Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now, on "Ice Road Truckers"...

Art: Whoa!

Narrator: the weather worn winter roads are still open...

- Windy-ass little, tiny-ass frickin' road.

Narrator: but tougher than ever.

Whoa.

Narrator: Now every trucker will have to decide...

Steph: The color of this ice is terrifying me.

Narrator: how much risk...

What the (bleep) am I doing?

Narrator: is too much.

Oh my God, oh my God!

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Narrator: The ice road season is winding down...

and the pressure to move loads is ramping up.

Now, as the sun rises over the remote village of Pikangikum...

- What kind of excitement do you have in store for me today?

Holy mackerel.

Narrator: Veteran Alex Debogorski,

is getting a king-sized challenge...

We got a big heavy shack here

probably the heaviest one of the bunch.

Narrator: The 28,000 pound kitchen shack

is part of Polar's lucrative back-haul contract,

but pulling something this heavy this late in the season

is not for the faint of heart.

If the shack goes through,

the back end of the truck goes through,

we all go through together.

Narrator: Last week...

Alex: Oh-oh-oh-oh.

Oh, (bleep) we're in the ditch.

We're in the (bleep) ditch. Come on, come on, come on.

Narrator: The old pro barely managed

to keep his first shed on the road.

You've got to be kidding me.

Narrator: But today's long road presents a new challenge.

- You don't wanna load it on the truck

like I did with the last one

and the whole idea being is it's too heavy for the ice.

Narrator: So Alex will employ an old ice road technique

and drag the monster haul on top of a steel sleigh...

- Its got the skids underneath, it'll slide,

and they'll spread out the weight of the shack

over the skids.

Narrator: This means that Alex will have to navigate

the massive shack through the town's narrow streets

and then onto Pikangikum Lake,

which is showing the effects of warming temperatures.

Alex: It's almost the end of the season

so it's the last chance to get it out and...

the truck goes through then I'm gonna jump

and I'll wave as it goes to the bottom.

I'm gonna drive ahead on that, see what happens.

Narrator: With the shack chained up...

Narrator: all that's left to do is hit the road.

***

Alex: It's gonna take more than that.

Narrator: But he'll need the help of a powerful bulldozer.

Okay, move her in.

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And we're off like a hurdle of turtles.

Okay, that thing's tracking right behind me.

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We're on the road now,

let's see how this gravel road treats us.

Whoa-whoa! Whoa-whoa! Quit doing that.

There is nothing like force and ignorance

to get the job done.

Narrator: While Alex drags his heavy haul toward the ice...

200 miles away...

in Polar's Pickle Lake terminal...

All right.

Narrator: Art Burke is about to venture

where he's never gone before...

- Well, this morning I'm off to, uh, Castle Bonika?

Casablanka? Castleblanka?

Uh, I think it's pronounced--

How do you pronounce that?

I think it's called Kisselblanka?

What can I say?

I hope I'm pronouncing that right.

If I'm not pronouncing it right

I apologize to everybody that lives there.

But anyway I'm on my merry way here this morning.

***

Narrator: Art has a load of construction supplies

he's hauling to Kasabonica.

A First Nations community 500 miles away.

Art: Away we go, b'y.

New territory.

I don't know if I was here before I don't remember

so it'd be new to me anyway.

A new road that I don't know

you gotta be a little careful, eh?

You never know where the turns and the hills

and the slippery spots are or anything.

But we're gonna be fine.

***

Oh, what the (bleep) is going on here?

Okay, b'y, hang on. This is gonna get rough.

Hold on.

I can't go the speed I want to go.

We can add another hour on this (bleep) trip in here.

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Whoa!

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What the (bleep) is going on out here now?

Smells like antifreeze in here,

and that's not good.

Pull over here and we'll check this out, b'y,

and hopefully there's nothing up under there.

sucker.

Leaking from some (bleep) where's, b'y.

***

I'd say it's coming right out of the radiator somewhere.

Oh my God. I see what's going on, b'y.

This is what's going on. Look.

All this is loose, b'y.

The bracket is broke on the front of the radiator

and it swung down

and it scratched all the front of the radiator

now the radiator's leaking.

Narrator: The rough trail has knocked a mounting bracket loose

punching a hole in the radiator.

With the coolant leaking

the engine can overheat and shut down.

- Well, I tell you what we're gonna do, b'y,

we'll see if I can tie this up.

Oh, you go through there, you (bleep).

Narrator: Using zip ties,

Art secures the broken bracket

preventing further radiator damage...

Okay, b'y.

Hopefully it's gonna be fine.

Wow, a lot more than I thought.

Narrator: But there's nothing he can do to stop the leak.

Art: That's the last of the antifreeze

that I got to put in it.

That's pretty good now

but it ain't gonna stay in there very (bleep) long.

Please start.

Away we go again.

***

I had two gallons of coolant and I put them in.

There is nothing left.

Take it easy on these bumps

and hopefully we'll make it into...

Cas-cas-Casamika?

Casablonka.

Kasabanica, I think it is.

Narrator: 120 miles away...

I'm on my way to Garden Hill.

This season's coming to an end and it's coming quick.

We're right at the brink of the season gonna be closing.

If Mother Nature takes a bad turn again

and starts warming up that's gonna be pretty much it.

Narrator: Todd Dewey's feeling the heat.

- We are seriously pressed for time.

This is what I call the survival load.

This is the most important load

that you can possibly be hauling on the winter road

is a load of groceries to the community.

So I really need to get this load in.

Not a very good road.

It's rough and narrow, windy...

and slick.

And it's definitely gonna be hard to navigate.

I'm gonna fight this son of a bitch till we get there,

I'll tell ya that.

***

Holy (bleep), I gotta slow down, slow down.

Son of a bitch! Look at these corners right here.

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Son of a bitch.

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These are tight, buddy. I mean, tight.

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