Original subtitles

NARRATOR: On the season finale of "Ice Road Truckers--"

This job never stops.

This road never lets up.

NARRATOR: Anything can happen.

Anybody can lose it all.

Everything's about as [bleep] as it can get,

unless everything falls apart.

NARRATOR: And everything imaginable

gets in the way of delivering that final load.

There is a bear in the way,and it has the ice road closed.

It's a hell of a road.

It's a good ride.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: In the last days of this ice road season,

winter is giving way to spring.

And while brutal snowstorms batter drivers

and their trucks, higher temperatures

attack the road itself.

The sun's coming out.

It's staying out longer, and it's

starting to make any ice or snow that's left a whole lot

slicker.

Spent my tires just like that, it's so slick out here.

NARRATOR: The ice roads of the far north

are about to disappear, making ocean crossings

impossible until the next deep freeze.

For now, truckers have just two days

left to squeeze in one last lucrative run.

90 miles north of Fairbanks is Jack Jessee.

Pulling onto the icy surface of the Dalton

with 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Last run.

NARRATOR: Jack's last run willalso be the last ocean crossing

of the season.

We'll actually get to drive this thing across the ocean.

NARRATOR: He's bound for an oil rig

off Alaska's northern coast, and to get there,

he must cross a rapidly melting ice road.

You know, when they hear that Fairbanks is starting to thaw

out a little bit, they all get in a little bit of a panic.

Put their last orders for fuel, or freight, or anything

that they haven't gotten yet.

NARRATOR: One of Carlile's stardrivers, Jack's run the biggest

loads of the year through the harshest winter in memory.

It's almost indescribable how this winter's went.

I can call it rough.

I could call it difficult and challenging,

but until you've driven in this kind of stuff,

it's just really hard to explain.

Driving in it blows.

Couldn't see past the end of the hood.

NARRATOR: Through white outs on the north slope

and avalanches on Atigun Pass, Jack steered his giant rigs

without a wreck.

Other truckers were not so lucky.

The way the winter went, itwas more like Russian roulette.

You never knew who was going to be next.

One, I didn't die.

Two, I made it home every trip.

And three, I made a little money doing it.

NARRATOR: 270 miles up the Dalton,

Lisa Kelly is southbound.

This is my final run of this season of the year,

of the-- whatever-- until next winter.

NARRATOR: She's on a backhaul from Prudhoe Bay,

pulling a trailer of hazardous waste.

NARRATOR: Lisa's second season on the Dalton

has been full of personal achievements.

I had a lot of firsts this year.

First time I've ever lost the road completely.

Crap.

First time I've been through avalanches on the pass.

First time I've seen buzzcocks.

Right there!

That is so cool.

It was my first time on the ocean ice.

We are on the ocean right now.

So intense, dude.

NARRATOR: By safely moving challenging loads all winter,

she's positioned for the biggest first of all.

I think she'd like to be the first heavy haul woman

that we've got here at Carlile.

What she's going to have to prove everyone

is that she's capable of running the haul road safely,

and with challenging loads.

NARRATOR: Now she's just 350 miles from the finish line

in Fairbanks.

So far it's been uneventful, but that

doesn't mean it can't get a whole lot worse really quick.

Dammit.

Oh, man.

[bleep]

Come on, what the [bleep]?

NARRATOR: Suddenly, Lisarealizes her trailer brakes are

shot.

Had nearly got into Prudhoe with this trailer.

I thought it was, like, something small.

It's turning out to get bigger and bigger.

NARRATOR: In Lisa's trailer brake system,

air began leaking out of a pinhole gap in a well.

But because metal expands as it warms up,

the slow leak becomes a torrent as she moves south.

Now she's in danger of losing her brakes completely.

And it could drain all myair completely out of my truck.

And my truck, and my trailer would just lock up,

and it would really suck to beclimbing a hill when everything

decides to just stop and lock.

NARRATOR: Lisa slowly pushes south,

hoping her brakes will hold.

The road never lets up, and I can't let up, you know?

You can't just quit in the middle of it.

I'm done with this road.

I'm taken a plane out of here.

Oh, there are no planes here.

NARRATOR: In the Fairbanksyards of Carlile Transportation,

haul road veteran George Spears begins his last run ever.

It's not only the end of the season, it's the end of me.

I'm done.

[laughter] If somebody told me when I was a kid,

you're going to be spending 35 years in Alaska,

30 years driving trucks up here,I'd have said, you're crazy.

NARRATOR: As many can attest, his 30th winter season

has been one of the toughest.

We had extremely cold weather, then

we had extremely warm weather.

Then we had windy weather, and a lot of snow.

It was just a tough winter all the way around, so--

NARRATOR: When he does walk away,

he'll leave no regrets behind.

I spent all my money on beer and women.

The rest of it I just waste.

NARRATOR: Running in convoy with George

is Alex Debogorski, who's on his 12th load of the season.

Well, here we go.

The last trip of the season.

The last trip this year on the Dalton.

I've got, actually, a real real nice load.

I have an air ride trailer, which is the first air ride

trailer I've got, and it's riding real nice.

I've got three pickups on the back.

A payload of just under 20,000 pounds.

NARRATOR: Air suspension is abig advantage in the final days

of the ice road, when the driving surface is pitted

and potholed.

Well, it's spring.

The trucks pound on the road out, and they keep grading it,

and the trucks keep pounding it out.

NARRATOR: Alex is just half a run behind his rival, Hugh

Rowland.

And he'd like nothing better than to beat the polar bear

at his own game.

Suppose if I could have more loads than Hugh,

that would be good, because it'd irritate him.

NARRATOR: But for now, Alex's pace

is set by lead driver George Spears.

Georgie is not known for being a speed demon.

And he hasn't disappointed us.

He's going as slow as ever.

NARRATOR: And he's leaving the outcome of the race in someone

else's hands.

God.

The Oscar goes to God for writing the script.

It's God writing the script, and man trying to mess it up.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: 50 miles ahead of Alex is Hugh Rowland, heading

southbound to Fairbanks to pick up his 14th load.

If he arrives early enough to score one more run,

he'll almost certainly top Alex in the load count.

In his final days on the Dalton,Hugh is hitting his stride.

[horn]

I've heard about this road since I was a kid.

I never, ever dreamed I'd be here, but I am here.

And I enjoy the [bleep] out of it.

I've met lots of good people, and they treated me like gold.

NARRATOR: Hugh and Alex have overcome the double stigma

of being newcomers and Canadianson the American ice road.

Pretty easy to weed the [bleep] out of this on this

road.

You can weed a [bleep] out real quick on a good road.

Now, me and Alex aren't [bleep].

We've been doing this all our lives.

NARRATOR: The polar bear's finalrun looks like a victory lap.

Until--

[hissing]

I got a brake that fell right off the truck.

NARRATOR: With one brake gone and smoke pouring off

the others, Hugh's season could end here.

I lost the [inaudible].

Everything's about as [bleep] as it can get,

unless everything flies apart.

NARRATOR: Hugh Rowland was closing in on Fairbanks

and hoping to pick up one morerun this season when his brakes

literally went up in smoke.

I got a brake that fell right off the truck.

It just fell right off.

Yeah.

[bleep]

NARRATOR: Hugh and his running partner, Phil [inaudible],,

assess the damage.

- It's smoking up front. - That's nothing.

This is what's wrong here.

NARRATOR: When one of the four brake assemblies dropped off,

it left a huge breach in the air system.

The remaining brakes locked, and quickly overheated.

Brake can fell off of Hugh's truck there.

This time of year the road's getting rough, and vibrating

things.

It's unfortunate we didn't catch it before it

had come completely off.

It's an old truck, and it just rotted off.

That's all that happened.

Broke right off.

NARRATOR: With his truck in lockdown,

Hugh is going nowhere.

His season ends here, unless he can somehow patch together

the brake system.

140 miles up the Dalton is Alex Debogorski,

and now that Hugh has broken down,

he might finally have a chance to take the lead.

If only he wasn't following the most cautious driver

on the Dalton, George Spears.

He says he's never broke anybody's windshield

with a rock, because at the speed he's going,

the rocks don't even leave the ground.

NARRATOR: And George is even slower than usual, due

to the deep potholes in the decaying road.

Good way to break your front springs.

Break your shocks, or something.

Oh, there's another one.

[horn]

I'm really excited.

George just got up to 30 miles an hour.

Springtime in Alaska.

You're going to have potholes.

We got passed by two gophers back there.

They didn't seem to be too worried about the potholes.

They probably made 'em.

It's pretty daggone rough.

We're going to have to go slow.

That's all there is to it.

Oh, goodness grief.

NARRATOR: Back in Fairbanks, TimFreeman looks up the final load

of his rookie season.

On his first 10 runs, he was guided by his mentor, George

Spears.

For this trip, management hasfinally cleared him to go solo.

I believe Tim is ready to go out there by himself.

We're going to have to watch him.

The haul road is a very dangerous place to be.

The thought of me driving theDalton highway before I went up

there scared the [bleep] out of me, to be honest with you.

My first trip, my second trip, and my third trip

were just about as bad as I envisioned that.

NARRATOR: On his first run--

This sucks!

I know it.

NARRATOR: He was forced to turnback with mechanical trouble

before he even reached the ice road.

His next trip took him straight into a whiteout

on one of the most treacherous stretches of road

in North America.

Holy [bleep].

NARRATOR: With his third load, his truck broke down again,

and was burglarized.

Some [bleep] weed stole the tire chains off my truck.

NARRATOR: But he toughed out the rough stretches

until he finally hit his stride.

I made it up there, kept her out of the ditch.

Didn't get stuck in too many bad storms, so yeah,

it was a good season.

I think I did good up there.

This is something I've been looking forward

to since I started at Carlile.

NARRATOR: His first solo run is also his first major load.

[horn]

50 foot lengths of oversized pipe, totaling 45,000 pounds.

Headed due north to Prudhoe Bay.

We're nearing a town.

For the first 260 miles, it's one steep grade after another.

Windy, curvy.

You need to learn the road before you're sent out here

by yourself.

NARRATOR: The road is scarcelyrecognizable from earlier runs.

It's become an obstacle course of mud, frost heaves,

and deep potholes.

I knew the road was going to get rough,

but I didn't think it was goingto get as rough as it really

did.

It's rough as [bleep].

NARRATOR: Just 70 miles north is Hugh Rowland and Phil

[inaudible].

Trying to patch together Hugh's brakes for the run

back to Fairbanks.

You're knocking dirt in my ear.

Oh, sorry.

Wanting to break up.

It's not gonna.

NARRATOR: They strip off parts of the damaged brake.

There.

I got it.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Using an old bungie, Phil

secures what's left of the brake to the undercarriage

of the truck.

With the broken line sealed off, the system

might hold air long enough to get Hugh back to Fairbanks.

I'll see if I can get air.

We're building air pressure.

Yeah, we're good.

NARRATOR: Hugh and Phil havemanaged to bring the truck back

from the dead.

All right, let's try and get this operation to town.

Yeah.

We'd better get going.

That's why they call us the dream team.

Well that's part of the reason.

NARRATOR: Hugh's hoping to pickup one last run this season,

but for now he's fortunate to have avoided disaster.

We'd have ended up [bleep] everything when it came flying

apart. We'd have had a wreck.

First off, I'd have run right out of air immediately,

and then everything would have locked up,

and we'd have been over the bank.

NARRATOR: 240 miles up the Dalton, going southbound, Lisa

Kelly powers over the top of Atigun Pass.

On the descent, she faces a series of steep, sharp turns,

with no trailer brakes.

Switcback in for a mountain pass, and gotta

be careful on it, because it's real tight.

It was kind of scary to discoverI didn't have brakees all

of a sudden, and I didn't know what to do about it.

When you just can't get a stop fast enough.

NARRATOR: She still has truck brakes,

but she could quickly burn through them trying to stop

both tractor and trailer.

So I'm just going to drive where I don't need my brakes.

NARRATOR: Lisa attempts to make the downhill run

without touching her brake pedal.

We have the Jake brake, and we can

downshift to help slow us down.

So I'm not completely without, but I

don't want to be going so fast that I need to stop suddenly.

I'll just drive real slow.

Try not to come up on anything too fast,

where I'd have to use my brakes.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Coming at you there, Lisa.

What's coming at me?

[horn] Whoa!

Holy crap.

NARRATOR: Nursing the gear shift and the Jake,

Lisa makes it safely to the bottom of the pass

without touching her brakes once.

I mean, if you're using your brakes all the time,

you're probably going too fast.

NARRATOR: But with 250 miles left to go,

Lisa is a long way from being home free.

I'm not there until I'm pulling in the yard.

NARRATOR: With less than two days left in the season,

Lisa Kelly nurses a damagedtruck down a decaying ice road.

That's a really scary feeling, when you just

can't get stopped fast enough.

NARRATOR: She's 240 miles from Fairbanks,

and her trailer brakes are gone.

Lisa is afraid to risk it any further.

Hey, [inaudible],, you got a copy there?

NARRATOR: A familiar voice responds to her radio call.

Way to go, Lisa.

NARRATOR: Tim Freeman pulls into Coldfoot

to help Lisa with her brakes.

Where are they coming from?

Right here.

Oh.

Can we-- I have a plug that we could just thread in the end,

maybe?

OK.

Toss it in here.

NARRATOR: With a rubber plug and some Teflon tape,

Tim tries to stop the leak in Lisa's brake line.

Now I'm gonna be your cheerleader.

Go, Tim!

Go, Tim!

Go, go!

OK, go-- go charge your trailer.

LISA: OK.

Don't let it shoot you in the forehead.

Are you ready for the test?

NARRATOR: Lisa charges up the system.

And the air tank on the trailer holds.

Lisa, you [inaudible] big time.

- Why? - Why?

What do you mean, why?

Because I'm sitting on my ass in mud, probably is why.

Why?

Thanks.

I was gonna give you a nice, warm, friendly you're welcome.

Thanks for doing that, though.

No problem.

It was awesome.

Appreciate it.

It's actually kind of a goodending to the season, you know?

I mean, it kind of sucks that we're, like, all breaking down

and stuff, but it's cool thatwe can all help each other out.

Keep on truckin'.

LISA: All righty.

We're going to make it back.

Bungee cords, and duct tape, and all.

NARRATOR: 300 miles south--

You always get your load back.

NARRATOR: Running with his own jerry-rigged brake system,

Hugh Rowland pulls into the Carlile yard in Fairbanks.

Got her fixed up, and haywiredup, and we made her to town.

Got the load delivered, anyway.

These good guys in the shop here are

going to work on her tonight, and try and get her out

tomorrow, and we'll make that last load.

NARRATOR: If he can sneak in one last run,

he'll secure his win against Alex

and come in first among all road rookies.

But he can't get back on the road

until his mangled brakes are rebuilt.

How long can it take?

These guys could have itdone in a couple hours tonight,

or they could have it done in half a day tomorrow.

Or we might have to order parts from Kentucky.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, 160 miles up the ice road--

Alex will be lucky to just pull even with Hugh

in the dash for the cash.

We could have people die of old age on this trip.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: Until George lets him take the lead.

He's letting me lead because he figures I can do the job.

Just makes me really excited.

Proud.

I've got her.

That'll be my opportunity to get out of the dust,

and get to show George some dust.

NARRATOR: Back in Fairbanks, Lisa Kelly

pulls across the finish line with a big sigh of relief.

Last load of the season.

Going home.

Going to play all summer, and get back to work next winter.

Yay!

I love this part.

NARRATOR: All winter long, she'sdefied the stereotypes of being

a woman driver, and a lightweight freight

hauler by carrying the most challenging loads

of the season.

I would like to do more big stuff.

So that way, people can't make fun of me.

NARRATOR: To top it all off--

I am on the ocean ice.

Kinda feel the waves.

NARRATOR: She navigated the frozen Arctic Ocean

for the first time in her career.

This was a big season for me.

I'm glad I survived it.

It's over.

Going home.

NARRATOR: Lisa ends her second ice road season with 15 loads

in the books, and one of the strongest showings of any ice

road trucker this year.

I am really proud of myself this year.

For all the accidents there's been,

and all the storms there's been, I've survived it.

I made it through.

Kept it on the road.

Didn't crash anything.

Stuff broke, but I fixed it.

I made it.

I'm alive.

NARRATOR: 170 miles up the road in Coldfoot,

it's the final day of the season.

And Jack Jessee is fueling up for the long haul ahead.

They're gonna take us out on the sea ice, about 75 miles.

There's an island out there.

This is where they need thisfuel, before the sea ice breaks

up.

NARRATOR: After the top layer of the Dalton melted

during the day, it iced over again last night.

Man, it is slick out here.

Heading north out of Coldfoot.

The last time for a while.

Northbound, Atigun Pass.

NARRATOR: Jack begins his last trip

up Atigun Pass, where conditionsare the slickest of the season.

We're really on the slick side right now.

Light dusting happened last night.

Going around a lot of these curves,

I have to actually slow down before I get to them,

because you know, you turn could the wheel,

and nothing will happen.

And that's not a very fun feeling.

You gotta do everything nice and slow, and smooth.

Nothing fast, nothing jerky.

It can be pretty mean up here.

NARRATOR: Jack navigates histanker through the switchbacks.

Come on.

I'm almost to the top.

NARRATOR: And safely over the pass.

His last run of the season is trouble free--

so far.

As the sun climbs in the morning sky,

the ice road season reaches the point of no return.

Up in Dead Horse, Alex Debogorski already

has the finish line in sight.

No kidding, we made it to Prudhoe.

Yes, sir, this is Dead Horse.

We're just coming in.

Dead Horse Camp.

Could put us back on the chase with Huey.

NARRATOR: As Alex pulls in with his 13th run,

he ties Hugh in the load count.

But win or lose, he's managedto finish a tough rookie season

in Alaska--

a huge accomplishment after serious heart trouble

cut his last season short.

I am worried.

You have-- your heart going sofast, your shortness of breath,

and the blood that you've been coughing up--

[coughing]

The doctor says I'm not supposed

to back to work driving.

As far as I know, my heart's still beating properly,

and I'm not sure what the futureholds for Alex Debogorski.

I mean-- I'm not into reading tea leaves.

I'm working at this one day at a time.

I'll let God do the planning, and I'll just sort of

follow in the wake.

NARRATOR: Back in Fairbanks,mechanics have worked all night

rebuilding Hugh's brakes.

We lost the brake part in [inaudible],,

and all the airlines, and everything were gone.

But them boys in the shop there,they got out here last night,

and got her [bleep] fixed right up for this morning.

So we're ready to rock and roll.

Gonna go find my load.

NARRATOR: At the final hour, Hugh

scores one last load of the season,

thanks to his mechanics.

Them guys in the shop did a hell of a good job on them

brakes [inaudible].

Feels like a million bucks.

Just like a brand new [bleep] brake system.

NARRATOR: But as Hugh merges onto the ice,

it's clear that the conditions of the road

will make his last run one of the toughest.

It's getting rough, and muddy, and [bleep]..

Blech!

NARRATOR: Up in Dead Horse, the next driver

to pull into the yard is George Spears.

We made to Prudhoe Bay.

NARRATOR: After 30 years on the ice,

George delivers his very last load before finally calling

it quits.

Though his fellow drivers aren't so sure.

George, you've been thinking about quitting now

for the last 20 years, that I know of.

But I don't think you could run him away

from this job with a big stick.

And it'd be a damn big one, too.

But I don't know--

he seems pretty adamant aboutit right now, but I don't know.

Once you get truck driving in your blood,

it's hard to get it out.

NARRATOR: On his return trip to Fairbanks,

the old adrenaline junkie is already feeling withdrawals.

It's hard to quit this deal cold turkey.

I've been doing this for 30 years.

You'd miss the adventure.

I had a friend of mine me a long time ago,

veterans seek out something likethis that's right on the edge.

This is a dangerous occupation,and I'll miss that part of it.

But I am really glad this season is over,

and now it's time to go home.

NARRATOR: While George heads south,

his rookie protege, Tim Freeman,prepares to make his first solo

run over 4,700 foot Atigun Pass.

How's that pass look there, southbound?

All righty.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: This time, Tim will need to make his own decision

on whether or not to chain up.

I've had three guys in a row that all told me

it was good to go.

So we're going to give her a shot.

Northbound on the pass.

Northbound, Atigun Pass.

NARRATOR: He decides to run the pass barefoot,

or without chains.

I'd rather spin out going up than slide

down, because you know, you spin out going up,

you're at least stopped for a second.

You're going down, and you start sliding,

there ain't no stopping.

It's a long way to the bottom of this here hill.

NARRATOR: Tim has no trouble making the climb.

But on the way down, conditions are much worse.

Black ice down here at the bottom, so be careful.

NARRATOR: Black ice is nearly invisible.

If Tim hits it without chains, he could go over the cliff.

Black ice.

Watch the black ice on the switchback.

NARRATOR: Dodging the ice patches--

he finally hits the north slope,and the home stretch of a very

respectable rookie season.

90 miles left on my first solo run.

Holy [bleep].

NARRATOR: 90 miles north, Jack Jessee pulls into Dead Horse.

Well, we're here.

Let's go find out my further instructions.

Hey, Chuck.

Jackson.

NARRATOR: Jack is booked to go even further north, to Point

Thomson--

an island in the Beaufort Sea.

But the ice road has one more obstacle to throw at him.

Let's go to Point Thomson.

Where am I going?

I can't-- what do you mean, I can't go?

Why? - There's a bear on the road.

- There's a bear on the road? - Polar bear.

A polar bear on the road?

Say, can you imagine that?

A polar bear out on the ice?

On the sea ice.

Supposedly, it's a den.

Oh, there's a den?

A polar bear den?

Yeah.

The bears came out of the den today

and started roaming around.

And that means you shut down the road.

Had a lot of delays this year.

Weather.

Equipment.

Why not wait on a bear?

NARRATOR: But the ice road closes within hours,

and if it's not bear free soon, Jack will never

deliver his last load.

The final hours of the ice road season.

Most drivers have delivered their loads

and called it a year.

Only a few diehards are still battling it out, including

Jack Jessee and Hugh Rowland.

Hugh stands to come in first among all rookie drivers

if he delivers his 14th load to Dead Horse.

Looks like I'm gonna win the dash for the cash

again this year.

NARRATOR: But suddenly--

[horn]

He hits a huge traffic jam.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Pretty much a standstill here.

Holy [bleep]!

Holy [bleep].

A couple of trucks tried to get through there

and got stuck, so now we've got the road all blocked up

with 14 wides.

NARRATOR: The convoy ahead tried to drift slam,

busting their way through snow that had piled up

across the road.

But they spun out and wound up sideways across the road,

blocking both lanes of traffic.

It's a bad drift spot that we've

been dealing with all year, and now it's springtime.

So the snow is all wet and heavy.

Now here we're sitting for an hour.

Everybody.

NARRATOR: While the man they call the polar bear sits idle,

real polar bears are blocking the ocean road

in front of Jack Jessee.

Well, it's kind of poetic, with the season ending

on a bear.

Everything else has slown me down.

Why not a bear?

NARRATOR: But just as he's ready to abandon his trailer--

MAN [ON RADIO]: Hey, Jack, looks like they cleared off.

You're good to go.

All right, good deal.

NARRATOR: He gets word that thebears have moved off the ice

road.

It's now or never.

Let's get moving.

75 or 80 miles on the sea ice to get out to this island

I've got to go to.

That's going to end up taking a while.

You know, how often do you get to drive on the ocean?

NARRATOR: Jack is headed to oneof the most remote settlements

in the world--

Point Thomson, a tiny island offthe coast of the Beaufort Sea.

MAN [ON RADIO]: Where you headed, Jack?

I've got to go to Point Thomson out here today.

I know.

I know it is.

I'm more worried a whale will come up and eat me.

Yeah.

I don't think they're gentle.

NARRATOR: With spring arriving, the ice road

is at its thinnest and most dangerous point this season.

The ice bends and buckles underthe weight of jack's 50,000

pound load.

70 nerve-wracking miles over the frozen arctic sea.

Jack pushes into the unknown.

You could easily die out there.

Can't get anybody on the radios.

What do you do, you know?

NARRATOR: Back in Dead Horse--

Here we are.

We made her.

NARRATOR: Tim Freeman pulls into the Carlile yard,

completing his first solo run.

I just needed to prove to myself that I could do it.

NARRATOR: He started this seasonas the kid from Minnesota.

Now he's left the Lower 48 in the rear view.

Alaska's my home now.

Fairbanks is my home now.

I'm proud of my accomplishments this year.

I didn't have too many big problems.

Kept her out of the ditch.

Stayed off my roof.

Made a little money.

Get a lot of future in front of me.

Let's see what happens.

[horn]

NARRATOR: 30 miles south--

after nearly two hours, the Dalton is finally clear.

Right on.

NARRATOR: And Hugh hits the home stretch

to complete his final run.

[horn]

Next stop, Prudhoe Bay.

NARRATOR: The polar bear came to the Dalton as an outsider.

Yee-haw!

Fairbanks, Alaska.

NARRATOR: With a reputation for being a loose cannon.

Get back!

NARRATOR: But at the end of his first season,

he's gained respect for his ability to conquer

North America's deadliest road.

Good working with you this winter.

Enjoyed the [bleep] out of it.Thanks for having me.

You betcha.

Had a lot of fun.

Inaugurated into the Dalton gang.

Mission accomplished.

We made it!

I'm officially a member of the Dalton gang.

Dalton Highway gang.

Honorary member.

So I'm pretty honored, and pretty proud of that.

When the ice is gone, it's timefor the polar bear to go home.

NARRATOR: 60 miles to the northeast,

all ice road truckers have cashed it in for this season--

except for one.

Jack Jessee forges ahead over the ocean,

hauling a 50,000 pound big rig over a few inches

of melting ice.

It can get a little iffy.

It'll make your heart skip a little faster.

Beat a little faster.

I think we're going to be OK, but I'm

gonna need to keep my fingers crossed on this one, too.

NARRATOR: Until finally, he reaches his destination--

a remote island in the middle of the Beaufort Sea.

Well, we're here.

NARRATOR: He pumps out 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel

and calls it a. seaso.

Well, this winter season is finally over.

Need to get a couple week vacation going on,

is what I need now.

NARRATOR: In the final standings,

Jack Jessee tops out with 20loads, the most runs of any ice

road trucker this season.

And once again, Hugh Rowland has managed

to beat out his Canadian rival, Alex Debogorski.

Only this time, it was on American soil.

[inaudible].

On the Dalton highway.

That was a lot of fun.

Maybe we'll get to come back again some time.

That's right.

To being alive.

Yep.

And never even had an incident.

No incidents.

No incidents, yeah.

[inaudible] not an incident?

[laughter]

NARRATOR: But next year, when temperatures drop below zero,

and the Arctic falls back into a deep freeze, the north

slope of Alaska will be transformed again

by roads made of ice.

And truckers will return for one more adventure

at the top of the world.

We've got a name for the last frontier up here.

It's called the haul road.

Yee-haw!