Throng

Wednesday 1st April 8.00pm

The documentary series examining the dangerous job of driving trucks on Canada’s ice highways concludes. In the last episode of the series, the truckers complete their final journeys as the ice melts beneath their wheels. The leader of the pack is crowned and one driver is banished from the ice.

The final day of the ice-road season dawns with the last pieces of the Langley camp waiting to be moved to dry land. Safety officer Monte Gibb is acutely aware of the parlous state of the road, which has sprung numerous leaks and overflows. “Ice is supposed to be on top of the water, not the other way around,” he says.

There are just 17 more loads to be taken from Langley, but few drivers left to haul them. Among those who have lasted till the bitter end are Hugh Rowland and Eric Dufresne, tied with 66 loads each. Hugh got up early this morning to gain a head start over his rival, and plans to shift two loads on his final day. Eric is several hours behind him, having risen late. “It’s the end of the season. I start to feel it a little bit,” he admits. “Getting a bit tired in the morning.”

As Hugh powers towards Langley, the ice crumbles beneath his tyres, turning into slush. The cracks criss-crossing the highway represent another threat – if his wheels were to slip into a crack, Hugh’s lorry could end up jack-knifing across the road and smashing into the sea below. Eric, meanwhile, encounters another danger when he runs into a sudden whiteout. The fog reduces his visibility of the road and oncoming traffic almost to zero.

Once at Langley, there is further frustration for Eric when he is made to wait in a queue for his load. And on his way back to Inuvik, he is dismayed to see Hugh hurrying back up the road, already on his second trip. Has the Polar Bear done enough to secure his place at the top of the pack?

Elsewhere, rookie driver Devon Neff is alarmed by the water flowing over the disintegrating road. “Yeah, I’m starting not to like this,” he says. Devon is a recent arrival on the road and he is hoping that he has demonstrated enough ability to return next season. “My foot’s in the door and I’m ready for next year,” he affirms.

Rick Yemm, however, harbours no such optimism. After a season of rubbing his bosses up the wrong way, Rick seems to have sealed his downfall on the very last day. When he makes a mess of loading his final haul onto his trailer, company boss Burt Bullock steps in and vents his anger on the hotshot trucker. “You’re the operator! You’re supposed to know what the f*** is going on here!” he yells, before chasing Rick off the lot with a big stick.

Given his marching orders, a bemused Rick can only make tracks for home. “I guess you gotta be three-quarters f***ing nuts to live up here. I’ve heard that and [now] I’ve just seen it!” he says, slamming Burt as a “stick-wielding maniac”. “Maybe I handled it wrong,” Burt reflects. “But it did feel good, you know.” News of Rick’s firing provokes little sympathy from the other truckers. “I don’t feel sorry for him,” says Hugh. “He’s a disgrace to truck drivers!”

With the Langley base successfully cleared, Monte gives the order to close the road. The season is over for another year and in just a few more days, the highway will melt back into river and sea water. The exhausted truckers are happy to be heading home – but they know they can never resist the call of the ice. “I’ll be back here next January out of habit,” says veteran Bear Swensen. “It’s like a drug now!”