

Watch out for any more avalanches here.

We don't want to get caught in one today.

PILOT DRIVER [ON RADIO]: All right.

Here we go.

So we made it up and over the pass, through the avalanche,

and down the other side.

NARRATOR: After the pass, the road

descends to the open tundra of the north slope.

Here there's yet another prevailing danger.

Mother Nature is starting to pick her fury back up again up

north.

NARRATOR: The high winds of the polar region blast

across the ice without a treeor a mountain to slow them down,

hitting a big square load like Jack's with terrifying force.

It could just blow the truck sideways and, you know,

push me off the road.

NARRATOR: One of the most dreaded hazards of the haul

road is a whiteout, what Alaskans call a blow.

And Jack has just driven into a blinding, howling blow.

These conditions cause head-on collisions.

Or you can drive off the road without knowing it

and be buried alive by the snow.

JACK JESSEE: And your motor's going to plug up here.

The air cleaner's going to plug up.

Your motor is going to die.

You're out here so far in such bad weather

that nobody's really going to be able to get to you.

NARRATOR: Phase 3 means it'stoo dangerous for even emergency

crews.

Truckers are now completely on their own.

Back at Carlile, Alex Debogorski gets

ready for his first Alaskan challenge.

I've never really been tested by somebody.

I got my license out of a popcorn box years ago.

NARRATOR: Last year, his run wascut short when he was suddenly

stricken with heart trouble.

This year, he's setting out to make a comeback on a road even

more dangerous than the last.

HUGH ROWLAND: Yeah, I think Alex has something

to prove to himself, not only to anybody else.

He's back.

He's full of piss and vinegar.

He's going to get at it.

NARRATOR: To pursue Alaska's big paycheck,

Alex left his family of 11children and nine grandchildren

behind in Yellowknife, Canada.

It was nice sometimes.

Yeah, but I don't want you to go on the ice road.

He's never driven this road before.

And we hear it's quite a dangerous road.

And of course, I always worry about his health.

But we're just going to pray that everything goes well

and God always looks after us.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Give us direction and guidance.

Protect us from evil and harm.

NARRATOR: With his family's blessing,

Alex is a rookie all over again.

But can he make it through five minutes on the haul road

simulator?

Run over the lawn.

NARRATOR: He's off to a bad start.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: I started offwith the truck being turned all

the way to the right.

And so when I put it to gear, the truck just sort of drove

right up on the lawn.

So I ran over about an acre of lawn

before I got back down on the road.

NARRATOR: Getting out of town is the biggest hurdle.

Get your ass out of the way, OK?

NARRATOR: On the snowy curves of the Dalton, Alex excels--

ROBERTA KLEMA: There you go.

Perfect.

NARRATOR: --and passes like a pro.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Made me seasick.

And I just got to drive this thing all over the place.

But it went all right.

ROBERTA KLEMA: Good job.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: 50 miles north of Fairbanks

is rookie Tim Freeman, who'shaving trouble with his truck's

rear end.

I'm just trying to concentrate on this,

see if it'll do it again.

NARRATOR: The drive wheels of his cab

are hopping off the road and skidding sideways.

And he's still on the pavement.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: I'm feeling a hop.

Yeah, there's [inaudible] back there and hop.

NARRATOR: The rear end was just rebuilt on the truck.

And either the mechanic made amistake or Tim's got a bad case

of rookie nerves.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: I'd like to get one more good pull,

make sure I'm not imagining this.

NARRATOR: Either way, his mentorand lead driver, George Spears,

is not taking a chance on Tim's safety.

Yeah, something's jumping back there, George.

Ah, [bleep].

NARRATOR: Eight miles from the Dalton,

and his dream of driving the haul road,

Tim decides that his truck isdangerously unfit for the trip.

Yeah, I'm bummed about it.

I'm finally up here and doing it.

Now I have to go back to town, won't even

make it to the Dalton Highway.

This sucks.

GEORGE SPEARS: I know it.

Those guys from Minnesota, man, they're rough on equipment,

aren't they?

All OK, buddy.

All right, George.

Nice working with you.

I sure hope they fire you when you get back to town.

[laughs]

NARRATOR: George Spears will have

to continue north by himself, while Tim abandons his load

and turns back for Fairbanks.

TIM FREEMAN, JR: I'm going to turn around and drop

this trailer here.

And bring it back to town, get her fixed

and try her another day.

NARRATOR: 62 miles south of Prudhoe Bay and the entrance

to the ice road, Jack Jessee is trapped by bad weather.

Just up the road is a phase 3 whiteout-- conditions so

extreme that emergency crews can't drive,

much less Jack and his high-priority load.

He's parked on the open tundra until the wind dies down,

which can take days and cause him to miss his deadline.

No horsing around here.

We got work to do.

JACK JESSEE: We're going tohunker in and sit this one out.

There's no need for us to go in and get into that mess.

Can't see 10 feet between us to begin with.

JACK JESSEE: Yeah, pretty well stuck here.

See you in the morning.

We'll figure it out then.

NARRATOR: As day two of the ice road season comes to an end,

so does a rookie's first attemptat driving the haul road.

I called my dad right before we pulled out of the yard

and asked him for any last-minute advice.

He said, don't [bleep] up.

[laughs]

NARRATOR: Tim Freeman returns to the Carlile yard in Fairbanks,

defeated.

Hey, Dad.

What's happening?

NARRATOR: As he breaks the news to his father,

he wonders if he made the right call

or possibly caved under pressure.

TIM FREEMAN, SR [ON PHONE]: Well, sure.

Yeah, absolutely there's pressure on you.

If you screw up, you're going tohear about it for a long time.

So you don't want to screw up. - Yeah.

TIM FREEMAN, SR [ON PHONE]: Be a professional

when you're behind the wheel.

All right, Dad.

I'll talk to you tomorrow then.

Goodnight.

NARRATOR: Turning back on your first run is bad enough.

But 225 miles north on the shelf,

another rookie's trip comes to a far worse end.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Some tanker went off the road up here.

Oh, there he is.

NARRATOR: Rescuers rushed to the scene

and arrived braced for the worst.

You all right?

- Yeah. - Not hurt or anything?

BRUCE CARL: No.

Have the men at medical check you out

if you want to go up to pump four.

BRUCE CARL: No, I'm all right. - OK.

NARRATOR: The driver, Bruce Carl,

is shaken but manages to climb out of the wreck.

He's got years of trucking experience.

But this was his first attempt on the ice.

BRUCE CARL: You know it hurts your pride.

Ain't no way around that.

I know I made a mistake.

NARRATOR: One mistake on this route is all it takes.

I reached up to grab something off the dash,

and I got too close to the edge.

NARRATOR: In the instant that Bruce reached over,

his front right wheel caught the edge of the road.

The whole truck followed as it flipped onto its side

and slid into the ditch.

I wasn't going but about 25 mile an hour.

But once it grabbed and started, I couldn't stop it.

This road is no joke.

It can get you.

And today was my day.

NARRATOR: Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, land's end--

but the beginning of the ocean ice road for Jack Jessee.

In the 500 miles from Fairbanks,the most dangerous road

in North America threw everything it had at Jack.

He just missed getting hit by an avalanche,

then was stranded in a massive whiteout.

But now comes the danger that deeply haunts every driver--

the possibility of breaking through the ice.

36 miles northwest of Prudhoe, Jack

arrives at the oil fieldoperated by the Italian company

known as Eni.

JACK JESSEE: This is just about--

it's one of the most northern parts you can actually

drive to.

This oil rig we're going to right here is actually just--

it's right on the sea, the Arctic sea up here.

NARRATOR: He eases his rig onto the ocean ice road.

[crackling]

The Arctic ice cracks as it flexes with the weight

of Jack's truck.

JACK JESSEE: It's got really big cracks in it

because ice changes with the temperature.

The colder it gets, the ice shrinks more

and actually creates its own cracks that way.

NARRATOR: With 48 hours and almost 600 white-knuckle miles

behind him, Jack arrives on time at the oil rig.

[horn honks]

JACK JESSEE: And here we are.

60 miles west and north of Prudhoe Bay right now,

out in the middle of the oil field.

If the oil industry wasn't up here digging holes

in the ground trying to find oil,

you know, the Dalton Highway wouldn't be there.

My job wouldn't be there.

And I would wouldn't have the experiences up on this road

that I have, some of the mostamazing views I've ever seen.

You know, it's been a great experience for me.