Original subtitles

NARRATOR: After 12 weeks of battling North America's

deadliest passage--

[music playing]

TRUCKER: Oh, look at that, man.

Holy cow!

I'm trying to stop, I promise.

NARRATOR: The ice road season is nearing an end.

That's when things gets really dangerous.

[skid sound]

NARRATOR: There's just a few days left--

I don't like this.

NARRATOR: Truckers face deadly springtime conditions--

Sleet.

Sleet!

NARRATOR: --to haul the last freight north--

Hopefully we can get a few more in.

NARRATOR: --before all the ice roads melt away.

It's going to get really bad.

[horn]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Spring's unpredictable weather

has brought a sudden storm and, with it,

high winds and thick, heavy snow.

150 miles up the ice road, AlexDebogorski and convoy partner,

Ron Dubbs, are pushing through hoping

to reach Coldfoot tonight.

ALEX: We've got 60 miles to go.

And it's been snowing for the last 15 minutes or so.

The snow is melting on the ground and on the road

because we're right around the freezing mark.

And this is what makes it kind of dangerous.

It's hard to see.

It's hard to tell what's out there.

NARRATOR: As Alex struggles to see the road,

Ron radios in with even bigger troubles.

ALEX: Oh.

RON: I'm leaking oil all over my turbo.

That's-- that's what I was smelling.

It's spraying all the way up here.

Here, up here?

RON: Yeah, it-- it's spraying out.

ALEX: Back here.

Seems to be really get--

RON: It-- so, it's all over the place.

ALEX: Holy mackerel!

NARRATOR: The leak is coming from a busted oil line.

RON: I can't run it like that.

It'll just pump oil out all over the ground.

And I'd run out of oil.

Even though we only have 30 miles to Coldfoot,

I can't even run it that far.

I need to get another braided line.

NARRATOR: Repairing the truck will

have to wait until morning.

ALEX: Jack this thing in here.

But then I'll give you a ride home to Coldfoot.

NARRATOR: It's an unfortunate setback

that could cost Alex one of his last loads on the ice.

I don't know how long it'llbe waiting for the part to come.

Time is money.

And it will probably cost me some time too.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: As day breaks in Fairbanks,

Lisa Kelly has just been assigned

one of the last top-dollar runs of the season.

LISA: I'm going to go over and scale this, see how much I

weigh, and then get out of town.

Just drive straight to Prudhoe.

Let's just go.

NARRATOR: But as she prepares to take off--

It still hasn't stopped making noise yet?

NARRATOR: Lisa discovers a problem with her trailer.

LISA: Why am I losing all my air?

It's not--

NARRATOR: Without air pressure,the brakes won't release,

and the trailer won't budge.

I don't know.

I don't get it.

One of those days.

Can you tell?

Won't stop making air leak sounds.

Please don't be frozen.

NARRATOR: Lisa tries thawing outthe lines with methyl hydrate,

which acts like an antifreeze.

LISA: I really just want to leave.

I'm going to try this again.

Dumping it out.

NARRATOR: But the quick fix isn't working.

[music playing]

And Lisa's chances of getting another big load this season

are quickly fading.

Drop this one.

Get another load.

But I don't know what they're going to give me

that's going to be interesting.

NARRATOR: She leaves the broken trailer in the yard

and heads for dispatch.

[music playing]

Hey, it's Lisa.

MAN: Bad mood.

I'm not in a bad mood. MAN: Ahh!

I'm just in--

I'll be so much happier when I'min the rolling down the road.

[inaudible] LISA: I know.

- OK. - Give me a load.

Let's go.

Please.

How about a van with 45,000 pounds of explosives?

You got to call the state troopers

and let them know you're on the road.

LISA: Are you serious? - Oh, I'm quite serious.

You see that route plan? LISA: Wow!

I've never done that.

Oh, yeah.

You've got a little map and everything.

If you deviate from this route, and you go boom,

they'll be really unhappy with you.

LISA: So you're counting on meto actually keep it on the road

today?

MAN: Yes, that would be, uh, what we were hoping.

LISA: See you.

Have fun.

LISA: Thanks.

It's a cool van.

We gotta call the state troopersbefore we can leave to let them

know I'm on the road. That's kind of scary.

They should know all the time when I'm on the road.

[beep]

Watch me hook up to it, and it explodes

as soon as I bang the king pin.

Kaboom!

End of my workday.

NARRATOR: The critical load of explosives

will be used to break new ground on the North Slope.

[explosion]

[beep]

Well, it didn't explode yet.

We're all right.

NARRATOR: After several impressive runs this season,

including a set of oversized tires

and a load of 80-foot pipe, this run

is another giant step for Lisa and one that will earn her

$1,700 if delivered on time and intact.

If the rest goes uneventful, we'll be good.

But I just have this feeling that it won't.

[beep]

NARRATOR: 500 miles north in Deadhorse, Hugh Rowland

hooks up to his 13th load.

HUGH: Yeah, I've got my load.

I got my paperwork.

I'm fueled up.

And, as usual, I'm waiting on the fill billy.

Let's rock and roll, fill billy.

Yeah, let's blow it.

NARRATOR: Once again, he's pulled half a run ahead

of his rival, Alex.

But it's a tight race.

And with the ice road season in its final days,

every load could be their last.

HUGH: And that's a friendly rivalry between me and Alex,

but he--

he'll concede.

I know he's going to concede to me this year.

And he knows I passed him a couple of times.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: With Alex stuck in Coldfoot,

Hugh might just get the chance he's looking for.

HUGH: I've got one more trip.

That's all we got.

NARRATOR: But with 500 miles still ahead,

anything could happen.

MAN [ON RADIO]: OK, we're doing.

10-4.

[horn]

NARRATOR: 250 miles south of Hugh, the leader of the load

count, Jack Jesse, is racing back to Fairbanks

for his next load.

How does the hill look up there?

NARRATOR: But first, he must climb Atigun Pass, the road's

deadliest stretch, with an empty tanker.

OK.

All right, well, I'm coming up.

[music playing]

Climbing the north side of the pass, heading back empty,

it's always a pretty big challenge

to get an empty tanker up this hill without spinning out.

NARRATOR: With little weight over the drive axles,

it's extremely difficult to maintain traction.

There's a lot of fluff going on here, and I don't know.

I actually might not make this one.

The problem is is when you spin out and slide backwards.

That's when things gets really dangerous.

[music playing]

You know, because you may notbe able to stop going backwards.

And that's really bad.

[music playing]

Feel us spinning?

That bounding is because we're spinning.

Back out of it a little bit, not too much.

Oh, god.

NARRATOR: Jack downshifts hopinga lower gear will stop him

from sliding.

That's going to take all the torque off the motor.

MAN [ON RADIO]: [inaudible].

How you doing, bud?

Oh, don't do that.

NARRATOR: The truck shudders to a halt,

leaving the Dalton ace barely clinging to the ice

just 300 feet from the top.

[skid sound]

Come on.

Oh!

I'm almost to the top.

This is not my idea of fun.

Ah, [bleep].

Yeah, I didn't make it here, guys.

Northbound lane is still open.

They can get around if they need to.

MAN [ON RADIO]: OK.

NARRATOR: He can't move forward.

And backing down Atiguun is not an option.

This is not my idea of fun.

NARRATOR: Fortunately, a DOT plow

is working the road nearby.

Jack flags him down for a tow.

JACK: I got a strap I'll put out.

MAN: OK.

Well, I'm going to get a free tow today.

The state's going to tow me up the hill.

NARRATOR: Jack attaches a tow pin to the frame of his truck

and connects a heavy-duty tow strap to the plow.

That way, we won't jerk anything off when it goes bam.

Yeah.

[laughter]

OK, let's go to it.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Ready?

JACK: Yep, let's go.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The plow drags Jack all the way to the top

of the pass.

JACK: This is actually the steepest part.

These guys, they don't mind helping out when we do this,

you know?

I mean, they were working the hill.

Well, if anybody has problems on a hill,

it's definitely going to be an empty tanker.

Well, that ought to be good there.

Now we'll just get out and put everything back up,

thank these guys a lot, and go on our merry way.

I hope I don't get fired for this.

[laughter]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Well, if I had to spin out, today was a beautiful day

to do it, a whole lot better than the wind

blowing at 40 to 50 miles an hour and dealing with that.

All right, let's get back in the truck and keep going.

[music playing]

This time of year, it's hard to read the roads

and the empty tankers.

Sometimes they're really tough.

You can do it a little faster.

But just like that, you get a hill, you may not make it.

NARRATOR: 250 miles south of Jack, Lisa Kelly

drops onto the ice road.

I got some explosives on board.

I'm not sure exactly what kind, just kinds that blow up,

I think.

The only thing that you can't do around my load is smoke.

Nobody smoke around this load.

This is like tightest and windiest part

of the whole road.

Just really good steep hills, like down a steep hill,

up a steep hill.

NARRATOR: Up ahead is Lisa's biggest challenge,

one of the steepest grades on the road known

as 2 and 1/2 mile.

LISA: Northbound 2 and 1/2 mile.

Here's the hill that always get me.

So we're going to play a trick on the hill.

NARRATOR: Last week, Lisa spun out on 2 and 1/2 mile--

Hold on, guys.

Spun out.

NARRATOR: --and had to back all the way down the slope.

LISA: That's one of those gears that I always miss.

And if I miss it, I spin.

NARRATOR: Now she has a new plan of attack.

She hopes to avoid spinning out by not shifting

in the middle of the hill.

I am definitely not in the right gear yet.

That one right here [inaudible].

My foot's on it just enough when climbing,

but not all the way to the floor.

This is like, come on.

MAN [ON RADIO]: [inaudible]

[whistle]

There.

I'm at that critical moment. Do you see that?

It was dropping. And I turned off the fan.

And now we're picking up.

OK.

We got it.

Almost there.

Here we go.

Oh, we made it.

That proved to be a little morechallenging than I anticipated.

NARRATOR: Success on the ice road

is largely a matter of knowing when and how to pull

the right gear.

And this season, Lisa hastriumphed over many challenges.

Sticking in fourth,[inaudible] climb [inaudible]..

And that's the way she's done.

I think I'll do that every time.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 400 miles north in Deadhorse, rookie Tim Freeman

and veteran George Spears are beginning their return trip

to Fairbanks.

GEORGE: It's about 10 o'clock here, about 5 or 6 below zero.

Everything's going good.

TIM: George has got an empty.

I've got an empty with just some pallets in it

just to get our trailers back to town

so we can reload them and send them back up.

NARRATOR: Tim has been running with George all season.

But soon, it will be time for him to strike out on his own.

GEORGE: Tim's learning that truck.

It takes a while to get adjusted to a truck to know.

you know, what it's boundaries are, when it's going to spin,

when it's not going to spin.

As time goes by, he's doing a real good job.

He's getting it all figured out.

My confidence has been really good the last three runs.

But we'll see when we get another storm just

how comfortable I really am.

NARRATOR: The brutal weather this winter

has been a tough initiation for the rookie.

Still coming, George.

I can't see a [bleep] thing though.

NARRATOR: In less than 10 runs, he's

been hit by four bad storms.

Just horrendous storms.

Oh, wow!

Look at that [bleep],, man, holy cow.

NARRATOR: And the delays have cost both Tim and George

serious time and money.

Heads up.

GEORGE: This trip here is going to make up

for some of the real bad ones we've had in the last month

or so.

Hopefully, we can get a few more in before the springtime

arrives.

So we'll just roll up the road, take it as it comes.

NARRATOR: 250 miles to the south, another spring storm

is blowing through.

It's nice and pleasant out today.

NARRATOR: And Alex and Ron have returned

to the side of the road with parts to fix the oil leak.

ALEX: Look at that.

Perfect.

RON: We got the big hammer here in case we can't get it

with the wrench.

Finishing now, yeah.

Yep.

RON: Very tight down there.

NARRATOR: They're pushing to get back on the road

before the storm gets any worse.

Truckers do the best work in tight places.

NARRATOR: Ron disconnects the damaged line.

There's a little hole right here, Alex.

Here's this little tiny hole right here.

ALEX: Well--

RON: That little tiny hole.

ALEX: [inaudible] 60, 70.

RON: Yeah, just make sure we got the right one.

You want to hand that to me?

Ah, let's see here.

Let me tighten this one up a little bit here on top

till we get it almost snug.

[hammering]

ALEX: Start it up and see if it sprays in all directions.

All right, Alex.

You ready?

ALEX: Yeah, go ahead.

[beep]

OK.

So far, so good.

Wasn't too bad.

NARRATOR: Back on the road, they pushed through the storm,

eager to make up for lost time.

Yeah, I think it's going to get a little stormier

before it'll get better.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 160 miles south of Deadhorse--

--Tim and George are racing back to Fairbanks

hoping to pick up one of the last loads of this season.

Rick, you come across any [inaudible] yet?

NARRATOR: But the road ahead is getting worse as today's

fierce storm gathers strength.

As they start the 4,700-foot climb,

visibility drops to less than 20 feet.

GEORGE [ON RADIO]: Tim, how's everything going back there?

There's some bad places where you can't see nothing, so--

Just spun a little bit, even with the chains on.

NARRATOR: The storm grows more intense with every mile.

30 years on this road really qualifies Georgie as the judge

over the rest of us guys.

I trust his decision.

I'm right behind him, whatever he thinks.

NARRATOR: George decides to push on towards the summit.

GEORGE: This winter has just been--

you can't-- just you can't evenpredict what's going to happen.

Seen it like this a long time.

It's just really unpredictable.

NARRATOR: On their descent, the snow lightens up

and visibility improves.

TIM: You're always taking a gamble on the weather up here.

You know, uh, just a gamble the whole way,

just the luck of the draw.

NARRATOR: As Tim prepares to run alone,

the unforgiving weather has him wondering

if it's all worth the effort.

TIM: No piece of freight isworth your life, stuck out here

in a snowdrift somewhere wondering when the blow is

going to happen.

NARRATOR: 78 miles south at the Coldfoot truck stop,

two Canadian rivals are taking shelter from the storm.

--a seat.

Yeah, how have thing's been going?

Well, I can--

just travelling [inaudible].

Yeah, I didn't finish my education program with you

last year.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: These two may be old friends.

But they're in Alaska to see who can turn the most loads.

And at the moment, Hugh is ahead, 12 loads to 11.

How many loads you got now?

Well, I can't tell you.

[laughter]

You can't tell me.

HUGH: Yeah, Alex asked me how many loads I have.

And I said, you know I can't tell you that.

I said, you'll start losing beauty sleep over that.

And you need your beauty sleep.

So, yeah, I just told him I couldn't tell him

that for sure.

- You're still being trained? - Yeah.

[laughter]

He won't let me pass him on the hills.

He won't let you pass him?

[laughter]

No.

So when did you start to lead?

Well, like he said, I led a couple times,

and he couldn't keep up. So--

[laughter]

So I just stay behind now.

And then that way, I stay out of trouble.

I think Hugh is getting worse.

I'm not sure why he just can't sit still at all.

He's got ants in pants.

I don't know.

Maybe he has a tapeworm.

I really don't know what's driving him.

[laughter]

Anyway, I'm going to get out of here.

[inaudible]

- Yeah, we got to get going too.- All right.

[chink glasses] Talk to you later.

[inaudible]

Yeah.

NARRATOR: As Hugh and Phil pushthrough the storm on their way

to Fairbanks, Alex and Ron brace themselves

for a treacherous run up Atigun Pass--

[music playing]

--where the summit is still being pummeled by snow.

ALEX: It's fairly slippery.

I don't think anybody is taking any chances.

We're all chaining up.

[music playing]

OK, other side.

NARRATOR: Chaining up has cost Alex a lot of precious time

this season--

--and caused one driver to leave him behind.

But as this season comes to an end,

it appears Alex is becoming a pro.

All right.

That's a first.

I guess we can leave any time you like there, Ron.

RON [ON RADIO]: All right, here we go.

[music playing]

Well, we're chained up and in gear.

Well, we're approaching Atigun Pass northbound.

This is sort of a new test for us here because, like I say,

it's snowing.

The road is-- it's ice covered.

It's fairly warm.

And it's slippery.

It makes it hard to steer.

A beautiful day for a penguin.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: As Alex begins the climb, the weather closes in.

ALEX: It's so white, you can't hardly tell the--

tell whether it's snowing or not.

I think we got a little bit of snowfall.

It looks like more like fog now.

I think we're going to get intosome fog going over the pass.

[crunching]

It's pretty bad.

What a mess.

The grader doesn't seem to havebeen down here for a while.

So--

[bleep]

We only have one lane open.

So we can't-- if anybody comes roaring up the hill,

my right side here hasn't been cleaned.

It looks like there's about 6 inches of snow sitting there.

So there's only one lane.

[music playing]

[bleep] like this.

It's hard to tell what's happening.

NARRATOR: As Alex Debogorski climbs the infamous Atigun

Pass, he's hit by a terrible spring storm.

[bleep]

I don't like this.

So I don't know the road.

That's the problem.

If I knew the road, I'd just let it roll.

But I'm not sure what's around that corner.

[bleep]

Can't tell where we are on the hill

if we're going to make it to the top or not.

[music playing]

MAN [ON RADIO]: [inaudible] down the hill.

How you doing there, Alex?

So far, so good.

MAN [ON RADIO]: [inaudible]

NARRATOR: He finally reaches the top.

But his troubles are far from over.

It's messy.

NARRATOR: Conditions downhill are even worse.

ALEX: It's varying degrees of slipperiness.

You don't want to apply the brakes very hard or else

we go into toboggan mode.

Let's not fall off the road here.

NARRATOR: At last, Alex and Rondescend onto the North Slope.

Well, that's been a real workout.

Holy mackerel.

[horn]

NARRATOR: 100 miles south of Alex--

[horn]

--Hugh and convoy partner Phil are making good time moving

south through the storm.

Sleet!

Sleet!

NARRATOR: Until it turns into a dangerous mixture of snow

and sleet.

[music playing]

They're already saying there's4 inches on the Beaver Slide,

means she's starting to stick now.

About 2 more degrees, this little wet drizzle of snow

will turn [bleep] into a sheet of ice.

And then the fun begins.

We could off on that side of the cliff

or against the rocks on this side.

Ain't Mother Nature grand?

As long as we make it over the Beaver Slide without getting

killed.

NARRATOR: The Beaver Slide is one of the most

notorious slopes on the Dalton.

Southbound, it's 2 miles straight uphill.

There we go.

[horn]

It is [bleep] glare ice.

NARRATOR: Momentum is key to making it to the top.

[horn]

Halfway up the climb, Hugh hits the right gear.

But he can't find enough traction.

HUGH: Listen.

[bleep] slicker than snot on a chicken's lip.

NARRATOR: Hugh attempts a new strategy.

Zigzag up that hill just to make it.

NARRATOR: Snake back and forth across both lanes in order

to find something for his tires to grip.

Come on, baby.

I need some snow. Come on.

Come on.

I got one wheel in the middle where everybody hasn't

been driving and one on--

on the outside.

If worse comes to worse, grab your ass with both hands

and hang on.

That's all we can do.

[music playing]

Come on, baby.

NARRATOR: Finally, Hugh crests the top.

HUGH: Well, it just gives us some traction because now

you're not pulling straight up.

The truck doesn't have to work so hard.

So it just [bleep] gets some snow off the side and it's

off the middle and made it into the dock.

Yeah, you betcha.

Not a problem.

Yee haw!

NARRATOR: Back at the base of Atigun Pass,

Lisa Kelly is the next to make the climb.

And she's hauling 45,000 pounds of explosives.

Try not to blow anything up.

But we gotta get over Atigun.

It's predictable that Atigun is very unpredictable.

If you want to venture a guess, guess that Atigun

is going to be crazy.

[laughter]

It's blowing down here, but not too bad.

It should still be open if downhere is anything to go by up

there, which it isn't.

They're nothing alike.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: As Lisa begins the ascent, the winds pick up

and snow starts to collect on the road.

It's already built up along that guardrail.

It's almost over the edge of the guardrail already.

It's really deep here.

[crunching]

You just can't see that well down here.

It's going to get really bad.

NARRATOR: Snow on top of slick ice

is a deadly combination that can easily

send a trucker over the edge.

[crash]

LISA: The truck is saying, I want to slip.

And I'm saying no.

Get sure footing.

We have a mountain goat here, right?

You got to keep-- keep the traction.

You don't want to spin.

[crunching]

So far, so good.

I haven't slipped yet.

And we're almost over, almost to the top.

There we go.

OK, northbound over the top.

Atigun is my last obstacle that I have

to jump just to get to Prudhoe.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: 195 miles south of Lisa, Jack Jesse

is closing in on Fairbanks.

You know this heading south on this road

is actually tougher than going north.

Unfortunately, you know, I don't know how it works out.

You start from point A. You go to point B. From B back to A

should be the same elevations, but the hills are just longer

and bigger heading south.

NARRATOR: But one of the biggest southbound challenges

is man-made the steep 6% grade of the Yukon River Bridge.

JACK: That could be an issue today.

There won't be anybody to pull me up that one, so--

NARRATOR: The south end of the bridge

is nearly 100 feet higher than the north end.

With the snow that's been falling all day,

this is one of the most dangerous slopes on the haul

road.

JACK: But an empty tanker, again,

going up these long hills should be a little tough, so--

NARRATOR: A spin out here could launch Jack's truck

off the bridge [crash] and sendhim crashing through the river

ice over 100 feet below.

[crash]

Southbound, Yukon River Bridge.

It can be pretty slick sometimes in the winter.

I remember when they first put this wood decking they got

on this bridge here, it can be pretty slick sometimes

in the winter.

NARRATOR: Jack hits the bridge at close to 55 miles per hour,

counting on momentum to get him across.

JACK: That's kind of strange.

NARRATOR: But almostimmediately, he loses traction.

Oh, there we go spinning already.

Spinning again.

This thing is slick.

Holy [bleep]!

If it weren't for the momentum I had,

I don't think I would make it.

Son of a [bleep].

What the [bleep]?

NARRATOR: Jack downshifts and picks up

some much-needed traction.

Wow!

Be glad to get back on the ice.

Hell, there was more traction there.

And there we go.

Traction.

[chuckle]

Good thing I did hit that at a decent speed.

Trying to hit that thing at a slower speed,

I wouldn't have made it.

NARRATOR: As night falls, Jack forges ahead to Fairbanks

with just 130 miles to go.

JACK: All you need to know is the road's slick right now.

That's all you need to know.

I don't think winter's over quite yet.

You know, we all got spring fever.

And winter is going to bearound for a little bit longer.

Just outside of Deadhorse, Lisa Kelly

wraps up one of her most dangerous runs of the season.

LISA: Yeah, we're still--

I'm still trucking.

We haven't blown up.

NARRATOR: She made it to the end of the haul road

with a load of explosives.

[music playing]

[air escape]

LISA: Yeah, I was just being real careful not to go off

the road with it, not to hit anything, or get rear

ended, or rear end someone.

Yep, didn't blow anything up.

[chuckle]

Oh, I feel old after that trip.

I just aged 10 years after that one.

NARRATOR: But the season isn't over yet.

Tomorrow, Lisa will be gunning again for another load.

LISA: Well, the season has been so crazy this year.

There's no rest for me.

[chuckle]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The next day, Tim and George

are closing in on Fairbanks.

Southbound and down.

GEORGE: Tim's right behind me.

We're going to be headed for Fairbanks here.

We're looking good.

NARRATOR: After 10 trips together--

TIM: Look at that [bleep] man, holy cow!

NARRATOR: --through the season's worst weather--

[bleep].

I couldn't see nothing there.

NARRATOR: --the time is near for the rookie to run solo.

Tim keeps working his way up.

He's doing a great job.

And, uh, I really feel confident in him right now.

I-- I just think he'll be ready to go and get her

done by himself.

TIM: So I'm confident.

If you want me to go alone, I mean, I'll go alone,

no problem, but--

until George kicks me off, I'll stick with that.

He's not going to be up here for much longer.

NARRATOR: George plans on retiring after this season.

GEORGE: I feel very fortunate.

I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

You know, it's time to move on.

TIM: We're really going to miss him.

No doubt about it.

Everybody's uncle, Georgie Spears.

NARRATOR: But George is pushing for at least one more

run up the ice road before cashing in for good.

GEORGE: Yeah, it ain't over yet boys.

We're going to try to go again tomorrow and make

another good trip.

NARRATOR: As Tim and George pull into the Carlile yard,

they complete what could be their last run together

this season.

TIM: George is a great teacher.

I'm just trying to soak up as much knowledge

as I can from him before I go out there on my own.

He's really been good, good to me, good-- good teacher.

I couldn't have learned from anybody better than George

here.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 500 miles north, Alex and Ron

are nearing the end of their latest trial.

ALEX: Well, a dull, nice road showed some of its temperament

today.

We-- we had snow.

We had a little bit of wind.

We had ice.

We had a little bit of everything.

NARRATOR: Alex pulls into Deadhorse

with his 12th load of this season

and high hopes of getting in one last run

before the ice roads all melt away.

ALEX: We're going to try to make it back to Fairbanks

tomorrow, I guess, eh?

If-- if we get out of here early,

we've got a good shot at doing that.

NARRATOR: For the moment, Alex has pulled even again

with rival Hugh Rowland.

And with mere days left on this road,

Jack Jesse is the clear frontrunner.

But for the rest, it's a battle to the bitter end

to see how many loads they can claim on North America's

deadliest ice road.

HUGH: Drop the load, grab one more,

and that's the last one on the season, turn and burn, baby,

turn and burn.

Woo hoo!

[horn]

Ka-ching! Ka-ching!

Dash for the cash.

[horn]

Bet you I made more money than that [bleep]..

We have another complication.

GEORGE: My last winter, and it wants to kick my butt

on the way out the door.

TIM: I knew the road was going to get rough.

But it's rough, a son of a bitch.

LISA: It was kind of scary to discover I didn't have brakes

all of a sudden.

TRUCKER: There is a bear in the way.

And it has the ice road closed.

HUGH: Everything's about as [bleep]

as you can get unless they been in [inaudible]..