Ice Road Truckers: A Review

"At the top of the world, there's an outpost like no other...and a job only a few would dare. The mission: to haul critical supplies across 350 miles of frozen lakes t Canada's remote billion-dollar mines. The challenge: to transport 10,000 loads in 60 days - before the road disappears. The rewards are great; the risks even greater. These are the men who make their living on thin ice." This dialogue by Thom Beers opened the series premiere of Ice Road Truckers, which aired on June 17, 2007 on the History Channel.

The series is based on the book written by Edith Iglauer, Denison's Ice Road, and it portrays the dangerous ordeal of driving 18-wheelers over frozen water.

In the first episode of Ice Road Truckers, the six truckers are introduced, as well as their destination; one of the diamond mines northeast of Yellowknife, along the 350 stretch of highway, built over frozen lakes.

The drivers on this mission are:

1. Hugh Rowland - also known as the Polar Bear; he says it's because of his strong personality. He is 50 years old, and has been doing ice road trucking for 20 years. He owns four of the trucks being driven on this mission.

2. Rick - a friend and employee of Hugh's. The first season of 'Ice Road Truckers' saw Rick in his second year of ice road trucking. He quit before the season was over.

3. Drew - started driving for Hugh after answering an ad in a local paper. He was an experienced trucker, but this was a first experience for ice road trucking. He quit before the season was over.

4. Alex - considers it good luck to be the first one to pull a load over the ice road at the beginning of each season. He is considered a legend by the other ice road trucker, and is a 26 year veteran of ice road trucking. He has 11 children and 7 grandchildren.

5. Jay - started driving trucks at 16, and owned his own truck at 18. He is 25 at the taping of this series, and is considered an experienced driver.

6. T.J. - a 21-year old, first timer on the ice roads who hates the cold. He is injured during the season, and though he is injured he is able to finish the season before leaving.

I first watched Ice Road Truckers because it was on the History Channel, and because I was curious. Though I am no fan of reality shows, I have to admit this whole series was quite well done. I could feel the freezing cold when the floor heater on Rick's truck quit working. I even got mad with Hugh, when T.J. kept having mishaps.

Probably my favorite episode in the first season was 'Midseason Mayhem,' when Todd, one of Hugh's support drivers is banned from the ice road for speeding. He was going 14 miles an hour over the speed limit. Can you imagine? On regular roads most drivers are hardly even pulled over if that is all that they are going over the limit. It just goes to show how dangerous ice road trucking truly is.

I would recommend Ice Road Truckers as a show to definitely watch, for people who appreciate and enjoy learning new things. I didn't even know there was such a thing as ice roads before watching this series. I guess I just never gave it much thought about transportation, and how it's done in the extreme north.

Though you are not watching history as it is normally portrayed on the History Channel; you are watching history in the making, and learning about new things.

Resources:

http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Road_Truckers