Ice Road Rescue

These roads are some of the most dangerous in Europe.

Ah!

This is catastrophe.

When winter strikes, transport routes traveled by 50-ton trucks

turn into bobsleigh tracks.

Ah! (bleep)

And when the major commercial highways aren't highways at all

but winding mountain roads…

Ah, whoa, whoa, whoa!

…it's a recipe for disaster.

But, throughout Norway, there's a brigade of rescue workers.

It takes a special breed of men to keep the roads open.

In this episode of Ice Road Rescue ...

He has to take me for the man I am. I don't give him any special treatment.

Things get explosive in the mountains.

(in Norwegian) Don't hit any buttons and start the plower.

And good moods turn bad...

...when jobs go seriously off track.

Around Eidfjord it's been snowing hard for several days,

which should mean plenty of rescue work for Bjoern.

But the mountain road is partly closed

with cars only allowed to drive in convoy one way at a time.

That means no accidents. Bad news in the road rescue business.

Bjoern's just found out what's causing the problem,

and it's not the heavy snow.

The snow plow sent to clear the road has broken down.

Instead of clearing the road, it's blocking it.

Bjoern calls friend and fellow tow trucker Thord

to see if they can get the plow back up and running,

and get the lucrative mountain road back open for business.

Bjoern, he asked me if I can go with him and help him

so I said "Yes, it's no problem," so.

If you go for Bjoern's place you may be home the next day, maybe the day after.

You never know. He just said take the car with you and come.

I don't know what we are going to do.

Bjoern's driving like he's stolen the car, so.

He's driving like hell, you know. I can't tell how fast we were driving.

He drive faster, faster, faster.

And the snow, we don't see anything back here,

so if the police was there-- So maybe we don't drive more today.

Oh, my God!

My God! This machine looks like it's running for the last time.

The giant snow plow is totally immobile...

and blocking one side of the road completely.

As soon as he arrives,

Thord can hear the snow plow has a major problem.

Sounds like this machine is never running again.

Lots of bad sounds.

I thought it was something wrong with my car at first.

The guys quickly realize they're dealing with a broken fan belt.

Without it, the vehicle's dynamo can't charge the propulsion engine.

The huge machine is going nowhere... and neither is the snow.

There is no business when it snows.

No roads open, no trucks driving.

Bad business!

Th ese day s, Bjoern ha s many quiet days,

and he wants them to open the road.

Today

I was very pissed and I said "This road is going to be opened today."

No cars means no jobs for us, so we need the traffic going.

A replacement could take days to arrive.

Bjoern and Thord's only option is to try and fix it where it is.

But they don't know much about the vehicle they're working on.

(in Norwegian) Is this built for two drivers?

(in Norwegian) No, you drive from left or right.

Depends on which side you plow.

Who taught you to drive this damned machine?

It's similar to what we used at Haukeli back in the day.

Why the (bleep) did the wipers start up?

Did I touch something, or was it you?

- What is this? Gear.

What the hell? Is that right?

You must be able to change gear from both sides.

What the hell!

It's big as hell.

But when it comes to the mechanics,

these two can find their way round almost any engine.

So it's the engine in the back that won't charge?

(in Norwegian) No, it's this one, the propulsion engine.

Oh, is it this one right here?

Give me that one, I will go down and take a look.

Don't hit any buttons and start the plower.

Bjoern and Thord are sure they've got the parts and tools

they need for the repair.

They're confident it will be a straightforward job

to get the plower back up and running.

(in Norwegian) It's close to the compressor.

(in Norwegian) Yes, I can see it. The big one?

- Shall I just tighten it? Yes.

Working together they insert the new belt for the plower in no time.

Two new belts and now it's-- I hope it's okay.

He have to try it and then he will show us what the Big John can do.

Maybe one, two hour maximum, and the road is open.

Time to find out if the repair will hold and test run the plower.

(in Norwegian) I have to try to be aboard this thing!

Thord's looking forward to seeing the giant machine in action,

up close.

Just when they think it's all sorted... disaster strikes.

Further north a tourist has got into difficulty in the mountains.

After climbing a steep narrow pass in his four-wheel drive,

he got out to take a souvenir film on his phone, and this happens.

The closest road rescuer to him is Jo Roger.

He took the call half an hour ago and is already en route to help.

The road is very slippery ...

so we are going to go and pick it up.

Jo Roger and his family

have been working the roads around here for generations.

I've done this the last 31 years.

My family was doing this since 1896. You can say I'm born in it.

He knows all the roads like the back of his hand

and built a profitable business which has enabled him to expand.

My new truck is a Volvo, a 2014 model.

They have build it just like I wanted and on my specifications.

So I'm very proud of it. The truck is like my second home.

But where this small car has got stuck is too remote

for Jo Roger's big new Volvo.

For this job he's taking an older, more lightweight tow truck.

The roads are extremely icy today,

and Jo Roger knows he needs to take precautions.

I'm putting on the snow chains because it's very slippery in this area.

And the roads are very small with lots of hills.

So if I have to stop in some of the hills I wouldn't stand still.

It's essential Jo Roger gets to the driver as fast as he can.

To save time he decides to only fit chains to the rear of the truck.

We are ready to get up the hills. I hope we will get there safely.

The owner of the car we are going to pick up told me he was driving up a hill.

Then the car stopped and it went back down again and off the road.

I'm not sure where the car is and I'm looking for it now.

The higher he climbs,

the more and more treacherous the narrow road gets.

And Jo Roger is starting to regret not fitting chains to his front wheels.

Back with the snow plower,

Thord and Bjoern are having problems of their own.

Two new belts and now I hope it's okay.

As they are testing their fan belt repair... disaster.

Did it jump off? Yes, it leaks oil there, it jumped off!

For God's sake!

Just stop it, Tor Helge.

What the hell am I going to do now?

The oil hose jumped off when he started it.

So now there's no more oil left.

Despite appearances, they haven't killed anything.

The stain in the snow is oil, not blood.

The fan belt held up okay...

But the hose carrying oil to the rotary plower

at the front of the machine has ruptured.

The plower can drive but without oil supply to the rotary blades

it won't be clearing any snow.

Bjoern only has a limited range of tools,

and it's a big job to fix at the side of the road.

But he and Thord are determined that this road will be re-opened today.

We have to fasten the hose with this,

and we have to get more oil for the machine.

And then maybe the machine will work again.

The good news is they have enough replacement oil on the truck,

but need to loosen a giant steel nut

to be able to screw the hose back onto the pipe.

In these frozen conditions, it's a tough nut to crack.

Are you getting anywhere?

Brute force works the nut loose.

Next, they use a wrench tie down to force the hose and the end of the pipe together.

(in Norwegian) Pull some more...

Determination and brute strength does the trick...

and the hose is re-attached.

Big John can get back to plowing.

And the road so vital to Bjoern's business can re-open.

But back up north, things are not going so well for tow trucker Jo Roger.

We slid off the road.

We slid off the road. We should have put one more snow chain on the truck.

Coming off the road somewhere so remote is a big headache.

This was not the plan.

He needs to find a way to get the truck back on the road himself...

for help to reach him could take hours.

There are a few trees here.

So I hope I have enough power in the winches

to get be back on the road again.

Towing himself out will be difficult and dangerous.

The winch on his vehicle is built for small cars, not big trucks.

Hello, this didn't work out well!

It turns out the driver Jo Roger came to rescue

is just 200 meters further up the hill.

I've had a look, maybe I'll be able to tow my self up.

At least that means he'll have some extra pairs of hands to help.

Jo Roger's plan is to wrap cables around the trees behind his truck,

and use the winches to pull himself back onto the road.

But the winches and cables are designed for smaller jobs...

and the trees are not that strong.

There's a real danger something might go snap.

My truck is about ten tons...

and each winch can take about four tons.

So I will try to pull with both winches at the same time.

The winches have less power than the weight of the truck.

And the truck is off the road.

If something does snap,

the flying metal cable could cause serious damage

to anything or anyone close by.

Can you help me with the steering wheel ...

help me keep it straight.

Jo Roger asks the driver he's there to help

to assist him first by sitting in the truck and steering as he winches.