Ice Road Truckers

- Season 2

(2008)

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It is a job only a few would dare. This year, four ice road truckers return from last season to join Arctic veterans as they venture 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle to drive the most isolated and dangerous ice roads in North America.

It's a new season and a new set of challenges for the ice road truckers--the drivers of the tundra who carry vital equipment to remote outposts located hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle during two months of every year before the road disappears.

Just five days into the Arctic adventure, Mother Nature is about to strike and wreak havoc on the ice roads. Making matters worse is a report of a trucker who has run off the road and is stranded on the weakest part. The storm will make the ice roads impassable and dangerous. Since safety of the drivers is of the utmost concern, the roads must be shutdown.

It's week two on the frozen tundra and the name of the game is Rig Move. MGM is breaking down camp and moving every last piece of equipment to a new base at Langley to continue exploring for natural gas. While Alex and Hugh continue to prove themselves, Rick's only drive is into the repair shop where he spends two days doing nothing but sitting around.

After the storm clears, most of the truckers are ready to roll--all except Rick, who is on the verge of quitting and looks to Hugh for advice. For a second time, Jerry attempts the MGM camp move, including the transport of an expensive 50-ton derrick. He's assigned two of his best truckers to the task, which includes a risky practice called "Two Trucking.

The truckers have delivered the fragile 135-foot derrick to the new MGM exploration site, but before it can be erected, they must also transport the 80-ton substructure that will form its base. At 160,000 pounds, the base must be broken into separate loads, the combined weight of which makes them the heaviest--and most dangerous--loads the ice will face all season.

Bear and Eric must haul a boiler and a flare stack--two critical pieces of equipment--to Langley at the same time that a polar bear is spotted in the area. In this region of the Arctic, polar bears have been known to kill humans, so the truckers must now be on guard against this new danger.

After being Med-Evaced to Yellowknife hospital, Alex receives a grim diagnosis that could mean the end of his Ice Road season. Rick is also complaining of health issues, and again threatens to quit if his boss won't let him take time off to see a doctor. With nearly all of the rookies out for the count, the Arctic veterans take on the challenge of hauling the final loads of the rig move.

It's a race against time to dismantle the Mallik Research site before the ice road melts, but while scientists are on the verge of an historic breakthrough, the truckers are starting to haul away equipment piece-by-piece. Hugh is given the challenging task of training a new driver, Isaac Lenny, whose driving test is just days away.

With the sun beating down on the ice, the road is melting at an accelerating rate. This means that it's all hands on deck for the demobilization of the drilling sites at Langley and Mallik, which must be broken down and hauled away before they're swallowed up by Arctic waters. Northwind owner Kurt leaves his office behind and jumps into a truck to contribute to the effort.

Rising temperatures are melting away the ice road, making it a dash to the finish line for the crew breaking down the Langely site. Every last piece of equipment must be transported down the ice to Inuvik before the Arctic waters reclaim the road. Hugh is hauling an unsteady load of heavy gauge cable, making his rig so back-heavy that he struggles to get traction on the slippery surface.

Warming temperatures are causing overflows all over the ice road, and with water rushing through cracks in the ice, hauling loads just got a lot more dangerous. Jody and Brett take on the challenge of removing the 66-ton derrick from the Langley site. The massive rig will have to be two-trucked; one truck will make the entire journey traveling backwards.

A recap of season two for the ice road truckers--the drivers of the tundra who carry vital equipment to remote outposts located hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle during two months of every year before the road disappears. It is a race against the elements, against time, and against each other.

Hugh and Eric are neck-in-neck in their race to claim dominance over the ice road, but with only days before the end of the season, time is running out and the ocean waters are closing in. As the truckers race to remove every last piece of equipment from the Langley site, an Arctic whiteout threatens to halt operations, and may mean the difference between winning and losing in the load count.

Sit down with the men of "Season 2" who dare to drive over the frozen ocean and river waters of the Arctic, and learn why they risk their lives for the job. Explore the history of the ice roads with the man who founded them in Canada's Northwest Territories, John Denison. He and the truckers explain how the roads were first built and how modern technology has changed the way they are constructed.