- Muskie Creek, we have a very good reputation.
We don't leave a load behind.
I'm short on drivers.
- Hey. You must be Bill.
- Lisa. Nice to meet you.
- If I don't make the money to fix the truck,
I'm going to have to start selling horses.
The hose came off.
The freaking heat isn't working.
The window just broke.
[tense music]
Truck's on fire.
- Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Let's throw a $100 bet down
to see who can run the most miles this winter road.
[Lisa laughs]
- You must be Scott. - Yes, sir.
I haven't been in any of these ice roads.
This is all new territory for me.
We're going to pray that the rest of our trips are blessed.
[screams]
[groans]
Wow. This is going to be fun.
- Todd. - Nice to meet you, buddy.
I'm 51 years old.
Ow. [bleep] Cut all the way open.
[chuckling] I don't know if I've got
what it takes any more to do these roads.
Ah! Oh, [bleep]!
But I'm going to hit it hard.
Tell me this don't get your heart pumping.
And I'm going to see if I can make myself some good coin.
Make sure you tell my grandbabies hi for me.
Scooter over there took the easiest job.
- Todd Dewey needs to dial his [bleep] back.
- I love you.
- Don't you dare try to kiss me.
I've been lonely from my wife.
- Hold him, Lisa!
[dramatic music]
- Wollaston is absolutely closed right now.
I think we're going to do some things
that we don't normally do this time of year.
- He says he wants us to take over and he wants to retire.
He'll never, ever retire.
- And your uncle clipped off the top
of one of those pressure ridges and he went through.
Right in here is where he died.
- I just want to prove to my dad
that I can handle the rough country.
- Driving with the two boys
truly is one of my proudest moments.
My handsome boy, eh?
[pig snorts]
[tense music]
[suspenseful music]
[wind whistling]
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
narrator: At the ragged edge of the northern frontier...
- The convoy has finally made it.
narrator: The Muskie Creek convoy
is hitting their offload.
- Yeah!
- Oh, my gosh.
- Oh, yeah. - Yee-haw!
narrator: After four days on the world's
longest winter road.
- [laughs] Look at this.
I'm just so happy that we're finally to Fort Severn
and getting these loads off our backs.
- Oh, me too.
- It's been a long one for sure.
- Time to turn and burn. We need these loads off.
- Scooty and Todd.
You guys are heading on up to Peawanuck now, huh?
- Yep.
- I have one backhaul that's deeper in in Peawanuck.
I'd like Scooter to go in. I want to send Todd with you.
♪
- Last two days were brutal,
but we're going to offload here and take off.
We really need to get on the road.
It's going to be a long drive, a lot more miles.
- Scooty!
Have a safe trip up there.
- You're going to miss me or what?
- Hell yeah, we're going to miss you.
You're part of the team. - [chuckles]
Scooter, he's got a good character about him.
But when you're working 16 hours a day,
seven days a week, pretty soon,
everybody gets to their breaking point.
Look at Scooter over there. Took the easiest job.
- Todd Dewey needs to dial his [bleep] back.
- But you know what?
Sometimes you got to just make sure you stop, relax.
Scooter seems like a pretty good guy.
Dinner at the end of the season?
- I hope so.
- Hey. Lock that in. [Lisa chuckles]
- Todd and Lisa, we have a good team.
I'm really happy I got to know them.
- Well, go get her done,
but get a little less smiles than me, OK?
- Oh, let's throw a $100 bet down
to see who can run the most miles.
[Lisa laughs]
- You ready to blow this popsicle stand or what?
- Hey, Scoot, be safe. Have a good trip.
We'll see you guys back at Muskie Creek.
- Yes, sir.
[upbeat rock music]
We're rolling out.
♪
Bye, princess.
♪
narrator: While Scooter and Muskie Todd
blast 350 miles deeper into the wilderness
to pick up their backhauls
in the remote community of Peawanuck.
- All right. Let's make some tracks.
narrator: Lisa and Todd are offloading...
[mechanical rumbling]
♪
- We got to get going fast.
narrator: So they can try again to pick up two trucks
frozen into the landscape.
- Still got a long way to get out of here.
Hopefully those winter roads are going to hold up.
Because we are knocking on the door of this road
being closed completely.
- You're going to see a few trucks
that have been buried in snow.
Get them unstuck and pulled out of there.
- It's all you, buddy.
- That's all the pressure you can lift, these Macks.
Suck her back in.
It's not going to lift the weight.
- If we had an excavator, that'd be great.
- Hey, Bill.
- So I found you guys a dozer.
- So this last backhaul is super-important,
because I'm right at the edge of having
enough to fix my truck.
♪
- Rock and roll!
♪
- Let's roll.
♪
We got a mission to complete.
♪
narrator: As Lisa, Todd, and the two Muskie drivers
race to meet a local road crew with a bulldozer...
♪
700 miles to the west...
[tense music]
- This load doesn't look like much, but it is heavy.
narrator: Shaun Harris is loading
50,000 pounds of steel...
- We are absolute max weight today.
narrator: As part of his plan to save the season
by pivoting from Wollaston Lake...
- If you went across here loaded,
you would absolutely go in the drink.
narrator: To Lake Athabasca.
♪
- This is going to be a challenging one.
This will probably be the most challenging load
we haul all winter, because this load
is very heavy and it's time-sensitive.
They want it in before the road starts to fall apart,
which it is.
narrator: The route to the old mining outpost
is one of the longest ice crossings in the world
on a road that's falling apart as winter recedes.
- Yesterday, we went in with some lighter loads.
Zach broke through with the pilot truck.
- Oh. Oh, [bleep].
[tense music]
- If you're falling through with a one-ton diesel dually,
that's not a good sign.
But you know, I'll never back away from a challenge.
Everything's on the line for us.
We're going to do whatever we have to do to the season.
We have to get it in there and get it done.
♪
Maximum weight here is about 75,000 pounds.
With the truck and trailer and the weight of this rebar,
we're right at max.
We're just over 75,000.
♪
There's a ice heave along the ice road
and it's cracked and it's about two feet wide.
The ice is getting thin
and it's starting to flood with water.
That's generally something you're going to see
at the tail end of the season when, you know,
you probably shouldn't be on the ice anymore.
♪
This is a sketchy one, a little heavy.
So, uh--[chuckles]
♪
It's pretty quiet out here.
I think this is the last big load going into Uranium.
♪
Cracking and popping.
[ice rumbling and cracking] It's cracking hard.
You just hear it rolling like thunder.
[ice rumbling]
[tense music]
narrator: Across the warming wilderness...
♪
- 25 inches.
- That's not a lot of ice. - That's not a lot of ice.
narrator: Riley and Zach are crossing Wollaston Lake
despite the warnings about the temperature and ice condition.
- We had a call last night.
So we're going to have you guys go up across Wollaston.
This load is a 911.
You have one day to get in and out.
No delays.
narrator: They're picking up a load
they think is light enough to haul out
without going through the ice.
- You're driving.
- You're going to let me drive your truck?
- Yeah, man.
My dad told me he wants Zach to drive Wollaston Lake.
I love my truck, and I'm nervous for Zach to drive it.
♪
- I guess we'll just take her easy and baby our way across.
I've earned a little bit of a reputation for having oopsies.
And I do my best to avoid it, but it just seems to find me.
narrator: Zach's navigating Riley's truck
20 miles across thinning ice
and two portages to the Wollaston Lake community.
♪
- This is actually sketchy as [bleep].
Like, we're sitting on about
this much [bleep] ice right now.
♪
- I think we're the only ones dumb enough
to go across this lake right now.
- Yeah. Well, you're probably right.
- It's quite possible we'll be the only guys
that cross that ice with a semi this winter.
My dad takes pride in getting things done
that nobody else wants to do.
That puts a fair bit of pressure on me and Riley.
We'll just get this load and get the hell out of here.
♪
But we have to prove we can run the business.
♪
- Yeah, that does not sound like heavy-duty ice.
♪
narrator: Nearing the end
of the world's longest ice road...
- Oh, here we go.
Yip-dee-doo.
- [laughs]
narrator: Scooter and Muskie Todd are blasting through
drifts deposited by a recent northern blizzard...
- [bleep].
There's a doozy of a bank.
narrator: In pursuit of their final backhaul.
- I can see this being a problem.
Hang on, baby. Here we go.
Whoa, baby.
Whoa.
Whoo!
♪
narrator: The storm and winds buried the road,
distorting the border between Scooter's route
and the unforgiving landscape.
- I see drifts and we got to plow through.
♪
Don't want to get stuck.
Come on, Big Bird. Get her.
Come on, baby. Come on.
[dramatic music]
It's like 4x4ing in a big rig.
Hang on!
♪
I can't see a damn thing.
♪
[bass drop]
[suspenseful music]
[tense music]
I can't see [bleep]!
[groans]
- Hang on, baby. Here we go.
narrator: At the world's northern edge...
[wind howling]
- Whoo.
[tense music]
♪
[bleep].
narrator: A massive snowdrift just ate Scooter's truck.
- [sighs]
Whoops.
All right, all right.
- Are you stuck?
[suspenseful music]
- [chuckling] Oh, buddy, am I. Yeah.
[laughing]
♪
Today's ridiculous.
[chuckles]
All right. Hold on. [clears throat]
[quirky country music]
I'm right in there good.
Might not win this mile race now
if I don't get out of this mess.
- Can you move at all. Like, backwards?
- I can't move anywhere.
Maybe give me a tug backwards
instead of trying to push through this [bleep].
- All fun and games till someone gets stuck.
- Hopefully this works.
narrator: The Muskie drivers are days away from help.
- If one of our units are dead on the road,
there's not a damn thing I can do to help you guys up there.
narrator: If they can't pull out Scooter's rig,
it'll end up like the trucks they passed on the way in.
[tense music]
[radio beeps] - Ready?
- Ready, Freddy.
♪
Hey. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
♪
This is a nightmare.
♪
Come on, Big Bird.
Come on.
♪
[Scooter laughs]
Yeah. We're good there.
[soft upbeat music]
With Muskie Todd, we have a good team.
We work good together.
- That just cost a bottle of whisky.
- Probably two. - [laughs]
Let's go. Let's go have some more fun.
- We're going to make some miles now.
Ah! My tea.
That was almost a catastrophe right there.
Let's do this [bleep].
♪
[tense music]
narrator: 100 miles down the road...
- Hey, Todd.
- Yeah. Go ahead, Lis.
narrator: Lisa and Todd are racing
in the opposite direction.
- We're getting close to the trucks.
Sun's still up, but it's fading fast.
narrator: So they can attack the stuck rigs
before the ball hits the horizon.
♪
- Bill worked out some type of plan
to get a dozer hauled out with us...
[phone line trilling]
- So I found you guys a dozer.
- To start working on those two rigs.
Hopefully this goes well.
Yeah, this is the spot right here.
[suspenseful music]
Pretty devastating and heartbreaking
to come out here and work for a half a day
and not get anything accomplished
and not be able to get the trucks loaded.
I think it's a lost cause.
We need a loader or an excavator here
digging this out.
narrator: Nobody gets paid for the return trip
unless the stuck trucks make it back to Muskie Creek.
- These backhauls are essential.
You guys will have to bring it back to the yard
or we don't make money.
The owner has said get them out by any means necessary.
narrator: So they all need trucks on trailers
for Muskie Creek to make money
and for the drivers to hit their goals for the season.
[suspenseful music]
- Currently, my truck is sitting broken
in the shop in Fairbanks.
I need a lot of money really fast to get it going.
- This year, I have a chance to actually buy my own big rig.
♪
- He's like, yeah, I'm just ramming it.
- [laughs] That's what I'm talking about.
- Oh, wow.
It is solid.
I don't know if we're going to be able to get this.
- This is a redemption round
and we're going to get these suckers out here.
One way or another, we're going to get them loaded.
- Now that it's the end of the season,
getting these trucks out with this bulldozer
is kind of my last chance at getting a backhaul.
♪
Gonna get to keep my horses.
I can't wait!
[metallic crashing]
Whoo, yeah! Get her!
[dramatic music]
♪
[engine revving]
Whoo!
Holy moly.
Yeah! - [laughs]
- Yeah.
[upbeat rock music]
♪
- There it goes. - Oh, my.
[metallic crash] - Ooh.
There goes the tire.
[metal creaking]
Holy moly. [laughs]
That was awesome.
There's no way the winch truck
or shovels would have gotten that out of there.
So--[sighs]
That's good.
♪
Thank you so much. That was awesome.
I really appreciate it.
- Yeah. No problem.
- You just made us a paycheck. [all chuckle]
Because now, we got a backhaul. - Yep.
- [laughs]
That's what we needed,
to have a good operator to get this done.
[suspenseful music]
Wayne with our picker truck is here,
and then Linden pulled in right in front of him.
Lisa, which one do you want to haul?
The blue one? - Yeah. I'll haul the blue one.
- OK, Wayner. It's on you, man.
- Get this thing picked up in the air,
get Lisa's trailer back underneath here.
Keep her cutting, keep it cutting.
- Stay right there. - Yep.
Let her down, Wayne.
Go ahead. Go up.
Keep coming. Good!
You did it. - Whoo.
- She's on there. - All right.
I'm so happy that I got a backhaul.
That means I can fix my truck, keep my horses.
- One truck down.
Still got another truck to do yet.
But we're going to do those in the morning.
We've been up for 16 hours.
It's going to be time for a little bit of sleep here.
- All right. Good night.
- All right, guys. We'll see you bright and early.
[wind howling]
- Hi, Blakey.
It's Grandpa. Hi, Andy.
Oh, love you guys.
Grandpa loves you.
I did things up here that a lot of people can't get done.
I wanted to get back on the ice roads
and challenge myself.
I wanted to see if I still have
what it takes to do these ice roads.
But I really missed my family quite a bit this year.
Oh, she's going to go down the slide.
Oh, whoa. Almost wrecked.
I'm tired. I'm worn out.
I'm--I'm--I'm homesick.
I'm ready to come home.
All right. - Love you. K, bye.
- All right. Bye.
My wife, my daughters, those little grandbabies,
that's what makes my world turn.
It's everything.
[peaceful music]
♪
[tense music]
narrator: 750 miles to the east...
♪
- It feels pretty rocky, actually.
I'm kind of surprised.
We're rocking quite a bit.
narrator: Shaun's gambling the melting ice
will hold his maxed out rig
on the 55-mile crossing to Uranium City.
- We've got a lot of weight.
It's the biggest I've hauled this winter.
narrator: It's his only option to save the season.
[ice cracking]
- It's hard to get used to watching your mirrors
and seeing a crack follow you down the road.
[wind howling]
Yeah, we're coming up to this big heave
where the road is cracked along the edge
and it's been flooding.
narrator: As the massive ice sheet melts and breaks apart,
heavy loads and waves under the ice
widen the cracks and flood the road.
[ice cracking] - A lot of noise here.
A lot of cracking and popping.
narrator: The cracks get worse each day,
and now Shaun's forced to thread the needle
to reach shore.
- After a certain amount of time,
the road just deteriorates where there's
nothing but crushed ice left.
If we were to stray either side, we'd go through.
[engine rumbling]
We're heavy, so we're pushing down quite a bit,
so we'll have a good wave in front of us.
And that's-- that's why we have to go slow.
The more momentum we give that wave,
that's when you have issues.
[ominous music]
[ice rumbling]
You usually see when the wave ahead of you hits the cracks,
if something starts to open up, it doesn't look right.
[ice cracks] Oh.
♪
You can see there's a big crack
forming right beside us as we drive here.
[tense music]
♪
narrator: On one of North America's
largest sheets of ice...
- You can see there's a big crack forming right beside us
as we drive here.
narrator: Shaun Harris is shooting the gap
with a maxed-out load.
- So with the truck and trailer
and the weight of this rebar, we're right at max.
We're just over 75,000.
♪
The heave is moving as we go by.
♪
It's rocking.
We need to idle and just walk right through here.
narrator: If he pushes too hard,
the wave created by the truck's weight
will break open the failing ice.
- [chuckling] Oh, wow.
♪
[ice crunching]
♪
I think we're over the worst of it now.
These are some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
And this winter has forced us to push it to the limit
all the time.
That was Sketchy Incorporated, that one.
♪
narrator: 900 miles to the east...
[soft upbeat music]
♪
It's the end of the world's longest ice road.
- We're rolling into Peawanuck.
We've been asked by the community
to stop by the school.
[horn honks]
♪
- Hi. - Hi. How are you?
- Hi. Welcome. Welcome to Peawanuck.
- Thank you. - These are my students.
- Nice to meet you guys. - Nice to meet you.
- Wow. You guys have a beautiful community here.
- So you can say you've been on the longest winter road.
- The upsides of trucking is meeting new people,
learning new things.
- What do you have to do to be an ice road trucker?
- Up here, you got to be able to leave your family behind.
You know, a lot can happen to us out in these roads.
You got to be strong-willed and ready to do what you got to do.
- Wow.
- Coming to a northern community,
just seeing that you're actually meaning something
that makes a difference, it feels good, you know?
- What are you guys hauling?
- We're going to haul a sea can and a pickup truck out of here.
[upbeat rock music]
Yeah.
Keep coming, keep coming.
- That's good, eh? - Yeah.
Haul it out of here. - Ooh.
♪
[phone line trilling]
[notifications chime]
- What's up, brother?
- Really?
- Yeah.
- I just wanted to check in with you girls.
Miss you.
- Love you. - Miss you too.
- I have two daughters in Nova Scotia, Bianca and Zoe.
- How are you doing on the ice roads right now?
How's it going? - It's been rough.
You know, I miss them a lot.
- I'm genuinely so proud of you, Dad.
We all appreciate you so much.
- You're going to make me cry.
- I'm being serious. - I know.
All right, I got to get going. Love you guys.
- I love you. - Love you too.
- Bye.
I'm really grateful for the great support team
of family I have.
[groans]
♪
All right, let's do this.
[upbeat music]
- Let's go.
- All right, we're going. Rolling, rolling, rolling.
♪
[wind howling]
[tense music]
narrator: Across the warming wilderness...
- Holy [bleep]. Look at this.
[tense music]
- Wollaston is absolutely closed right now.
The ice is just too thin.
If you went across here loaded,
you would absolutely go in the drink.
narrator: Riley and Zach are on a big-money run
to pick up a load they think is light enough to haul out
within the limits of the ice.
- Oh, this looks a little gross.
♪
The ice is completely rotten.
It's cracked on one side.
- Holy [bleep]. Can we even do this?
♪
I can see ruts through the ice in the middle
where it's been soft and slushy.
Man, this Wollaston road is a different animal.
We're kind of committed now.
There's no turning back, so--
The [bleep] we do for money. [laughs]
- We tend to do a lot of things that other companies won't do.
♪
- All righty.
♪
- We're the first group of people that'll say,
hey, we're not scared to do that.
You know, we're not chicken[bleep].
- Well, this is by far
the most dangerous spot we have crossed all season.
I have to prove to my dad that I can drive up there
and that I can manage the situation...
I'm hearing a lot of [bleep] cracking, man.
Control my nerves in the sticky spots
and to be able to do the job, basically.
♪
Oh, my God.
Looks like it's been [bleep] flooding up here too.
♪
Should have brought a life jacket.
[laughter]
[peaceful music]
♪
narrator: Across the northern frontier...
♪
- This section is so rough.
narrator: Lisa and Todd are racing home
with their big-money backhauls...
- This is the last day out. This is it.
It's almost over with.
narrator: In a convoy with Muskie drivers,
Wayne and Linden.
[dramatic music]
- Oh, good gosh.
Jeez Louise.
narrator: But the northern wilderness
won't let them escape without a fight.
- Oh, man. Here we go, getting the bumps.
[truck thumping and rattling]
It's so horrible.
- This is the last big push of our recovery mission.
The road has definitely turned into rat[bleep].
It's getting bumpy. It's rough.
Hopefully everything holds together.
- Oh, goodness gracious.
♪
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, gosh.
When you're on a really long run,
especially where it's super-bumpy,
it's just like your body's like--[groans]
It hurts in every way.
At some point, your body's just like, I'm just done bumping.
♪
'Cause it's relentless. It just never stops.
- Keeping an eye on my truck back there.
♪
Oh, there's some wicked bumps around that corner.
- Oh, gosh.
Holy cow.
Whoa.
♪
No, no, no, no, no!
Stop.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[tense music]
narrator: In an icy graveyard
cutting through the northern wilderness...
♪
- Holy [bleep]. Oh.
No, no, no, no, no!
narrator: The road has claimed Lisa's load.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
♪
Good gosh.
♪
- What's going on, Lis? You all right back there?
- Hood of the truck just fell off.
- Holy [bleep]. It's [bleep].
- How did that happen? I had it strapped down.
- Oh, man.
We'll pull over, park so we don't get too far ahead of you,
and then let us know if you need us.
- OK.
[groans]
narrator: On the world's longest winter road,
there's safety in numbers.
- So I've got Todd, Wayne, and Linden.
I want you guys to convoy in.
You're stronger in numbers.
narrator: Especially when the numbers
include Wayne's picker truck.
- Wayne, good thing you're good at this.
♪
All right. - OK.
- Good thing you got the picker truck.
Nice. And then down.
Nice.
[grunts] - I think we're good.
- Wayne, thank you. - Ready to roll.
Let's get out of here.
I appreciate it so much.
If we could just make it,
we might get off these roads in one piece this year.
I got to rack up the most miles I can.
I can't get towed out.
- That's right. You got to win the bet.
narrator: 500 miles to the east...
on a different expanse of melting ice...
[upbeat rock music]
- We made it.
narrator: Riley and Zach survived the run
to the Wollaston Lake community.
- Big girl overtaking up and turn and burn.
narrator: A mission that seemed impossible.
- Wollaston is absolutely closed right now.
And I'm getting extremely nervous.
Can't get across here,
when normally, we'd be hauling across here weeks ago.
♪
- Which one are we putting on first?
- Blue one.
[upbeat country music]
[laughs] I was watching.
There's lots of room.
- OK. Now it's the Dodge, right?
♪
- Close the doors and go.
- [laughing] The space here between
the truck and this wall.
narrator: Now Riley and Zach need
to turn and burn back across the melting ice,
hauling the truck south for repair.
[tense music]
- Yeah, I think so.
Our dad wants to scale back and slow down a little bit.
So at this point, it's kind of do-or-die.
We have to start making calls and making commitments
and really start to do this for ourselves.
Yeah, like, I'm feeling pretty serious about doing this.
- Oh, I agree.
- Zach and I are looking at buying more trucks
and going all-in together.
[wind howling]
narrator: While Riley and Zach make plans
to take over the company...
[tense music]
♪
Shaun's remembering why he loves it.
- Yeah. Look at the wheels on that loader.
[laughs]
When the ass end of the loader comes off the ground like that,
it's absolutely heavy.
We just hauled that here over the ice.
We were at absolute max capacity.
And just a hair over.
But we made her back on time.
Everything was good, everything arrived safe.
Once more, we did something nobody else wanted to do.
I love being the last guy out. I take pride in that.
Can you make one more run?
The road is closed, but can you make another run?
Absolutely.
We're the only loaded truck coming in today.
That's a telltale sign that the season's come to an end.
[wind howling]
♪
- Look at that sunset, buddy.
- Beautiful.
narrator: Shutting off the lights
and running for the door...
- You know, we haven't met anybody coming in.
narrator: Scooter and Muskie Todd
are the last trucks out.
- Yes, man.
Like, you think we should have passed
some kind of rig coming in.
[epic dramatic music]
♪
[tense music]
- Something's up.
♪
Will the nightmare ever end?
♪
narrator: But with the darkness comes the nightmares.
- [groans] Um, yeah, I'm going to have to stop here.
Wheel looks like she's locking up.
- Yeah, the wrong luck. - [laughs]
- We're under the gun in the middle of nowhere.
We are on our own.
Can you just tell me if my middle axles turn?
♪
- Locked up.
♪
- What the [bleep]?
- Yeah.
- Try rolling it.
♪
narrator: Scooter's trailer brakes are locked.
- [groans] Come on.
narrator: And pushing on will rip open the tires
and destroy the axles, brakes, and suspension.
- [groans]
♪
- [bleep] dragging her.
It looked like it was only this tire.
[bleep] brakes are freaking frozen up.
narrator: Despite rising daytime temperatures...
- That brake is definitely frozen.
narrator: Winter still packs a punch after dark,
and buildup of snow and ice has frozen Scooter's brakes.
- I hate my life right now.
I'll go grab a hammer, see if we can give it a good tap.
narrator: And as usual, the driver's first try:
a little percussive maintenance.
- [coughs] You want to drive-- move forward?
See if it does anything?
- [groans]
♪
- There's not a damn thing I can do
to help you guys up there.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on.
- Oh, the tire's moving.
♪
[groans]
It's rolling, then it stopped rolling again.
This is going to be a nightmare.
[sighs]
[tense music]
narrator: Stuck in the freezing darkness...
- It's rolling, then it stopped rolling again.
It don't make sense.
narrator: Scooter's trying to knock his brakes free
from the clutches of the northern wilderness.
[hammer banging]
- Go at it.
I gotta get the hole open.
narrator: With temperatures dropping
and out of options,
Scooter resorts to caging the brakes,
manually releasing the brake pads using a cage tool.
- Hold my glove.
[bleep] bare-handing. Burn my hand, I don't care.
narrator: Screwing in the bolt compresses a spring
that holds the brakes open, allowing the tire to spin.
- Holy [bleep]. I'm almost there.
narrator: This is his last shot to get home.
[metallic clank] [Scooter grunts]
- I just wanted to check in with you girls.
Miss you.
- I'm genuinely so proud of you, Dad.
We all appreciate you so much.
♪
- I love my life.
[upbeat music]
I should have paid attention better in school.
- [laughing] - I think I got it.
All right. Hope this works.
♪
Come on, buddy. You can do it.
[tense music]
Yeah. Let's get going.
♪
I appreciate the help big time, man.
- No problem.
[upbeat rock music]
- Let's go home.
[tense music]
narrator: In the warming northern frontier...
- This is what it's all about.
[engine buzzing]
narrator: The Harris family has
one final mission on the ice.
♪
- Try and catch some fish.
Put some hooks in the water.
narrator: Catching dinner.
[suspenseful western music]
♪
- I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.
It was a challenging year.
- Absolutely.
- Oh. Holy [bleep].
Yeah, I'm going to need a little tug here.
♪
- Got him.
- Mother Nature really threw us a curveball.
This year wasn't cold and the ice wouldn't thicken up.
[tense music]
This road is very vital.
It's the only lifeline in the wintertime for this community.
We had to go out of our comfort zone to find work.
One five axle off the overland, onto the ice.
You guys are going to Uranium City.
If we want to stay competitive
and keep growing this business,
we have to look elsewhere.
And I mean, the proof is in the pudding
that here we are, the season's done.
People are already trying to book us for next year.
I'm very proud of what you guys did.
If I had ten guys like you,
we could take over the [bleep] world.
- Mm.
Well, we got three. [laughter]
- Honest to God, this was the most fun I've had up north
in decades because I got to do it with you two.
I loved every minute of it.
And I want us to do more of it.
So I'm not ready to retire.
I'm ready to go shoulder-to-shoulder
and get right at her.
Take over the world.
♪
- He says he wants us to take over and he wants to retire.
But I know for a fact he'll never, ever retire.
[laughter]
- To hear the boys be as excited as they are,
no, I don't want to retire.
I want to stay and help these guys.
So if you guys will have me,
I want to be involved again next winter.
- Silent partner though, right?
[laughter]
- He wants to work with us and help us grow.
I think it's great.
Like, I want to keep working with my dad.
- Here's to a great year this year
and to bigger and better things next year.
[upbeat rock music]
♪
[tense music]
[jet engines howling]
♪
- Hey, Bill. How's it going, buddy?
- I didn't get to catch you before you left.
- I know. I'm just kind of in a rush.
And with the season being over and being a little homesick,
I'm just trying to get home to the family.
Being back on the ice roads felt amazing.
The ice road just brings out that fight inside of you.
I got all my loads delivered.
All right! There it is.
Slide a whole pallet at one time.
[metallic crashing]
I was able to do a lot of bush fixes.
[laughter]
Big nuts going on. That's what I'm talking about.
I've made some amazing new friends.
I've been lonely from my wife. - Hold him, Lisa!
[laughter]
But I really missed my family quite a bit this year.
So it makes a guy wonder, you know,
is this what I want to continue to keep doing every year?
- I want to thank you and really appreciate you
joining the team this year.
- I mean, I really enjoy doing the ice roads,
but I also love being home with my family.
- Hopefully we'll get you back next year.
- OK, Bill. I'm not--
you know, I don't know what I'm going to do this next year.
You know, right now, I'm just focused
on getting home to my family.
When next season starts getting closer,
I'll decide what I want to do, buddy.
So I really don't know what the future holds.
- Definitely stay in touch.
And yeah, expect a phone call from me
getting closer to that season, eh?
- I look forward to talking to you soon.
- All right. Cheers. - All right, buddy.
[suspenseful music]
♪
[train tracks clacking]
♪
- We had a very good season.
- Good.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
[metallic clattering]
- I know it's not the easiest job.
You guys were able to handle the workload
and sometimes chaotic scenarios.
- That's an understatement, but.
[groans]
[tense music]
- You have to be flexible,
adapt to obstacles
that the winter road throws at you guys.
- My blower motor is out.
- Especially when you guys are
hundreds of kilometers in the bush.
It's just you
and Mother Nature and the equipment.
- Holy crap, that's hot.
- [groans] Come on.
- If you don't know your way around the truck,
that's life and death.
- Go, go, go. Don't stop! Don't stop!
You're out, baby!
You're out.
- The teamwork that you guys executed, it paid off.
Now let's get to the really interesting part:
your guys' bet.
- I got a proposition.
- OK.
- Let's throw $100 bet down
and see who can run the most miles this winter road.
- $100? - Yeah.
[both chuckle]
- So the bet was who could log the most miles.
- Yep. - We've calculated the numbers.
And...
[suspenseful music]
- So the bet was who could log the most miles.
[suspenseful music]
- Yep.
- Brace yourself.
Scooter, you clocked in 9,690.
- Holy crap. That is so many.
- Lisa, you clocked in 10,389. - What?
[upbeat rock music]
- Difference of 699.
- [chuckles] - 699?
- Yep. - Oh. I'm one off from 700?
- Yeah, just a couple laps around the yard.
- Yeah. - [chuckles]
- We'll call it 700. [laughter]
Yeah.
At the beginning, I didn't know Scooter or Lisa.
Now that I do, you bet your ass that next year,
we're going to have the best ice road season
Muskie Creek has ever seen.
Well, Scooter, looks like you got to hit the ATM.
So... - Yep. [sighs]
- Thanks for a great season, you guys.
- Yeah. - Oh, we appreciate it.
- Come on.
♪
- Thanks, Bill. - Thank you guys.
Oh, God. [bleep].
My truck's on fire.
- [chuckles] Maybe next year, he'll get it.
- [chuckling] Oh.
Give me two back-to-back Peawanucks.
- [laughing] Holy--yeah.
- Oh, yeah, buddy. - That sounds horrible.
[laughter]
[train horn blasts]
[upbeat country rock music]
♪
- Did you hit up the ATM?
Don't be coming in here empty-handed.
- Oh, I'm not. Bet's a bet.
- Holy crap. Are you serious right now?
- Yeah, it's currency.
- What the heck? What are these?
- Nickels.
- Jeez Louise.
- Oh, let's throw $100 bet down,
see who can run the most miles this winter road.
- $100? - Yeah.
[groans]
[both chuckle]
Well, I lost the bet,
but I think I got the last laugh on that one.
- Did the can come with it?
This better not be one that you've had
in your truck for emergencies.
- [chuckles] You'll never know.
[laughter]
- Scooty Puff, I just describe 'em
as, like, a big teddy bear.
Like, he's really got a sweet heart inside.
That's been what's fun about running with you this year
is, like, we work together as a team
and it worked out really well,
because that's not always the case.
This is Trucking 101 for dummies.
Are you worried that other drivers are
clearly better than you are?
- Oh, it's on.
It is on.
[horn honks]
[exaggerated laughter]
[horn honks rhythmically]
All right. We got--
aw.
Peanut butter under my door handle?
Hope it's peanut butter.
♪
- Mm-mm-mm.
- It's about being a team.
And it's hard to find good people to run with.
- Yeah. Yeah, we got lucky.
- With Lisa Kelly, we both kind of clicked really good.
She's easy to get along with, especially on the road.
- Do you think you'd come back? Would you do it again?
- Oh, yeah. I'll come back.
- Yeah? - I'll do it again.
And I'll bet you again.
- I have the bill for you guys here.
- Hey, thank you.
Can you take these?
- Yes, I do. - To pay for?
- Yes, I do. - I'm still counting.
[laughter] What do you got?
I'll get it.
- Oh, my.
Don't worry about it. I'll tell you what.
Just because you got all them nickels, I'll take care of it.
- Oh, [bleep].
I don't want to count out that many nickels.
- I didn't think so. [laughter]
Don't worry, Princess. I got your money in the truck.
♪