Ice Road Truckers

Narrator: Now...

Holy (bleep)!

Narrator: On "Ice Road Truckers"...

Whoa!

Narrator: It's the final runs of the season.

- How's everybody doin' back there?

The road's gettin' rough.

Steph: Hammer down, boys and girls, hammer down!

Narrator: As rivals join forces...

Lisa: Get 'er done.

Narrator: To make history.

Darrell: Whoa! - Take it easy.

Oh my God!

Narrator: And the drivers...

- Holy (bleep)! - (Coughing violently)

Mark: Darrell stop the (bleep) truck!

Narrator: Are fired up. Lisa: Mark jumped out!

Fire! Fire!

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Narrator: There's panic throughout the North.

The melt's descended on the winter roads

closing virtually every trail.

As the season rushes to the final 48 hours,

remote communities are desperate for supplies,

but as routes turn to mud and slush

there's no way to get all the loads delivered.

But the Ice Road Truckers are refusing to go quietly.

In northern Ontario...

Art: Well, isn't this great?

Narrator: Art Burke's fightin' through

one of the only roads still open.

And it's a torn up mess.

- This was all melted to hell, eh.

- I don't know how long this Is gonna be open,

but it's too late now because I'm already on my way in.

And you can't turn around.

Narrator: The village of Sachigo Lake is counting

on the 20 ton load of building supplies.

- Just tryin' to get as far as I can before it thaws out.

Narrator: But getting to the remote community

over the swampy trail will be a challenge.

- I just hope to god this stays frozen

until I get my arse outta here.

Going through a little bit of rough terrain here.

This is (bleep) ridiculous, eh.

Narrator: There are two paths to Sachigo Lake:

a marathon 450 mile route with scattered small crossings,

or a 100 mile short cut, but with one giant hurdle,

a notorious four mile stretch across the ice.

- Don't ever buy a truck off the ice road, b'y.

It might look good, but inside it's (bleep).

Narrator: Art's elected to take the shorter trail,

willing to tangle with the mammoth crossing

to try and make it in fast.

- I've never been in an earthquake, eh,

but I imagine it'd be just this:

me shakin' around like a (bleep) fool.

I forget over the summer what this is like right.

I should be keepin' notes.

Get it tattooed on my hand some place: (bleep) no,

and then every time I think of this I just look at that eh.

no, don't go again.

When Mark calls, "Ha, ha, (bleep) no!"

Narrator: Ten miles back...

another Polar driver's pushing towards the same destination.

- I'm on my way to Sachigo with a load of lumber.

Narrator: But unlike his counterpart,

Alex Debogorski's taking the long route to get there.

Alex: I'm probably looking at about a 15 hour drive

over the ice road which has been melting for a week.

Narrator: So the legend will push plenty of extra hours

over bone crushing terrain.

Alex: First thoughts on this road is it's...

It's smoother running over trees

than it is driving on the road.

The speed I'm going

a Sasquatch could just walk beside the truck

and we could have a conversation.

"And how are you doing today?"

"Well, I'm glad you're happy."

Narrator: Willing endure the rocky additional miles

to avoid the giant crossing on the other path,

hoping it's the safest bet to reach the town.

- It's a very unique season. It's ridiculously short, um,

it started off too warm and it's ending up too warm.

So the challenge today is to get there and actually, uh,

get some stuff to this community, as well as, uh,

getting there in one piece.

Narrator: With 200 miles ahead of him...

Holy mackerel.

Narrator: Over thawing muskeg

that's been pulverized all season,

the vet will have his hands full.

I'm sure it'll get worse.

Narrator: Back in Winnipeg at Polar headquarters...

Mark: Hello?

To North Caribou?

Well, we heard that road closed last week.

Narrator: The end of the season could present a big opportunity

for boss Mark Kohaykewych.

- If we have your blessing we will, uh we'll get in there.

And how many loads?

That's a lot of loads this time of year.

Well, there's no guarantees, but I'm willing to give it a try.

Let me see whose left here.

I know a lot of guys have gone home.

Give me 24 hours, we'll get movin'.

Excellent. Appreciate the call. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Time to roll.

Just when I thought the season was over

there's a community in Ontario, North Caribou,

they've contacted us.

There's still some supplies that need to get in.

The road's have been closed for a little while,

but they're gonna reopen it just for us.

This road's gonna have a lot of challenges.

It's a rough road.

I got one shot to get this load in.

I'm short a couple drivers for this convoy...

It can't be just any drivers.

They gotta be top dogs.

Narrator: With everything on the line for Polar

and a community in need,

Mark's bringing in the opposition.

Years ago...

Darrell: I come up here to haul these loads

and get as many loads as I can.

Narrator: When Mark employed Darrell Ward,

the two often butted heads.

- You're done. The door's right there.

Right on I'm out the door!

See you later. See ya.

All right thanks. Yep, bye.

Stole another load from Polar. Right on.

Narrator: And after Darrell started his own business...

- You get the (bleep) off my truck, I'm leavin'!

Thanks for the load, Mark!

Narrator: They became fierce opponents.

- Partners. - Nice.

Narrator: And the battle only intensified once Darrell

brought aboard Lisa Kelly.

Mark: Darrell stole Lisa from me,

it's certainly not good for Polar.

I mean it's, it's hurtin' me.

I need some help.

I've got a call from North Caribou,

they've got some loads they gotta get in there, um...

I know the season's pretty much done.

It's a late season run, the road's gonna be crap.

It's been closed for a while

but we got the Chiefs blessing to get on it.

I need experienced drivers on this. I need both of you.

This is the final run of the year

and there is no guarantee we'll get in there.

What do you think Lisa?

- Yeah. I mean, let's get this stuff into the people that need it.

- For the community let's do it.

- You bet. - Perfect thanks guys. I appreciate it.

- In situations like this you have to throw the rivalry aside

to benefit the communities.

If there's ever a year that they have needed us

this is the year.

Narrator: To pull off the mission of the season,

Darrell and Lisa will be convoying

with Polar's top dog, Todd Dewey

and the company rookie, Steph Custance.

Mark: All right, guys, we got these loads going to North Caribou.

We've got these building supplies

that they're in desperate need for

and, uh, they're counting on us to bring it in.

Todd: Do we even know what this road's like?

I know the roads are bad but,

I mean, do we know or are we just goin' in blind?

- Nobody's been down that road for a good week.

Um, it's enter at your own risk.

This is the biggest challenge I've taken on

in all my years of business here.

Worst case scenario

is we're leaving stuff in the bush till next year.

I don't know if we're gonna be able to pull this off,

but I think with, uh, the right team here

and the companies comin' together,

I think we can get this done.

So we got housing materials that's goin', we got one van

and the rest are gonna be decks.

Uh, Steph I'm gonna get you on the van.

No time better than now to learn.

Mark: Lisa and Todd you guys are gonna be on the decks as well.

I know there's a really bad hill there so we gotta start

pushin' trucks up or pullin' trucks up.