Ice Road Truckers (2007) s04e05 Episode Script
Trapped on Thin Ice
Next on Ice Road Truckers Come on.
Come on.
Hugh and alex get Ready to rumble.
You need me to throw you a Rope or what? Lisa's monster Load May be more than she can handle.
Holy crap.
An arctic blow Traps jack On thin ice.
I mean, I know they need Their fuel, but it's not safe For me to do it.
And a late-Night Run could mean disaster.
At the carlile Fuel depot in fairbanks Morning, guys.
Jack jessee gets An urgent mission.
Fuel to nuiqsut? The native Community of nuiqsut sits on one Of the world's largest oil Reserves, but the village is Running out of fuel.
Well, the village out there, I mean, they don't make any Fuel.
They don't have a year-Round Road to them.
They have to wait for the ice Road to open up.
They've got a few hundred Gallons left, which isn't much.
Jack will have to Haul his tanker 500 miles up the Dalton to prudhoe bay and then Another 70 miles across the Frozen colville river to Nuiqsut.
It's critical that we get This fuel up to 'em.
They haven't had any tankers in About nine months out there, so Trying to get out there as fast As we can.
At the start of the Season, alex debogorski made the First run to nuiqsut Hauling a load of building Supplies.
But the village had to wait Another three weeks for the ice To support a 100,000-Pound fuel Tanker.
I sure hope the ice is thick Enough.
Back at the yard, Alex debogorski is getting ready To haul his fifth load of the Season.
There's a phone call.
But the haul road Won't be the only thing Challenging alex on this run.
Hello? Alex, what the hell is going On? Well, I'm tying one down and My understanding was that you Were gonna get one this Afternoon.
What? Yeah.
You're all thinking you're gonna Beat me now 'cause you're Getting on the road first.
Well, I mean, that's the Whole idea.
'Cause I'm gonna be right up Your ass.
Yeah, we'll take whatever the Good lord hands me and we'll do Our best we can with it.
Back at the office, Instead of heading to dispatch For her next run, lisa kelly has Been called in to see the boss.
Wanted to see me? Yeah, come on in.
What's up? Uh We got a couple of those pipe Racks that we're gonna move, so We're gonna give you an Opportunity to move one.
I think it's about 11 feet wide And 45 feet long.
So we've talked about this Before and the only way you get Experience is to actually do it, So.
Sounds good.
All right, thanks, lisa.
Have a good trip.
See you.
Got my first oversized.
Earlier this Season, lisa took a shot at a Big load, but had to give it up To a more experienced driver.
It doesn't mean I couldn't do It.
I could have done it.
It just would have taken me Longer.
This oversized load Offers lisa a chance to redeem Herself.
Hey.
Lisa.
Nice to meet you.
Lisa meets her Pilot driver.
Looks like fun, huh? Yeah.
He'll help guide The monster load through the Treacherous curves and hills Between fairbanks and coldfoot.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Let's see.
How many? One, two.
With this load, It's all about size.
Yeah, y'all, it's oversized.
The extra-Tall, Extra-Wide pipe rack hangs over The sides of lisa's trailer and Towers over her cab.
All right, got to get out of Here.
As she navigates The streets of fairbanks, the Margin of error shrinks to zero.
Can you tell me if I'ma hit This? I don't know the best way to Take this one.
Everythingeverything all of a Sudden looks really low.
Left.
If lisa hits a Low-Hanging traffic light, the Consequences would be severe.
Damage to the load and to the Reputation of the driver.
Where's he at? Perfect.
Oh, scares the crap out of me.
That's good.
I always get an adrenaline rush.
If lisa's career is In danger on the city streets Further up the road, her life is On the line.
Drifting snow has narrowed the Road Forcing drivers in both Directions to the middle.
I'm meeting a big one right Here.
Corner 17.
With an oversized Load and little room to Maneuver, the oncoming truck Could mean trouble.
I need to get as close to the Ditch as possible.
Holy crap.
Gosh.
After just 20 miles And 2 close calls, surviving the Next 400 miles to prudhoe will Take everything lisa's got.
It's definitely a test.
I want to prove that I can do It.
I know I can.
I just have to show them that I Can.
I just need to stay alert.
Back in fairbanks, The polar bear is finally ready To hit the road Well behind his rival.
Ol' alex got ahead of me Again.
There's not much we can do about It, but we're here to do a job And we're gonna do her.
Hugh's plan is to Get the jump on alex up at Coldfoot.
He'll be in bed when I get There.
I'll get up in the morning.
He won't even know I passed him.
He'll think I'm behind him and I'll be in prudhoe bay and Turned around coming back and Take him a whole 'nother trip Just to figure it out.
It's either he wins or I win and That just keeps the game on.
Just between me and him.
While hugh chases Alex, 250 miles north, jack's Taking on a bigger adversary.
The northernmost and one of the Steepest mountain passes on the Continent.
You got to be careful going Through the corners with the Tankers.
You're losing weight.
You're gaining weight.
You're being pushed.
You're being pulled.
A load of fuel is a Movable beast.
That fluid's actually moving Back and forth in there.
As jack climbs the Slope, the fuel expands or Contracts as much as 20% with Changes in temperature and it Rolls against its inner Compartments with tremendous Force, pushing the truck to the Edge of the road.
If a driver doesn't compensate For it, the so-Called "slosh Effect" can throw a rig off the Road.
And in these conditions and This particular road, you really Got to be on your ball.
Fuel's got a mind of its own.
It's nothing you can really Control Or even predict.
You can kind of guess at what it Might be doing.
But, you know, I mean, the Loads, more or less It acts like its alive.
It's always moving back there.
His skill keeps the Truck on the road.
But just 200 yards from the top Of the pass What's going on here? His tires lose Their grip.
See, I'm spinning my tires.
Hold on.
On a monster cliff At atigun pass Jack jessee is Spinning towards the edge.
Hold on.
I got it, buddy.
Once again, jack Shows why he's the best in the Business, keeping his cool and His rig on the road.
I'll sure feel a lot safer When I get my fuel offloaded and Lose 100,000 pounds.
While jack heads Out of the treacherous mountain Pass, avalanche expert reid Bahnson is heading into the pass On a different mission.
He's trying to keep the whole Mountainside from crashing down.
We're gonna go up and poke Around in the snow on the south Side of atigun pass.
It's a very prolific avalanche Producer.
Truck drivers depend on us to Keep this hill avalanche-Safe.
Recent storms have Created ideal avalanche Conditions and with this latest Break in the weather, traffic Has doubled and so has the Danger.
Just a few days ago, three People died in avalanches.
Two of their bodies were Recovered, but it's almost a Week now and one of them, the Conditions have been so bad that The rescuers haven't been able To go in and get the guy's body Out of the avalanche.
To help the Truckers avoid a similar fate, Reid climbs the delicate face of The atigun in search of Avalanche hot spots.
So far, we've just got that Few inches of new snow on top of Our old, hard wind crust.
Whoa.
Let's see what that layer looks Like.
After 30 years of Studying avalanche conditions, Reid knows a problem when he Sees one.
Isolate this little column Here.
Shutting down the Pass could mean millions in lost Profits.
It's up to reid to determine Just how big the threat actually Is.
Right here, where I kind of Sliced through the snowpack, You can see this big, thick wind Slab.
It's dark.
But right below that is this Really weak, sugary stuff.
You know, this stuff, it's just Falling away.
Just four feet Beneath the surface, a massive Time bomb could be ticking.
So this is the big slab I'm Expecting to slide and this is The weak layer it's gonna slide On, but right now, we just don't Have quite enough tension in That rubber band to make it go, "Boom.
" For now, the weight Of the snow isn't enough to Warrant closing the pass, but Reid will keep close watch on This slope.
Avalanches are always lurking In the background up here.
But I think the truckers are Gonna live another day.
Down on the road It's kind of cool-Looking Down here.
Lisa and her Summit with no problem.
But waiting for her on the other Side of atigun is a whole new Challenge.
Thank you.
Oh, you're welcome.
A southbounder said that There was ice fog at slope Mountain all the way to 62 mile, So I'm anticipating frosty Windshields and singing Antennas.
'S gonna get swallowed up Here.
Ice fog occurs when Temperatures drop below minus 40 Degrees.
Water droplets freeze in tiny Ice crystals, which coat Windshields and antennas.
Sing for me.
Static charges Generated by the ice crystals React with radio equipment and Create an eerie hum.
It just sounds like bad radio Reception, but you turn your Radios off and you're still Getting it.
It's hard to know where to focus 'Cause you don't know where it's Coming from.
It seems like every time you get Up this far, there's illusions That you see that you don't see Anywhere else.
Kind of eerie.
I mean, it's just All the senses and stuff are Just kind of all mixed up and It's hard to tell where I'm at.
Like Just see and hear things that You don't normally see and hear.
It's weird.
I hear you, mother nature.
Can you shut up now? Okay, now, shh.
Quiet now.
Thank you.
As night falls over The haul road Alex rolls into coldfoot with What he thinks is a comfortable Lead over hugh.
We're here in coldfoot.
Still northbound.
Uh, far as I know, I'm still Ahead of hugh, so I'm done for The day, so now I'm gonna go Have a bit of supper and get a Good night's sleep.
While alex retires, There's no rest for the wicked.
If I can get into coldfoot by Leave by 7:00 in the morning.
Like I said, alex is an ugly son Of a bitch, so he'll still be Sleeping.
And I'll just toodle on by and He'll think he's still way ahead Of me.
Hours later, a Road-Weary hugh finally reaches Coldfoot, but he won't rest till He gets a bead on his Competition.
I'm gonna scout the parking Lot here and see if the old [Bleep.]
[bleep.]
is in here.
If he's in here, I'll pull up Beside him, block him in.
By god, I think I've found my Arch nemesis.
Guess where I'm parking.
Right beside him so he can't get Out.
I just boxed him in.
He can't get out if he wants to.
Back in fairbanks, It's 11:00 P.
M And rookie ray veilleux gets Called in for a rush order.
The boss says, "you got to go Out.
You're the only guy here.
" These are those vertical support Systems that hold up the Pipeline.
They want it in prudhoe in the Morning sometime, so that means We'd have to run all night long.
I really don't like doing that.
I get tired, but got to do what The boss says.
Ray may not like Running at night, but he knows If he doesn't, someone else Will.
There's ten guys lined up Trying to get this job, so I got To hang on to it.
I'm gonna do what I got to do to Feed my family.
This load that ray's got Leaving tonight, it's one of the Last loads of vsms.
We've got to have it there On-Site by tomorrow or we're Gonna miss our deadline, so Obviously, we want him to be Safe, but he's got the hours to Do it.
He just needs to dig deep and Push through.
It's late.
It's dark.
But it is what it is and we're Going to prudhoe.
Does it smell like brakes back There or anything? My, uh, driver-Side rear wheel I don't know.
I don't know if it's snow dust Kicking up behind the trailer or If it's brakes smoking.
Hard to tell.
I might have a brake that's Stuck.
Headed on to the Steep slopes of the dalton, a Stuck brake is the last thing a Driver wants.
I got to pull over and check It out.
That's not a good spot.
Whoa.
I'm burning.
Coming up Here we go on the ice road Again.
It's jack's 50-Ton Tanker versus the widest river Delta west of the mississippi.
Sure does make me nervous.
And lisa Shoot.
Versus the law.
He's chasing me down.
Midnight in the Middle of nowhere on the haul Road.
The rookie's trailer is going up In smoke.
I'm [bleep.]
burning.
Well Brakes are pretty hot.
You can see it just pouring out Over there.
No oil's leaking.
It ain't like a rear seal Or anything like that.
With no obvious Sign of an oil leak or engine Trouble, ray assumes the Best-Case scenario.
Yeah, it's just snow all Inside there.
Ice and snow inside the hubs.
It's not smoke.
It's steam.
It's all right.
So let's go.
Snow and ice Steaming up on overheated brakes Is no cause for concern.
But if ray guessed wrong, He could be in for a long night.
It's basically all steam.
I mean, we rode the brakes Coming down the hill.
It's a heavy load.
So that would be the first Obstacle out of the way.
Ray pushes on Without stopping to rest at Coldfoot, where at 5:00 A.
M.
Alex is awake and ready to get An early start.
Well, this isn't very kosher.
But his truck has Been boxed in by a familiar foe.
That's my little furry buddy There, hugh rowland.
He was trying to squeeze me in.
He coulda been a lot tighter Than that.
If he turned that corner in About another foot, maybe I'd Have a problem, but I can get Out.
My truck's thinner than his.
Oh, oh, the mirror.
Aye-Yi-Yi.
Gonna leave this note, So I can buy him a new mirror.
Oh, hi.
Wow.
I was just leaving you a note Thatto contact me.
Okay.
And maybemaybe now that You're here, I could pay you for It.
Well, I'm not worried about It.
It's got a match set now.
The other side's broke too.
Oh, wellwell, thank you Very much.
An hour after alex gets out of Town What? The polar bear Emerges from hibernation.
[Bleep.]
old [bleep.]
polish Icebreaker.
Figured he'd get out the gate Before I did, and he did, The son of a [bleep.]
.
So now I gotta chase him down.
Alex in the backf his mind Knows that I'm coming.
He might've got away this Morning.
He's probably looking over his Shoulder all day today here.
As the old rivals Fight it out Jack heads off the dalton Here we go on the ice road Again.
And onto the frozen River that leads that leads to Nuiqsut.
It's a weird sensation being On the ice.
It sure does make me nervous.
You know, nothing gets your Heart pumping like sliding on The ice.
Maybe I should learn to ice Skate.
This thing is slick out here.
Jack's Carrying 1 1/2 sherman tanks Over thin ice.
But every ounce of fuel is Welcome at the village.
They're just about out of Fuel.
You know, it's already a day Late, so I'm trying to get it up There as fast as I can.
Nuiqsut is one of the newest Towns in alaska, though its People are one of the oldest On the continent.
They are the inupiat, who Traditionally live on the arctic Coast and hunt whales.
In 1968, oil was discovered on Their land, and they moved to A new site on the colville river In exchange for oil revenue.
But with an ocean of crude oil Just miles away, they still rely On shipments of diesel for Electricity and heat.
And it can be a dangerous Situation if they run out.
Jack's making good Time.
But halfway across the ice, The wind begins to howl.
Ah, crap.
And I'm hearing on the radio That the weather's moving in And the temperature's dropping Really fast.
The wind's starting to blow, That temperature drop, And if it picks up a lot of Snow and visibility drops to Nothing, we may not make it out There, and the village won't get Its fuel.
As jack rushes to Beat the storm, lisa kelly Is on the verge of A breakthrough.
Almost to prudhoe.
A couple miles.
Delivering one of The biggest loads of her career.
I wish every load was this Easygoing for me.
This means a little bit more to Me because it's one step closer To where I'm trying to get to.
It's been a perfect Run, and lisa is nearly home Free until Shoot.
Lisa's monster load Grabs the attention of the law.
Crap, he's turning around.
He's chasing me down.
Can't anything ever go smoothly For me? Coming up It's really blowing out here.
A whiteout Threatens jack's urgent haul.
I know they need their fuel, But I'm not going in.
And ray makes the Ultimate haul road mistake.
A few miles from Completing her run Shoot.
Lisa encounters the One party who can ruin it.
He's chasing me down.
North slope police Do more than just bust speeders.
They check permits and log Books to make sure trucks are On the road legally.
Hoping her paperwork is in Order, lisa pulls over expecting The worst.
I don't wanna make a mistake At all, but especially not this One.
But the cop Continues on.
Oh, good, he's going away.
As she pulls into Prudhoe with her oversize load, Lisa checks one goal off her List but adds another.
My new goalforget all those Other goalsI just wanna just Not get pulled over.
That's my goal.
I made it here safe with my First oversize load, and I think Bringing it up here successfully Is gonna help me hopefully get More oversizes in the future.
When I'm faced with a challenge, I mean, it's hard work to Overcome the challenge but when I do it's like, "I just overcame That challenge.
That's the best thing in the World.
I can do it.
Where's the next one? Bring it on.
" I'm done.
As lisa wraps up Her fifth haul of the season, On the road to nuiqsut, Jack jessee is still on thin Ice! With a windstorm kicking up Around him.
The wind's picked up, And it's blowing pretty stiff Out here.
As a phase three Blow moves in over the ice, Jack's visibility is less than One delineator.
I hope I can drive through It.
We'll see what happens.
For every foot jack travels, The 60-Mile stretch seems to get Longer.
Seems like the farther I get On the ice road, the worse the Thing's getting.
Oh, visibility's down to less Than 100 feet.
If it gets worse, I'm gonna be At maybe 50 feet, 25 feet's All I'll be able to see.
If jack mistakenly Veers off the road, he risks Running onto thinner ice.
Can't see past the end of my Hood right now.
I don't know if the village is Gonna get its fuel today or not.
I mean, I know they need their Fuel, but if it's not safe for Me to do it Yeah, I'm not going in.
Stopping his Also carries a huge risk.
The parked semi's dead weight Quickly begins to bend the ice Below it.
Within minutes, the ice can Begin to bow and then break Through.
Jack hopes the blow breaks Before the ice.
Dalton, ray battles a different Force of nature.
My biggest obstacle on this Trip tonight is staying awake.
That's about the biggest one.
What keeps me up is I know I got To hang on to my job so I can Keep my family together.
That's the only thing I have To look forward to.
I'm not the only one.
I know there's hundreds and Hundreds of fathers, husbands That are going through this.
It's a bad time right now, And you do what you gotta do To hold it together.
driving through the night, Have begun to take their toll.
So right now, pretty tired.
Hope I can make it.
My best bet's I'll stick with The coffee.
And in an instant, everything can go wrong.
Working the Graveyard on the dalton, Ray makes a classic haul road Mistake.
He reaches for something on The dash and for a split Second Takes his eye off the road.
All of a sudden I'm like, I could see a tire going for The ditch.
That's a good wake-Up call.
But that coulda put it in the Ditch pretty easy.
Probably woulda rolled it.
That's what put that tanker in The ditch a couple weeks ago, And I just did the exact same Thing.
There's a lot of crosses on The road too.
I don't wanna see a corner Saying "ray's corner.
" You worry about staying alive.
And if you go out there and get Yourself killed on the ice road, Then your family's screwed Without you too.
With his adrenaline Pumping from the near miss, Ray will have no problem staying Alert enough to drive the last Few miles into prudhoe bay.
Back on the river crossing to Nuiqsut The longer I'm sitting here Waiting, the worse the storm's Been getting.
Visibility is still Next to nothing, but ever minute Jack's stopped the ice below him Gets weaker.
This environment up here, This is no place for anybody To be stranded.
If I'm gonna go, I'm gonna have To really get going.
God, I can't wait to get off This ice road.
It's really blowing out here.
Fighting the phase Three blow Wow.
Jack inches across The ice.
And finally sees the village In the distance.
Well, we made it.
With the blow Behind him, jack rolls into Nuiqsut, not a moment too soon.
It's 40 below outside right Now.
They don't have any other power Than their gasoline generators.
We just don't wanna find out What happens when they run outta Gasoline in such cold weather.
You know, people could really Freeze to death.
And everybody here has a sigh Of relief, knowing that they've Just got 30,000 gallons of Gasoline.
As the sun rises Over the arctic ocean Alex smells victory in his race With hugh.
Polar bear, you gotta copy.
Is this the polish Icebreaker? You need me to throw you A rope or what? What's that? Ah, you're breaking up.
He's just pretending he can't Hear.
Alex may be talking Trash, but the race is closer Than he thinks.
Well, I didn't think I was Gonna catch him.
All of a sudden, I come around The corner and [bleep.]
he's There, soand I'm gaining on Him, so I'm gonna get him.
I got about a mile to go here.
I guess we'll see how much of A racer he is.
Come on, come on.
I'm cutting my curves here.
I'm trying to gain on him.
I'm gaining pretty good here.
With prudhoe bay Only moments away, it's a mad Dash for the cash.
Come on.
Lead, follow, or get the [Bleep.]
out of the way.
Hang on to your socks.
At the entrance To town, alex maintains his Slight lead.
Great, he's just about There's two pickups between Him and me.
But with a race This close, every move counts.
Hey, alex, why'd you go that Way? Oh, dickens.
I just passed alex.
At the stop sign he went the Wrong way.
I hunted his ass down all day.
I caught him right at the stop Sign.
As alex realizes His mistake, hugh gets the edge And hurries to be the first To unload.
Uh-Oh.
This doesn't look too good.
After 500 miles of Driving, it all comes down to Who can drop their load the Fastest, and hugh's head start Makes all the difference.
That's what I call easy Money.
Agh, it's game over.
That rotten son of a gun.
He went one way, I went The right way.
He ain't that bright sometimes.
When the dust Settles, there's plenty of time For smack talk.
The roadkill cafe is now Open.
Yeah, roadkill cafe.
Over some grilled Moose in 40 below.
If alex would get out of his Truck he can join us.
He's putting on some clean Panties.
You know, I always like to Beat hugh, but just the fact Just in challenging him it seems To kinda give himit seems to Irritate him enough to make me Happy.
Look at him.
Hey, we're over here! You're going the wrong way.
Yeah.
That preacher will never Have a chance in hell at beating The polar bear.
Hugh may have won The day, but alex is still one Up on him for the season.
Next on Ice Road Truckers You need a ride? Alex's new copilot May be more than he bargained For.
You got a huge screwdriver Hanging out of your engine! An urgent mission Sends the rookie out on thin Ice.
You're pretty damn slick, I'll tell you that.
And a close call Almost wipes jack off the road.
Come on.
Hugh and alex get Ready to rumble.
You need me to throw you a Rope or what? Lisa's monster Load May be more than she can handle.
Holy crap.
An arctic blow Traps jack On thin ice.
I mean, I know they need Their fuel, but it's not safe For me to do it.
And a late-Night Run could mean disaster.
At the carlile Fuel depot in fairbanks Morning, guys.
Jack jessee gets An urgent mission.
Fuel to nuiqsut? The native Community of nuiqsut sits on one Of the world's largest oil Reserves, but the village is Running out of fuel.
Well, the village out there, I mean, they don't make any Fuel.
They don't have a year-Round Road to them.
They have to wait for the ice Road to open up.
They've got a few hundred Gallons left, which isn't much.
Jack will have to Haul his tanker 500 miles up the Dalton to prudhoe bay and then Another 70 miles across the Frozen colville river to Nuiqsut.
It's critical that we get This fuel up to 'em.
They haven't had any tankers in About nine months out there, so Trying to get out there as fast As we can.
At the start of the Season, alex debogorski made the First run to nuiqsut Hauling a load of building Supplies.
But the village had to wait Another three weeks for the ice To support a 100,000-Pound fuel Tanker.
I sure hope the ice is thick Enough.
Back at the yard, Alex debogorski is getting ready To haul his fifth load of the Season.
There's a phone call.
But the haul road Won't be the only thing Challenging alex on this run.
Hello? Alex, what the hell is going On? Well, I'm tying one down and My understanding was that you Were gonna get one this Afternoon.
What? Yeah.
You're all thinking you're gonna Beat me now 'cause you're Getting on the road first.
Well, I mean, that's the Whole idea.
'Cause I'm gonna be right up Your ass.
Yeah, we'll take whatever the Good lord hands me and we'll do Our best we can with it.
Back at the office, Instead of heading to dispatch For her next run, lisa kelly has Been called in to see the boss.
Wanted to see me? Yeah, come on in.
What's up? Uh We got a couple of those pipe Racks that we're gonna move, so We're gonna give you an Opportunity to move one.
I think it's about 11 feet wide And 45 feet long.
So we've talked about this Before and the only way you get Experience is to actually do it, So.
Sounds good.
All right, thanks, lisa.
Have a good trip.
See you.
Got my first oversized.
Earlier this Season, lisa took a shot at a Big load, but had to give it up To a more experienced driver.
It doesn't mean I couldn't do It.
I could have done it.
It just would have taken me Longer.
This oversized load Offers lisa a chance to redeem Herself.
Hey.
Lisa.
Nice to meet you.
Lisa meets her Pilot driver.
Looks like fun, huh? Yeah.
He'll help guide The monster load through the Treacherous curves and hills Between fairbanks and coldfoot.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Let's see.
How many? One, two.
With this load, It's all about size.
Yeah, y'all, it's oversized.
The extra-Tall, Extra-Wide pipe rack hangs over The sides of lisa's trailer and Towers over her cab.
All right, got to get out of Here.
As she navigates The streets of fairbanks, the Margin of error shrinks to zero.
Can you tell me if I'ma hit This? I don't know the best way to Take this one.
Everythingeverything all of a Sudden looks really low.
Left.
If lisa hits a Low-Hanging traffic light, the Consequences would be severe.
Damage to the load and to the Reputation of the driver.
Where's he at? Perfect.
Oh, scares the crap out of me.
That's good.
I always get an adrenaline rush.
If lisa's career is In danger on the city streets Further up the road, her life is On the line.
Drifting snow has narrowed the Road Forcing drivers in both Directions to the middle.
I'm meeting a big one right Here.
Corner 17.
With an oversized Load and little room to Maneuver, the oncoming truck Could mean trouble.
I need to get as close to the Ditch as possible.
Holy crap.
Gosh.
After just 20 miles And 2 close calls, surviving the Next 400 miles to prudhoe will Take everything lisa's got.
It's definitely a test.
I want to prove that I can do It.
I know I can.
I just have to show them that I Can.
I just need to stay alert.
Back in fairbanks, The polar bear is finally ready To hit the road Well behind his rival.
Ol' alex got ahead of me Again.
There's not much we can do about It, but we're here to do a job And we're gonna do her.
Hugh's plan is to Get the jump on alex up at Coldfoot.
He'll be in bed when I get There.
I'll get up in the morning.
He won't even know I passed him.
He'll think I'm behind him and I'll be in prudhoe bay and Turned around coming back and Take him a whole 'nother trip Just to figure it out.
It's either he wins or I win and That just keeps the game on.
Just between me and him.
While hugh chases Alex, 250 miles north, jack's Taking on a bigger adversary.
The northernmost and one of the Steepest mountain passes on the Continent.
You got to be careful going Through the corners with the Tankers.
You're losing weight.
You're gaining weight.
You're being pushed.
You're being pulled.
A load of fuel is a Movable beast.
That fluid's actually moving Back and forth in there.
As jack climbs the Slope, the fuel expands or Contracts as much as 20% with Changes in temperature and it Rolls against its inner Compartments with tremendous Force, pushing the truck to the Edge of the road.
If a driver doesn't compensate For it, the so-Called "slosh Effect" can throw a rig off the Road.
And in these conditions and This particular road, you really Got to be on your ball.
Fuel's got a mind of its own.
It's nothing you can really Control Or even predict.
You can kind of guess at what it Might be doing.
But, you know, I mean, the Loads, more or less It acts like its alive.
It's always moving back there.
His skill keeps the Truck on the road.
But just 200 yards from the top Of the pass What's going on here? His tires lose Their grip.
See, I'm spinning my tires.
Hold on.
On a monster cliff At atigun pass Jack jessee is Spinning towards the edge.
Hold on.
I got it, buddy.
Once again, jack Shows why he's the best in the Business, keeping his cool and His rig on the road.
I'll sure feel a lot safer When I get my fuel offloaded and Lose 100,000 pounds.
While jack heads Out of the treacherous mountain Pass, avalanche expert reid Bahnson is heading into the pass On a different mission.
He's trying to keep the whole Mountainside from crashing down.
We're gonna go up and poke Around in the snow on the south Side of atigun pass.
It's a very prolific avalanche Producer.
Truck drivers depend on us to Keep this hill avalanche-Safe.
Recent storms have Created ideal avalanche Conditions and with this latest Break in the weather, traffic Has doubled and so has the Danger.
Just a few days ago, three People died in avalanches.
Two of their bodies were Recovered, but it's almost a Week now and one of them, the Conditions have been so bad that The rescuers haven't been able To go in and get the guy's body Out of the avalanche.
To help the Truckers avoid a similar fate, Reid climbs the delicate face of The atigun in search of Avalanche hot spots.
So far, we've just got that Few inches of new snow on top of Our old, hard wind crust.
Whoa.
Let's see what that layer looks Like.
After 30 years of Studying avalanche conditions, Reid knows a problem when he Sees one.
Isolate this little column Here.
Shutting down the Pass could mean millions in lost Profits.
It's up to reid to determine Just how big the threat actually Is.
Right here, where I kind of Sliced through the snowpack, You can see this big, thick wind Slab.
It's dark.
But right below that is this Really weak, sugary stuff.
You know, this stuff, it's just Falling away.
Just four feet Beneath the surface, a massive Time bomb could be ticking.
So this is the big slab I'm Expecting to slide and this is The weak layer it's gonna slide On, but right now, we just don't Have quite enough tension in That rubber band to make it go, "Boom.
" For now, the weight Of the snow isn't enough to Warrant closing the pass, but Reid will keep close watch on This slope.
Avalanches are always lurking In the background up here.
But I think the truckers are Gonna live another day.
Down on the road It's kind of cool-Looking Down here.
Lisa and her Summit with no problem.
But waiting for her on the other Side of atigun is a whole new Challenge.
Thank you.
Oh, you're welcome.
A southbounder said that There was ice fog at slope Mountain all the way to 62 mile, So I'm anticipating frosty Windshields and singing Antennas.
'S gonna get swallowed up Here.
Ice fog occurs when Temperatures drop below minus 40 Degrees.
Water droplets freeze in tiny Ice crystals, which coat Windshields and antennas.
Sing for me.
Static charges Generated by the ice crystals React with radio equipment and Create an eerie hum.
It just sounds like bad radio Reception, but you turn your Radios off and you're still Getting it.
It's hard to know where to focus 'Cause you don't know where it's Coming from.
It seems like every time you get Up this far, there's illusions That you see that you don't see Anywhere else.
Kind of eerie.
I mean, it's just All the senses and stuff are Just kind of all mixed up and It's hard to tell where I'm at.
Like Just see and hear things that You don't normally see and hear.
It's weird.
I hear you, mother nature.
Can you shut up now? Okay, now, shh.
Quiet now.
Thank you.
As night falls over The haul road Alex rolls into coldfoot with What he thinks is a comfortable Lead over hugh.
We're here in coldfoot.
Still northbound.
Uh, far as I know, I'm still Ahead of hugh, so I'm done for The day, so now I'm gonna go Have a bit of supper and get a Good night's sleep.
While alex retires, There's no rest for the wicked.
If I can get into coldfoot by Leave by 7:00 in the morning.
Like I said, alex is an ugly son Of a bitch, so he'll still be Sleeping.
And I'll just toodle on by and He'll think he's still way ahead Of me.
Hours later, a Road-Weary hugh finally reaches Coldfoot, but he won't rest till He gets a bead on his Competition.
I'm gonna scout the parking Lot here and see if the old [Bleep.]
[bleep.]
is in here.
If he's in here, I'll pull up Beside him, block him in.
By god, I think I've found my Arch nemesis.
Guess where I'm parking.
Right beside him so he can't get Out.
I just boxed him in.
He can't get out if he wants to.
Back in fairbanks, It's 11:00 P.
M And rookie ray veilleux gets Called in for a rush order.
The boss says, "you got to go Out.
You're the only guy here.
" These are those vertical support Systems that hold up the Pipeline.
They want it in prudhoe in the Morning sometime, so that means We'd have to run all night long.
I really don't like doing that.
I get tired, but got to do what The boss says.
Ray may not like Running at night, but he knows If he doesn't, someone else Will.
There's ten guys lined up Trying to get this job, so I got To hang on to it.
I'm gonna do what I got to do to Feed my family.
This load that ray's got Leaving tonight, it's one of the Last loads of vsms.
We've got to have it there On-Site by tomorrow or we're Gonna miss our deadline, so Obviously, we want him to be Safe, but he's got the hours to Do it.
He just needs to dig deep and Push through.
It's late.
It's dark.
But it is what it is and we're Going to prudhoe.
Does it smell like brakes back There or anything? My, uh, driver-Side rear wheel I don't know.
I don't know if it's snow dust Kicking up behind the trailer or If it's brakes smoking.
Hard to tell.
I might have a brake that's Stuck.
Headed on to the Steep slopes of the dalton, a Stuck brake is the last thing a Driver wants.
I got to pull over and check It out.
That's not a good spot.
Whoa.
I'm burning.
Coming up Here we go on the ice road Again.
It's jack's 50-Ton Tanker versus the widest river Delta west of the mississippi.
Sure does make me nervous.
And lisa Shoot.
Versus the law.
He's chasing me down.
Midnight in the Middle of nowhere on the haul Road.
The rookie's trailer is going up In smoke.
I'm [bleep.]
burning.
Well Brakes are pretty hot.
You can see it just pouring out Over there.
No oil's leaking.
It ain't like a rear seal Or anything like that.
With no obvious Sign of an oil leak or engine Trouble, ray assumes the Best-Case scenario.
Yeah, it's just snow all Inside there.
Ice and snow inside the hubs.
It's not smoke.
It's steam.
It's all right.
So let's go.
Snow and ice Steaming up on overheated brakes Is no cause for concern.
But if ray guessed wrong, He could be in for a long night.
It's basically all steam.
I mean, we rode the brakes Coming down the hill.
It's a heavy load.
So that would be the first Obstacle out of the way.
Ray pushes on Without stopping to rest at Coldfoot, where at 5:00 A.
M.
Alex is awake and ready to get An early start.
Well, this isn't very kosher.
But his truck has Been boxed in by a familiar foe.
That's my little furry buddy There, hugh rowland.
He was trying to squeeze me in.
He coulda been a lot tighter Than that.
If he turned that corner in About another foot, maybe I'd Have a problem, but I can get Out.
My truck's thinner than his.
Oh, oh, the mirror.
Aye-Yi-Yi.
Gonna leave this note, So I can buy him a new mirror.
Oh, hi.
Wow.
I was just leaving you a note Thatto contact me.
Okay.
And maybemaybe now that You're here, I could pay you for It.
Well, I'm not worried about It.
It's got a match set now.
The other side's broke too.
Oh, wellwell, thank you Very much.
An hour after alex gets out of Town What? The polar bear Emerges from hibernation.
[Bleep.]
old [bleep.]
polish Icebreaker.
Figured he'd get out the gate Before I did, and he did, The son of a [bleep.]
.
So now I gotta chase him down.
Alex in the backf his mind Knows that I'm coming.
He might've got away this Morning.
He's probably looking over his Shoulder all day today here.
As the old rivals Fight it out Jack heads off the dalton Here we go on the ice road Again.
And onto the frozen River that leads that leads to Nuiqsut.
It's a weird sensation being On the ice.
It sure does make me nervous.
You know, nothing gets your Heart pumping like sliding on The ice.
Maybe I should learn to ice Skate.
This thing is slick out here.
Jack's Carrying 1 1/2 sherman tanks Over thin ice.
But every ounce of fuel is Welcome at the village.
They're just about out of Fuel.
You know, it's already a day Late, so I'm trying to get it up There as fast as I can.
Nuiqsut is one of the newest Towns in alaska, though its People are one of the oldest On the continent.
They are the inupiat, who Traditionally live on the arctic Coast and hunt whales.
In 1968, oil was discovered on Their land, and they moved to A new site on the colville river In exchange for oil revenue.
But with an ocean of crude oil Just miles away, they still rely On shipments of diesel for Electricity and heat.
And it can be a dangerous Situation if they run out.
Jack's making good Time.
But halfway across the ice, The wind begins to howl.
Ah, crap.
And I'm hearing on the radio That the weather's moving in And the temperature's dropping Really fast.
The wind's starting to blow, That temperature drop, And if it picks up a lot of Snow and visibility drops to Nothing, we may not make it out There, and the village won't get Its fuel.
As jack rushes to Beat the storm, lisa kelly Is on the verge of A breakthrough.
Almost to prudhoe.
A couple miles.
Delivering one of The biggest loads of her career.
I wish every load was this Easygoing for me.
This means a little bit more to Me because it's one step closer To where I'm trying to get to.
It's been a perfect Run, and lisa is nearly home Free until Shoot.
Lisa's monster load Grabs the attention of the law.
Crap, he's turning around.
He's chasing me down.
Can't anything ever go smoothly For me? Coming up It's really blowing out here.
A whiteout Threatens jack's urgent haul.
I know they need their fuel, But I'm not going in.
And ray makes the Ultimate haul road mistake.
A few miles from Completing her run Shoot.
Lisa encounters the One party who can ruin it.
He's chasing me down.
North slope police Do more than just bust speeders.
They check permits and log Books to make sure trucks are On the road legally.
Hoping her paperwork is in Order, lisa pulls over expecting The worst.
I don't wanna make a mistake At all, but especially not this One.
But the cop Continues on.
Oh, good, he's going away.
As she pulls into Prudhoe with her oversize load, Lisa checks one goal off her List but adds another.
My new goalforget all those Other goalsI just wanna just Not get pulled over.
That's my goal.
I made it here safe with my First oversize load, and I think Bringing it up here successfully Is gonna help me hopefully get More oversizes in the future.
When I'm faced with a challenge, I mean, it's hard work to Overcome the challenge but when I do it's like, "I just overcame That challenge.
That's the best thing in the World.
I can do it.
Where's the next one? Bring it on.
" I'm done.
As lisa wraps up Her fifth haul of the season, On the road to nuiqsut, Jack jessee is still on thin Ice! With a windstorm kicking up Around him.
The wind's picked up, And it's blowing pretty stiff Out here.
As a phase three Blow moves in over the ice, Jack's visibility is less than One delineator.
I hope I can drive through It.
We'll see what happens.
For every foot jack travels, The 60-Mile stretch seems to get Longer.
Seems like the farther I get On the ice road, the worse the Thing's getting.
Oh, visibility's down to less Than 100 feet.
If it gets worse, I'm gonna be At maybe 50 feet, 25 feet's All I'll be able to see.
If jack mistakenly Veers off the road, he risks Running onto thinner ice.
Can't see past the end of my Hood right now.
I don't know if the village is Gonna get its fuel today or not.
I mean, I know they need their Fuel, but if it's not safe for Me to do it Yeah, I'm not going in.
Stopping his Also carries a huge risk.
The parked semi's dead weight Quickly begins to bend the ice Below it.
Within minutes, the ice can Begin to bow and then break Through.
Jack hopes the blow breaks Before the ice.
Dalton, ray battles a different Force of nature.
My biggest obstacle on this Trip tonight is staying awake.
That's about the biggest one.
What keeps me up is I know I got To hang on to my job so I can Keep my family together.
That's the only thing I have To look forward to.
I'm not the only one.
I know there's hundreds and Hundreds of fathers, husbands That are going through this.
It's a bad time right now, And you do what you gotta do To hold it together.
driving through the night, Have begun to take their toll.
So right now, pretty tired.
Hope I can make it.
My best bet's I'll stick with The coffee.
And in an instant, everything can go wrong.
Working the Graveyard on the dalton, Ray makes a classic haul road Mistake.
He reaches for something on The dash and for a split Second Takes his eye off the road.
All of a sudden I'm like, I could see a tire going for The ditch.
That's a good wake-Up call.
But that coulda put it in the Ditch pretty easy.
Probably woulda rolled it.
That's what put that tanker in The ditch a couple weeks ago, And I just did the exact same Thing.
There's a lot of crosses on The road too.
I don't wanna see a corner Saying "ray's corner.
" You worry about staying alive.
And if you go out there and get Yourself killed on the ice road, Then your family's screwed Without you too.
With his adrenaline Pumping from the near miss, Ray will have no problem staying Alert enough to drive the last Few miles into prudhoe bay.
Back on the river crossing to Nuiqsut The longer I'm sitting here Waiting, the worse the storm's Been getting.
Visibility is still Next to nothing, but ever minute Jack's stopped the ice below him Gets weaker.
This environment up here, This is no place for anybody To be stranded.
If I'm gonna go, I'm gonna have To really get going.
God, I can't wait to get off This ice road.
It's really blowing out here.
Fighting the phase Three blow Wow.
Jack inches across The ice.
And finally sees the village In the distance.
Well, we made it.
With the blow Behind him, jack rolls into Nuiqsut, not a moment too soon.
It's 40 below outside right Now.
They don't have any other power Than their gasoline generators.
We just don't wanna find out What happens when they run outta Gasoline in such cold weather.
You know, people could really Freeze to death.
And everybody here has a sigh Of relief, knowing that they've Just got 30,000 gallons of Gasoline.
As the sun rises Over the arctic ocean Alex smells victory in his race With hugh.
Polar bear, you gotta copy.
Is this the polish Icebreaker? You need me to throw you A rope or what? What's that? Ah, you're breaking up.
He's just pretending he can't Hear.
Alex may be talking Trash, but the race is closer Than he thinks.
Well, I didn't think I was Gonna catch him.
All of a sudden, I come around The corner and [bleep.]
he's There, soand I'm gaining on Him, so I'm gonna get him.
I got about a mile to go here.
I guess we'll see how much of A racer he is.
Come on, come on.
I'm cutting my curves here.
I'm trying to gain on him.
I'm gaining pretty good here.
With prudhoe bay Only moments away, it's a mad Dash for the cash.
Come on.
Lead, follow, or get the [Bleep.]
out of the way.
Hang on to your socks.
At the entrance To town, alex maintains his Slight lead.
Great, he's just about There's two pickups between Him and me.
But with a race This close, every move counts.
Hey, alex, why'd you go that Way? Oh, dickens.
I just passed alex.
At the stop sign he went the Wrong way.
I hunted his ass down all day.
I caught him right at the stop Sign.
As alex realizes His mistake, hugh gets the edge And hurries to be the first To unload.
Uh-Oh.
This doesn't look too good.
After 500 miles of Driving, it all comes down to Who can drop their load the Fastest, and hugh's head start Makes all the difference.
That's what I call easy Money.
Agh, it's game over.
That rotten son of a gun.
He went one way, I went The right way.
He ain't that bright sometimes.
When the dust Settles, there's plenty of time For smack talk.
The roadkill cafe is now Open.
Yeah, roadkill cafe.
Over some grilled Moose in 40 below.
If alex would get out of his Truck he can join us.
He's putting on some clean Panties.
You know, I always like to Beat hugh, but just the fact Just in challenging him it seems To kinda give himit seems to Irritate him enough to make me Happy.
Look at him.
Hey, we're over here! You're going the wrong way.
Yeah.
That preacher will never Have a chance in hell at beating The polar bear.
Hugh may have won The day, but alex is still one Up on him for the season.
Next on Ice Road Truckers You need a ride? Alex's new copilot May be more than he bargained For.
You got a huge screwdriver Hanging out of your engine! An urgent mission Sends the rookie out on thin Ice.
You're pretty damn slick, I'll tell you that.
And a close call Almost wipes jack off the road.