Original subtitles

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Ice Road Truckers"--

Should have turned around when we had the chance.

NARRATOR: The worst storm of the season pounds the Dalton.

Mother Nature, kicking her butt.

NARRATOR: Bringing Dave to the breaking point.

DAVE REDMON: What in the hell have I gotten myself into now?

NARRATOR: And sending Lisa--

LISA KELLY: Can you see anything at all?

NARRATOR: Into danger.

While Rick and Hugh--

I got a freaking [inaudible].

NARRATOR: Find trouble at every turn.

We're locked!

[theme music]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 5:00 AM at theCarlile truck yard in Fairbanks.

Crap.

It's so deep out here.

NARRATOR: Lisa Kelly is digging her way out

of yesterday's blizzard.

Got a pickup truck and some steel going to Prudhoe.

[inaudible]

[music playing]

LISA KELLY: For crying out loud.

Geeze.

What's happening?

Holy crap.

I think there's too much snow orsomething [inaudible] my truck.

There.

There.

It made noise this time.

NARRATOR: Lisa locks her trailer in place.

But hauling a 10 ton pickup isn't the kind of challenge

she was hoping for.

Why the heck am I hooked to a pickup truck?

I'm a heavy hauler now.

NARRATOR: 10 days ago--

WORKER: Stop, stop, stop.

[bleep].

NARRATOR: A rookie mistake cost Lisa her chance

to join the heavy haul team.

Heavy haul is not for everybody.

NARRATOR: Now, she'll have to earn her way back,

one light load at a time.

LISA KELLY: [inaudible] I freaking have it

and I still don't have it.

Who would have figured heavy hauler would be harder

to get into than the movies?

[music playing]

RADIO: From the Department of Transportation warning--

blowing snow, low visibility up on the haul road.

LISA KELLY: Now we're going to go play in the snow today.

It's going to be fun.

NARRATOR: 300 miles north--

RADIO: Wind chill factor is up to the 60 below mark.

If you're out there on the road, you guys,

keep it between the lines and we'll

see you when you get home.

This is just ridiculous.

NARRATOR: Nasty weather is the last thing Dave Redmon wants

to see.

DAVE REDMON: Just got to get this trailer up.

I mean, they've been on my ass.

It's just been a real thorn in my butt.

And now we've just got to make the call.

You know, just go get it.

NARRATOR: Yesterday--

Dropping this trailer so we can head back to Coldfoot.

NARRATOR: The massive blizzard forced

Dave to abandon his load of pipe on the side of the road.

Just making no sense to stay.

And it's just steadily going downhill quick.

NARRATOR: Now, he's determined to retrieve the trailer

and finish the run.

DAVE REDMON: You know, the weather, it's just the wind is

blowing so bad, it's drifting.

The road is shut.

NARRATOR: But with another storm on the way,

it's not going to be easy.

DAVE REDMON: Yeah.

I'm trying to bobtail back down to my trailer.

But we've got no heat in here, because we're not generating

any engine heat.

We had to stop here on the side of the road.

We got no heat.

NARRATOR: Driving a big rig with no heat at 50 below

isn't just miserable.

It's dangerous.

[music playing]

Just going to make sure thehot water valves are turned on.

So I have to plug this hole up, just to get some heat.

NARRATOR: Freezing wind blowing on the radiator

makes the in-cab heating system all but worthless.

Yeah.

I'm improvising big time, actually.

That's got too many holes in it.

Just trying to block some of this air,

so I can get some heat built up.

And this tape might not even hold in this minus 50.

This ain't [bleep] gonna work.

It ain't going to work.

Just going to have to deal with it.

NARRATOR: With no way to trap the heat,

Dave continues the long, cold ride into the storm.

DAVE REDMON: And if we get stuck somewhere,

we could be in trouble.

I guess the bad stuff's fixing to come.

I don't know.

It's not looking really good.

All we can do is just keep plugging forward.

NARRATOR: 2,600 miles east--

Hugh Rowland and Rick Yemm have hustled up another load.

Hey. How's it going?

Hey, not bad.

You, guy?

Yeah.

[bleep]

NARRATOR: Last week, their trailers took a beating.

And they're not welcome back at First Nations Transport.

What I can't figure out is, you

and Rick come back with two broken trailers.

You know, what's the problem?

That's the way it goes down, man.

I'm finished with you guys.

I don't need you coming here and wrecking everything.

Adios.

HUGH ROWLAND: [bleep] you.

NARRATOR: Now, they're counting on Polar Industries

to keep the paychecks coming.

In this load, we have fuel tanks for Muskrat Dam.

OK.

They're going to freeze to death.

So it's kind of important that those guys get there pretty

early and as soon as they can.

But be careful.

Because those roads are really rough.

NARRATOR: The 400 mile trail to Muskrat Dam

runs into Ontario province, making

it one of the most isolated winter roads in Canada.

One more thing I have to mention--

there's no cell phone coverage.

So you guys are going to be outthere for two days, with no way

how to communicate with civilization.

So just be cautious.

NARRATOR: But Hugh and Rick can't afford to be picky.

Are you coming too?

Nope.

What'd it do, scare you last time?

[laughter]

Nobody wants to run with you.

[laughter]

Well, I got an envirotank they call this, an envirotank.

It's a storage tank for thefuel up in the Indian reserve up

at Muskrat Dam.

They keep running out of dieselfuel and gasoline up there.

It's not really the price of the load.

It's more of the case of what the load actually is.

This is fuel for them for the year.

So the more tanks they get, the bigger the tank farm gets,

the more fuel they canstockpile for the whole season.

So it's a lot more than just the cost of a tank.

Well, let's hit the road here.

[music playing]

Another big run, big cash.

There's no signs where we're going.

We've got to do it all by map.

So I hope like [bleep] we don't get lost.

Every single run's been to a different [bleep] place.

We haven't gotten any type of a break on oh, yeah, OK,

I know this corner's coming up.

I know that straightaway's there.

Here we are, blind again.

We do these kind of crazy jobs.

And we're kind of used to the fact that there's no 911.

Well, I guess you can call him 9 and me 11,

because that's the only two things that will [bleep] help

us out here.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: On the Canadian winter roads,

Alex Debogorski is looking for his next paycheck.

Working here at St. Theresa's Point.

I had a fellow approach me.

He's got a construction company.

He wants his pickup hauled back to a shop.

NARRATOR: Hauling a pickup truck from Saint Theresa back

to Winnipeg should be an easy day's work.

But the last 10 miles into town will take Alex

across the thinning ice of a 75 foot deep lake.

Hey, shiny.

It was windy the last couple days.

So that wind is polishing the ice.

My friend, he did this all his life, [inaudible] trucking.

He had a heavy load in the springtime.

Probably March.

And he got out there and he started having water coming

through the ice.

As he was driving, water was shooting up in the air.

He knew he was screwed.

You can't stop. You can't turn around.

There's nothing you can do. You just have to keep going.

He says he just pulled her out of gear, opened the door,

stepped out.

He took about six steps.

He looked over his shoulder and he said all he saw

was a whole sheet of ice tipped up like a big door.

And he said, the whole load just sort of slid off.

He just saw the end of the truck.

And then the truck disappeared.

And the ice just came back down again.

And then it went in 100 feet of water.

So it all fell to the bottom.

NARRATOR: With the lake behind him,

Alex pulls into the village of St. Theresa Point.

In the bush, equipment is limited.

They'll have to use a front end loader to lift the pickup

onto the flatbed.

You lift the front end upand put the wheels on the deck.

I expect it'll work.

I'm sure they've done this a few times before.

Looks good.

Good enough.

You do what you gotta do.

NARRATOR: With the pickup strapped down,

Alex heads back to Winnipeg.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: It's a load.

It helps me to beat Hugh and Rick in the load count.

And that's almost as good as getting paid.

Maybe even better.

Especially if it's the one load that puts me over.

NARRATOR: Back in Fairbanks--

You know, this wind's going to blow me away.

Holy [bleep].

NARRATOR: Rookie Maya Sieber reports for duty.

Today I'm going to meet with Lane.

I'm here at Carlile.

And we're going to talk about my training process

and how it's been going.

NARRATOR: Yesterday--

It looks like staring into a white wall.

NARRATOR: Maya drove into the heart of a blinding snowstorm

to deliver an urgent load of pipe.

MAYA SIEBER: I feel like I'm ready to move on.

I feel like I'm ready to finally get my own truck.

I got some good news for you, and some bad news.

OK.

I talked to Phil.

That he thinks you're ready.

As far as the bad news is just simply

that it's a different truck.

It's not going to be a W900.

Oh, come on.

So all the training that you did in that truck

with that big power and that transmission is going

to be start over a little bit.

Understandable.

I've been through that before.

And it'll certainly get you through the first season here.

Cool. I'm excited.

Thank you. - Good.

OK.

So the truck is 1301--

NARRATOR: After just two solo runs--

OK. Great.

Thank you. - OK.

All right. Thanks, Maya.

See you later.

NARRATOR: Her gutsy performance in the storm

has earned Maya her own rig.

I've been really anticipating getting my own truck.

And that's getting back to trucking normally,

and that's trucking alone.

NARRATOR: Out in the truck yard,shop manager Gary McConnell

gets to work on Maya's new rig.

Oh, man.

She's dead.

She ain't gonna go.

NARRATOR: After months of sitting--

She won't even hit.

NARRATOR: The truck's batteries are dead.

Just going to have to put the chain through it

and tow it to the shop, I guess.

[music playing]

Hooking chain on the bumper here.

Well, we're going to be putting this new Ford EcoBoost

to the test.

We'll see how she goes.

It's a lot of weight for the truck.

All right.

Get fired up here.

Ready. Here we go.

Give it a shot.

Come on.

All right.

We got it.

Anyway, looks like we got it done.

Take that truck into the shop there.

We'll put a new set of batteries in it.

All right.

That's how we do it.

NARRATOR: 150 miles up the road--

[music playing]

It's snowy out, so we need to go slowly out.

Because otherwise we're going to be dusted out.

I'm a poet.

NARRATOR: Lisa Kelly is hauling a 10 ton pickup

into the gathering storm.

Blowing from the west again.

It's the way the bad storms come from.

Been a big westward storm.

Oh.

That's nice.

NARRATOR: The tarp that protectsthe windshield has come loose.

Damnit.

Didn't even try to stay.

Ahh.

NARRATOR: The last thing Lisa wants to deliver

is a damaged load when she's hoping to regain the boss's

confidence.

LISA KELLY: You ain't gonna come loose this time.

It's hard to get a good [inaudible] on your door

when you've got your toes hanging off

four feet above the ground.

Whoa.

I'm going to fall off of here.

Truck's OK.

It's very, very challenging today.

There we go.

NARRATOR: 75 miles east of Winnipeg--

Now we're on, just rolling into Pickle Lake here.

Told us we got to fuel up here, because there's nothing

for the rest of the way in.

NARRATOR: But as Rick fuels up, he notices a problem.

RICK YEMM: [inaudible].

What's wrong?

I'm screwed.

We've got to figure out a way to get that [bleep] saddle

tank fixed now.

Did you talk to this guy in that--

Well, he just said, if yougot a three inch ratchet strap,

we can ratchet strap it up.

This strap on Rick's tank broke from the rough roads.

NARRATOR: After burning the bridge with one company,

the last thing Rick needs is a reputation for not finishing

the job.

I'm just going to put a ratchet strap on it

and hope it does the trick here.

You've got it through theframe there, or on both of them

or-- RICK YEMM: Come on.

[bleep] stinks.

We had to get a winch strap and winch it up tight.

He's going to have to keep checking that now.

We don't want that tank to fall off.

It's full of diesel.

Well, I'd have to run in with one tank.

And I don't have enough fuel to make it out, well,

then I'm stuck.

NARRATOR: With more than 300 miles left to go

and his truck held together by a thin nylon strap,

Rick rolls back into the wilderness.

[music playing]

Might as well jury rig it up, get the load in.

This is what we're all about.

You don't call the Carlile mechanics.

I've got a problem.

You got to figure out a way yourself and that's it.

If it gets any worse, well, I can't lose that fuel tank.

But in the same hand, it's--

why not live your life on the edge a little bit?

NARRATOR: If the 1,400 pound tank rattles loose,

it could mean disaster on the road.

But Rick's willing to take his chances.

When I'm going this way, I'm making money.

When I'm going that way, I'm not.

So I got a freaking ratchet strap holding my fuel tank on.

But you can't predict what's going to happen in the bush.

NARRATOR: Back in Fairbanks--

This wind really sucks right now.

NARRATOR: Maya's new truck is ready to roll.

So I got to find truck 1301.

Oh, this is 1301.

How cute.

Look how small it is.

Oh, wow.

There is over a million miles on here.

Oh, I definitely got [inaudible]for this I can put in here.

This is an old--

look at the size of--

I've never seen anything that small.

It's like half the size of a twin mattress.

I didn't even know that was, like, possible.

Well, this is definitely not an 18, nor a 13 speed.

It's a split 10 speed.

But that's OK.

You gotta start somewhere.

I have to prove myself before they put me

in a $100,000 truck.

This is going to be another challenge, that's all.

NARRATOR: While Maya settles into her new ride, up north--

I got to get this [bleep] thing slowed down.

NARRATOR: Dave is nearing his abandoned trailer.

DAVE REDMON: The wind out here is blowing 50 miles an hour.

It's just got the road blowed shut.

NARRATOR: But the Arctic blizzard has traffic backed up

for miles.

Can't move ahead 20 [bleep] minutes without something

happening.

NARRATOR: Five miles ahead, the storm

has wreaked havoc on the road.

We've got 50, 60 knot gusts.

Can't get out of here.

You don't know where the edge of the road is.

NARRATOR: The DOT crew struggles through the chaos.

Doing what we can with it.

You can't see 20 feet in front of you today.

NARRATOR: But the damage is already done.

Basically, we're trying to-- we got a couple of trucks up

in the ditch.

We've got about six or eight foot high drifts in the road.

WORKER: Mother Nature, kicking our butt.

NARRATOR: Five miles south, Dave's frozen in his tracks.

DAVE REDMON: A snow plow just went by.

Now he's got to drive 20 miles back the other way

to get the snow blower and drive up here.

That'll take two hours, just for him to get back here.

Problem after problem after problem.

NARRATOR: As the storm rages on, Dave settles in

for a long, cold wait.

DAVE REDMON: We're an hour away from shelter.

We're going to die slow, cold and alone.

I wish I was back in Alabama right now.

NARRATOR: Halfway up the haul road--

Can you see anything at all?

NARRATOR: Lisa Kelly fightsthrough the heart of the storm.

These delineators ain't exactly reflecting right now

with all the snow built up on them.

There is no color.

They're just white.

Whoa.

When it's so bad that I can't see the road, I just don't--

I just try to stay right in the middle.

I don't want to try to figure out where the edges are.

I don't know what's coming upthe hill because I can't really

see.

[music playing]

Whoa.

NARRATOR: While Lisa pushes on, back in Fairbanks,

the blinding snowstorm has stopped traffic,

giving Maya chance to gear up her new truck.

I'm looking for a bad ass knife.

OK.

I don't leave my house withouta knife or a can of mace in New

York.

So it's no different up here.

And if somebody ever tried to grab me,

they're getting kicked.

They're getting sprayed.

And they're getting stabbed.

I need something that's really sharp, in case I have

to stab a bear or something.

I don't know.

This is a [inaudible].

It's spring assist.

You've got the combination blade.

MAYA SIEBER: Oh.

I like that.

Yeah.

I like that.

OK.

Yeah.

I'll take this one.

Gonna need one of those to skin a moose.

I protect myself with a knife and some pepper spray,

and a huge attitude.

NARRATOR: 300 miles up the road--

Freezing our [bleep] ass off.

NARRATOR: After four, cold, miserable hours,

the DOT has cleared a path fora traffic to keep moving north.

DAVE REDMON: And we got this big, gigantic snow blower

up here, clearing the road for us,

basically just to make us a path to get us through.

We're just creeping along in first gear.

Gotta keep going forward.

It's just not a good idea to drive if you don't have to.

It's better to sit and wait it out.

We're stuck in the middle of it right now.

Now we've got zero [bleep] visibility right here.

Everything is just blowing right in front of me.

What in the hell have I gotten myself into now?

You know, we went and made a stupid [bleep] mistake,

came down here to get in it.

We shouldn't have.

We should have turned around when we had the chance.

We're absolutely in zero visibility.

NARRATOR: Finally, through the whiteout--

DAVE REDMON: Yeah, baby.

NARRATOR: Dave spots his pipe load.

Finally made it to this load of pipe.

Geeze.

I thought we'd never get this damn thing picked back up.

We won't play around here much.

We gotta get our asses a-movin'.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: With his load recovered,

Dave heads back into the storm.

Gotta focus.

Got to focus.

NARRATOR: And blindly steers his rig the final miles

to Prudhoe Bay.

I'm not going to [bleep] this up.

NARRATOR: After two, long cold days,

Dave Redmon finishes his job.

Oh, yeah, I made it, finally.

I'll drop this trailer, turn in my paperwork.

But we got here.

And that's all that matters.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 150 miles northeast of Winnipeg--

It's slicker than snot on a chicken's lip

around these corners, isn't it?

RADIO: Right.

NARRATOR: As Hugh leads the way, Rick lags behind,

nursing his loose fuel tank over the relentless bumps.

Got a wounded soldier in my truck here, so.

Got the tank strapped up, but Ican't really give her too much.

You're going five rounds with Mike Tyson every time

you roll in here.

NARRATOR: But 10 miles ahead--

HUGH ROWLAND: Took the wrong turn here.

Looks like we're not the only ones that did this.

Is there no road out there?

I mean, what's our bearing this way?

Is that the northwest?

Well, that's east.

That's east.

North, west.

HUGH ROWLAND: Well, it's got tobe back over there, somewhere,

but I don't even see.

I don't see any marker.

Nothing.

And this road doesn't even go anywhere, does it?

We're at the end of it. - Right.

Well, we'll have to turn around, regardless.

This ain't it. So.

NARRATOR: The road they thoughtwould lead to Muskrat Dam

has hit a dead end.

We're in the wrong place.

This isn't it.

NARRATOR: Lost in no man's land--

All we know is that we were supposed

to come to the end of the road.

And we're supposed to be on the winter roads after that.

But we went too far.

NARRATOR: Hugh heads back to break the news to Rick.

We're lost.

Listen.

There's room to turn around down there,

so just turn around and--

there's a road right past here.

The sun was in everybody's eyes.

We drove right into the lake.

I'll try not to get my feet wet.

[music playing]

This is a nasty little [bleep]..

This was about two hours.

[inaudible],, so that's going to be four hours

we're losing today alone there, just

with this little wrong turn.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 140 miles west--

Alex is loaded up, hauling apickup truck south to Winnipeg.

These winter roads, ice roads, yeah, they

present lots of challenges.

They're definitely not a normal road.

Whether it's weather, distance, lack of services.

Potential for accidents.

NARRATOR: But suddenly, there'strouble on the road ahead.

[music playing]

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: The wheel fell off, or what?

Hello.

DRIVER: Hello.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: You have trouble with your wheel?

DRIVER: Yeah.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: The strut came off.

DRIVER: Yeah.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Looks like that's going to be going back

in there very soon, eh?

Yeah.

It's pulled the bolt right out of the top.

I can't see you putting that back in.

DRIVER: Yeah.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: So all those parts are probably good,

but how do you get that back in there?

Well, you want a ride?

I'll give you a ride.

DRIVER: Sure.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: We're just going to leave the truck here

and give these people a ride.

And hopefully they can find a tow truck.

Come and get it.

OK.

Is everybody in here?

Everybody's happy?

Or as happy as we can be under the circumstance?

NARRATOR: Now Alex's payload isone pickup truck and a family

of four.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: You pinched your finger on that spring?

On the rim.

And I was kind of-- it went like this.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Yeah.

And it went along on that [inaudible] and cut when it

turned.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: And it grabbed your finger.

Yeah. ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Oh, yeah.

Well, did you bring the axe?

We're going to have to cut it off.

[laughter]

Haha, no.

ALEX DEBOGORSKI: Just kidding.

We still need to find a girl who's going to have a baby,

so I can deliver a baby on this truck.

[laughter]

NARRATOR: On the north slope of Alaska--

Lisa is still battling the blizzard.

LISA KELLY: It's just gusting.

Yay.

I do believe there is a light [inaudible]..

NARRATOR: Finally, she pulls her10 ton trailer into the yard.

Two days battling a monster storm

has reminded Lisa that being an ice road trucker

is about more than just the size of your load.

In the end, I have to get the job done.

And no matter what it is they want me to drive,

that's my job.

Although I prefer to drive some other thing,

I still need to shut up and takethe stuff I don't want to take.

Because it's my job.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Back in Canada--

I guess $16 a month wasn't enough.

NARRATOR: Alex hauls his load and his passengers

safely into town.

OK.

Thank you, sweetheart.

There's no problem.

Oh, don't squeeze.

Hey.

No problem.

God bless you guys.

All the best.

Be good.

I'm on my merry way now.

You never know what's going to happen next.

I'm waiting for the flying saucers to come.

NARRATOR: Completing this run puts Alex

ahead of his Canadian rivals.

While on the Dalton, Dave is hot on Lisa's heels.

As day breaks, Hugh and Rick get back on the road.

But a broken fuel tank and one wrong turn

have them half a day behind schedule.

We're headed for Muskrat Dam and we [bleep] up.

Apparently, we're not very good map readers.

NARRATOR: Already on the outs with one trucking company,

they can't afford to deliver late and burn another bridge.

That's OK.

We'll get her back.

Just heading up to our first ice crossing here.

NARRATOR: Just ahead, Round Lake,

seven miles across, and just inches of ice

between their load--

and a 150 foot drop to the bottom.

HUGH ROWLAND: Regardless how much time we make up

on high ground, we still got to do the lake crossings.

You can't speed on the lake.

Somebody will die.

NARRATOR: With eight miles of frozen lake in front of them,

Hugh and Rick will have to rein in their speed.

The ice is only four feet thick,but the lake is 100 feet deep.

Yeah, our first big lake for this trip here.

This one, they say takes an hour.

We got to slow down to 10 here just to--

it's thin ice.

We're right up to snuff for weight, too.

We've got to be careful here.

Otherwise, one of us is going to [bleep] drown here today.

It's deep enough that I don't want to end up in it.

That's all I know.

Islands.

That's an island, I guess, that we just drove by.

Driving by an island sounds fun.

I guess for people that don't drive on ice roads,

it sounds fun.

It's when you fall asleep and run into an island--

that's when [bleep] gets bad.

[music playing]

We're just coming off a round right now.

NARRATOR: Just across the lake--

they stop to check the map.

- Where are we grouping? - We're regrouping here.

And I'm looking at this. And I don't understand it, so.

Well, this is what we've done.

We've done the 27.

And then we--

NARRATOR: And they don't like what they see.

So we've got to [bleep] double back 12.

OK.

See, we're going to the town of Round Lake.

Oh.

I say we just--

hey, I got an idea.

Let's just drive around.

NARRATOR: The road to Muskrat Dam runs

through the town of Round Lake,not across the lake itself.

HUGH ROWLAND: So this is twice in two days

we've ended up in the wrong road.

And we've [bleep] up again.

The wrong way.

NARRATOR: Now they'll have to haul their 50,000 pound

loads back over thin ice.

When you're on an ice road, anything can happen, right?

Anything can [bleep] happen.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: On the next "Ice Road Truckers"--

LISA KELLY: Oh my gosh.

NARRATOR: Cabin fever strikes Lisa.

They don't have food in this camp.

And so I've been living off the food in this truck.

NARRATOR: Dave gets angry.

I'm not going to sit here and kiss your ass.

NARRATOR: And Rick finally snaps.

[bleep] my truck like that again, I'll [bleep] kill you.