Most dangerous roads
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00:00Manitoba, Canada. Temperatures go down to below minus 50 Celsius, one of the most inhospitable
00:19regions of the earth. As soon as the swamps and marshes are frozen, the ice road season
00:27begins. It's the only period of time in which the inhabitants of these isolated areas can
00:34be supplied with goods. It's a short period of time. Everything that people need for the
00:40course of the whole year must be brought there within two to three months. The problem is
00:50no one knows for exactly how long the deep frozen swamps and lakes will be passable for
00:56the 40-ton trucks. Every single trip to the north is a risky ride. Hot Roads, the Canadian ice roads.
01:26We're going to offer a little bit of tobacco to the smudge here. We're going to put some of that
01:40tobacco in our pipe. We're offering this pipe as a way of acknowledging that you're going to have
01:47a safe trip. I want you to just... Scott Campbell's ancestors belonged to the First Nation, the
01:56country's native people. He's proud to be one of them. ...for those things that you want on this
02:04journey. And then after that, you and I will smoke that pipe. Boy, you've got lots of hair anyway.
02:11Ahead of Scott lies a dangerous trip for which he wants to prepare himself spiritually. I prayed
02:20to my family, mom, that they're kept safe when I'm on my long journey and to be able to come back home safe.
02:42Scott and Chief Calvin conjure up the mystic white buffalo woman, a powerful being and patron of the
02:49North American natives.
02:51Scott has promised a friend to transport an urgently needed snowmobile across the ice roads up north.
03:12With the snowmobile on the back of his truck, he sets off on a long, lonely trip. The white
03:21buffalo woman is supposed to accompany and watch over him. Spirituality is connected to traditions
03:35and customs and to family. I find that every religion or race has their own beliefs. Native
03:47people tend to be very spiritual, very tied to the land. And to me, in my heart, if you don't know
03:53where you come from, it's sometimes hard to find direction in life and find out where you're going.
04:06His journey begins in the heart of Canada, not far from the border to the USA. Winnipeg, the capital of the
04:14province of Manitoba. From here, the route leads almost 1,300 kilometers further north to a little
04:21community called God's Lake. Last warnings on the way into wilderness. In wintertime, God's Lake, like
04:34many other villages, can only be supplied via the ice roads. The transportation of goods is a tough
04:48business. Most transports are organized by the state and are contracted out amongst the road
04:53haulers. It's a question of money and speed. Both man and material are extremely under stress.
05:00Every truck that manages to return safely is put to the acid test before being sent out back
05:14into the cold. Hugh Rowland earned his money already at the age of 15 as a construction worker,
05:26building the ice roads. After 30 years in the business, his colleagues call him Polar Bear.
05:33I mean, people used to get up there and the truck would break down. And if your truck broke down,
05:42in 15 minutes you didn't get it going, you were stranded there. I've had guys freeze to death,
05:47freeze their feet, freeze their hands. And you can't leave your truck because of the wild animals.
05:52You can eat bipolar bears, wolves. So you have to stay with the truck and that's how people freeze
05:57to death. I mean, it's 60 below up there. It's not a nice place to be with no heat.
06:01Vlad Peskod arrived in Canada as a young man with $42 in his pocket. Today, he owns a freight
06:10forwarding business. As soon as the first snow falls, he sits on the driver's seat of his 40-ton
06:17truck again. This is my baby. I sleep truck, I eat truck, I breathe truck. I mean, if something
06:25happens to my truck, it's devastating. It can cost me my life. So everything's got to be tipped up.
06:31That's why I'm checking every single bolt, every single nut from bumper to bumper. Everything's
06:36got to be tipped up. If it's not, it can break down up there. There is no way to pull over and
06:42fix something. It's minus 40. You know, you'll freeze to death in half an hour.
06:54Departure at dawn. It's minus 30 Celsius. You and Vlad have to go to God's Lake,
07:01too. Their load? School material and medical goods for the medical clinic.
07:05Ahead of them lies several 18-hour days and the constant risk of getting
07:15stuck on the road in these icy temperatures.
07:29In the beginning, it's only straight ahead on highway number six heading north.
07:36A thousand kilometers from Winnipeg to the little village of Norweghaus,
07:49the first leg of the trip.
07:59Well, when I was a kid, you know, I wanted to be an astronaut or president. Actually,
08:05I wanted to be a pilot. But my father, he drove the truck his whole life. So,
08:10I knew when I was young that that's going to be my future, too. I was always interested in
08:17the truck and I got diesel under my fingerprints when I was really young. And I guess, you know,
08:24once you get a little bit of diesel in your blood, it's really hard to get rid of it.
08:28As soon as the road patrol releases the ice roads, the ice truckers are on the road. Every
08:35tour means cash. When I first started it, it was real adventurous and it paid good.
08:50And of course, you know, I raised my whole family driving the ice roads and everything. So,
08:54I just kept doing it. Now, I'm passionate about it. I can't wait to do it every year. I can't
08:58wait for the ice to come in and I get up there and I get to drive them. I wait for it every year. I
09:04love the ice roads. It gets into your blood. You just keep doing it. The loneliness of the
09:12northern hemisphere begins just a few kilometers outside the city of Winnipeg.
09:22Only very rarely do you meet people here.
09:25Jim Niedermeyer is one of them. He grew up here.
09:29In the summer, he works as a farmer and grows rice up here in northern Canada.
09:40During the long winter months, he works as an artist. He used to manufacture mainly furniture.
09:46By now, he sees more in wood than simply building material.
09:50You have to see what you're going to do in the wood. The wood has to have some kind of
09:57spirit in it that you have to see it. You don't know how it's going to turn out.
10:03You start up the saw and you just see what happens.
10:08You'll see it pretty quick. You'll know that you could see something in there. You know,
10:12it just, there's an eagle and it's just, you know, the chainsaw is just removing wood.
10:18That's all it's doing, but this thing is underneath it and it's a tool.
10:25You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it.
10:29You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it.
10:34This thing is underneath it and it's a tool just for removing that wood and exposing that carving.
10:44Along the ice road, people know Jim Nidamaya.
10:48The truckers regard his sculptures as symbols of their home country.
10:55Well, we have a lot of wood out here, a lot of animals. To me, it's got to be part of Manitoba.
11:02You know, it's just showing the creatures that are running out in the forest here. I try to
11:09bring them back to life in wood. That's my goal, is to bring them to life.
11:21In the meantime, Scott has reached the first frozen lakes.
11:25The smooth surface is a temptation for speeding. 100 kilometers an hour, like on a highway.
11:32Makes you worry sometimes because as you're going across, you can hear the ice cracking.
11:37It actually sounds like thunder underneath your vehicle.
11:41But as long as you stay in the middle and you're safe and you do the right speed, everything's all good.
11:50Where Scott is driving right now is a lake in the summer.
11:54The ice roads exist only in wintertime. The through route to northern Manitoba
12:00lasts for a few weeks only, and no one knows for exactly how long.
12:07Each year in Manitoba alone, more than 2,000 kilometers of ice roads are built through the
12:13wilderness. But even in these arctic temperatures, you can't rely on the
12:18great rivers freezing over. Only permanent bridges can help.
12:22In the villages of northern Manitoba, live mostly members of the First Nation,
12:27the indigenous inhabitants of Canada.
12:34The state's way of treating them is a dark chapter of Canadian history.
12:41The Canadian government has just recently started to treat the people of Manitoba
12:48the Canadian government has just just recently started to deal with
12:53with some of these things that went on decades ago. But the after effects of
13:00the cultural genocide forced assimilation are seen not only in the big cities but some of
13:06the small communities and reservations throughout Manitoba. When you take a person and you rip out
13:11their culture and their traditions and you force them to do some someone else's that
13:16is totally alien to them, they lose who they are. They lose their identity.
13:31The people living in the reservations are completely dependent upon state aid
13:38and upon the transportation of goods on the ice roads.
13:41Scott visits old friends and relatives on each of his tours to the north.
13:51He has met up with Lee Codd to go ice fishing. Lee is a Pine Creek Indian and like Scott
13:57fights for the remembrance of past injustices.
14:04What they did is when your kid was five years old, they would come here, take all the kids
14:10all the children and then they'll take them and take them to residential schools.
14:20And then either Catholic, Presbyterian, I don't know, some kind of denomination,
14:27Christian and they turned them out to be Christianized them and believe in something
14:34that they weren't. You couldn't speak our language and you weren't allowed to talk to
14:40your family members, your siblings and there was a lot of crying.
14:51Lee is trying to make the First Nation members more aware
14:55of their traditional way of life. It starts with very practical things.
15:00You would never have gloves like this. We'd have like a leather mitts, you know, that hides,
15:08caribou hide, has a fiber, has a hole in it for a good insulation that runs around this territory.
15:19Lee wants to connect traditional ways of life with modern life. For example, an ice drill can
15:26actually be quite helpful if the ice is thicker than a meter.
15:35This balance between the past and modern age is not at all easy for many First Nation members.
15:41Ice fishing used to be an ordinary part of self-sufficient life
15:45for the people up north. Today, it's more or less a way to pass the time.
15:51Many First Nation members have drug and alcohol problems. Lee himself had a hard time too. Now,
15:58he helps young people and is engaged in revitalizing the traditions of the ancestors.
16:04It has helped him to get over his own problems as well.
16:14No bites. I think all the fish are in school. Yeah.
16:17Meanwhile, you and Vlad are still heading up north.
16:23Oh, I know that guy. Well, I just passed you. I'm going up north, going to St. Therese.
16:29How's the road? Nah, they're not too bad. Once you get up to about 220 there, before you hit
16:34more on-hill, you're going to have to slap your chains on. It's pretty slick up here.
16:38It's all basically the same old, same old, eh? Same, same, yeah. It looks pretty good out there.
16:44It's never any warmer than minus 25. Like last year, we had eight weeks of minus 60 below.
16:50It never got... There wasn't one day that was below minus 40. So, I mean, you get up there,
16:55metal breaks at minus 40. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal.
16:59It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal.
17:03It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal.
17:05When you get up there, metal breaks at minus 40. It breaks right in half. And then you're
17:10screwed. You're not getting out of there. So, you make sure you've got a sleeping bag that's
17:14good for minus 40. So, I mean, you've got to be prepared.
17:28Scott has relatives living alongside the ice road. He wants to stay the night with them.
17:34But he isn't going to make it before darkness sets in.
17:40The rare trail marks on the frozen lakes are hard to find.
17:45They're just simple branches at irregular intervals.
17:59And then the snowfall begins.
18:04Scott can only hope it's not one of those infamous snowstorms.
18:10A blizzard would destroy all trail marks for good,
18:14and the snow masses would make it impossible to continue driving.
18:22A whiteout is lurking. The white wall, which races across the open landscape as a snowstorm,
18:30the inferno of storm and snow, makes all orientation impossible.
18:38The best thing to do in a whiteout if you're lost is just stay where you are.
18:42A lot of times people will spend hours and hours just walking in circles
18:47to the point of exhaustion, and then just that's it.
18:51Fortunately, the storm weakens so Scott can drive on.
18:55He wants to make up for lost time. That's when it happens.
19:04In a short moment of distraction, he starts to slide and gets stuck.
19:13But he's fortunate in his bad luck. Scott
19:16is already within radio distance of the next village. Help arrives after a few minutes.
19:26Scott's truck is badly stuck in the snow. The second vehicle can't get any grip on the icy
19:33track. Finally, the men try to alternately push and pull Scott's truck out of the deep snow.
19:56Done. And since everyone knows each other out here, a place to sleep is easy to find.
20:12Vlad and you have almost reached their destination for the day.
20:16800 kilometers north of Winnipeg, they cross the Nelson River
20:20on the concrete dam of a hydroelectric power plant.
20:26Worldwide, Canada is one of the major producers of hydropowered electricity.
20:37This is how the province of Manitoba produces more than 90% of its energy.
20:43The truckers drive across the last lake of the day in walking pace.
21:01Standing still would be potentially lethal
21:04because of dangerous cracks in the ice that might occur. Top speed, five kilometers an hour.
21:13There is air between the ice and the water surface. The weight of the passing truck
21:21presses the ice down a bit. It freezes underneath, so the cracks are patched.
21:43In spite of all the experience, every single crossing of the ice remains a risky business.
21:56Vlad and you arrive late at their place for the night along the ice road.
22:00They have everything they need for the night inside their trucks.
22:13So how did we do today?
22:17Well, I think we did pretty fair. She's pretty decent time getting up here to the ice roads.
22:23Yeah, I'm good. I got my color book all done, so I'm going to sack her down for the night.
22:30What time are you getting up tomorrow morning?
22:33Oh, we may as well get up around six and hit her, eh?
22:39Yeah, that gives me my 13 hours. Yeah, that's fine.
22:43Well, you need all the beauty sleep you can get.
22:47Yeah, you passed on that a long time ago. There is no return for you.
22:52I said I'm too ugly to be on TV. Just show me the money.
22:57All righty, man. I'll see you in six.
23:00All right, good night.
23:01All right, good night, man.
23:03The second leg stretches from Norway house to God's Lake,
23:08almost 300 kilometers across snow, ice and dangerously hilly terrain.
23:20The next day, in the summer, you'd find swamps and lakes.
23:25The water is so clear, you'd think you'd be swimming in it.
23:28The next day, in the summer, you'd find swamps and lakes,
23:32impenetrable moorlands. Neither boat nor truck could pass here.
23:39The roads across snow and ice can only be built in wintertime and if it's cold enough.
23:50One of the things they do if they find out the ice isn't thick enough
23:53is they'll send crews out here with big drills that they pull behind a vehicle and they'll drill
24:00a hole in the ice and as the auger spins through the ice and it gets into the water, it'll pull
24:04water up. It's called flooding the ice so they can actually add inches to the top of the ice
24:10to make it thick and safe enough.
24:16The ice must be at least 1.2 meters thick in order for the 18-wheeler to cross the ice safely.
24:24Vlad and Hugh start their journey early too.
24:39If all goes well, they'll make the last 300 kilometers to God's Lake before darkness sets in.
24:49They are a well-rehearsed team and have gone through a lot together.
24:54If I go with Hugh on a trip, you know, I feel much more confident. Hugh is a great partner to be on
25:07these roads. You know, every single trip something happens. I know I can rely on that guy behind me
25:13because he knows a lot. Well, me and Vlad, we're business partners and good friends, like best
25:18friends. So we get along real good and when we travel together there ain't nothing we can't pull
25:22off. I mean, we know we ain't going to get stuck in the bush anywhere. We know we're going to get
25:27anything done that needs to be done. So me and him travel real well together. We know each other
25:32pretty well. It's the beginning of March. The roads are still in good shape considering the
25:41time of year. It may get warmer any day. Then the roads will turn into impassable swamps.
25:47Vlad and Hugh are in a hurry. They want to drive as many truckloads as possible up north this season.
26:06The ice roads have only existed for the last 50 years.
26:11There used to be no vehicles up here in the north. It was the time of the sledge dogs.
26:16For Dwayne Kabaluk, a construction engineer along the ice road, the dogs are just a hobby.
26:26His dogs are Alaskan Malamutes, famous for their strength and endurance.
26:32They can manage up to 100 kilometers without taking a rest.
26:37Up in the north, basically they moved around from place to place wherever the food was
26:42and they brought their families and all their belongings with them and that's what they use
26:46the dogs for. And your dogs back then were basically your home pets, treated well, just like
26:52family. And in summer months when they were low on food, your dogs were basically let loose and
26:58they fend on their own. That's why the dogs still have a bit of prey instinct to them compared to most dogs.
27:05The dogs are not only persevering and tough,
27:09they are also capable of defending the freight and their owner against polar bears.
27:23Dwayne practices with his dogs almost every day along the ice roads. He hopes next year
27:29they will be ready for their first race.
27:34Vlad and you must stop. In spite of all the hurry, it's safety first.
27:55There is one kind of accident on the ice roads the truckers are especially afraid of.
28:00A jackknife. That's what it's called when the heavy trailer and the truck twist and wedge together.
28:09This must be prevented by all means.
28:17We got about 30 kilometers of rough road in front of us and we're gonna need some added traction
28:22because it's really hilly and with loaded trailers like that, I don't want to end up in
28:28a ditch or upside down. So putting up chains so I can basically make those hills up there.
28:35Well, if I don't have the chains, best case scenario is I just get stuck
28:40until somebody pulls me up. Worst case scenario, I start sliding backwards, jackknife and basically
28:46ended up in a ditch. Truck, trailer, load, you know, we're talking about 300,000 dollars
28:52in damages so I don't want to end up like that. That's why I'm putting all those chains.
28:58So
29:13the ride through the hilly terrain is an act of balance.
29:21If you drive too slowly, you lose the momentum and risk sliding backwards.
29:32But if you go too fast, you end up in the ditch and block the road.
29:50Which, what's blocking the road, the truck or the trailer?
29:56Everything, truck's right in the middle.
30:04One of Vlad and Yu's colleagues has landed in the ditch
30:08and must detach the truck now to clear the way.
30:15Without the weight of the trailer, the truck is hardly able to maneuver anymore.
30:20There's not much Vlad and Yu can do here, but help is on its way.
30:27Inch by inch, the fully loaded trucks work their way past the damaged truck.
30:50It's only later they learn that their colleague had to wait for two days
30:54before heavy machinery helped him out of his misery.
31:12Anything you learn on a highway, throw it out the window. I mean, basically,
31:16you can't hit your brakes on the ice. You've got hills up there and everything.
31:19You hit the brakes, your load is going by you. If you're going to hit the brakes,
31:22you've got to use your trailer brakes. No tractor brakes at all.
31:25And you've got to have a big set of nuts.
31:39Vlad and Yu want to make up for lost time and speed up.
31:43But a lack of attention for just a single moment
31:46is enough to cause danger on these icy roads.
31:50A piece of ice was sufficient to derail Vlad's truck.
32:14And once a truck starts sliding, there's hardly any stopping it.
32:20Go ahead a little bit. Okay, I'm going to lock everything I got.
32:31I'll just put her in gear and f***ing step on the gas.
32:34Let's try slow if you can and just start bumping.
32:50A towing maneuver with 500 horsepower.
33:13They got off lightly though, just a slight damage to the bumper.
33:20You just touched her in there sideways. That'll be good. Let's rock and roll.
33:35Often enough, the two have experienced that they couldn't continue their journey.
33:39They had to hold out for days in their trucks until help arrived from Winnipeg.
33:44Many a driver has gone crazy in the loneliness of the north.
33:49Last year, a colleague had to be saved by a helicopter.
33:53It's truly a dangerous job.
33:55But 30,000 people in Manitoba depend on the transportation of goods on the ice roads.
34:12For the last part of the trip to God's Lake, the trucks need snow chains.
34:17Scott and his light pickup truck are almost there.
34:30The snowmobile in the back is still undamaged.
34:47The village God's Lake, with its 2,000 inhabitants,
34:51lies at the shore of the lake.
34:53In summertime, one of the best fishing grounds in Canada.
34:56Here, a highlight is awaiting the drivers after a long trip, Healy's Lodge.
35:02It's the only comfortable lodging in an area of many hundreds of kilometers.
35:07Not only the breakfast is legendary.
35:11The homely sitting room is a reminder of great hunting and fishing adventures.
35:16For decades, owner Goldie Healy has been making sure the travelers feel at home here.
35:47At Goldie's, practical information as well as
35:52tales of the truckers' greatest deeds are exchanged.
36:05Before Scott delivers his freight to a place a few kilometers outside the village,
36:10he uses the opportunity to go out on the lake.
36:14His old friend Brian, who still goes fishing in the traditional way even in wintertime,
36:19has to bring his nets in and has asked Scott for help.
36:34Brian has put out the nets between two ice holes a few days ago.
36:43If you're doing it the old way with the picks and the chisel,
36:47you've got to dig a three foot wide hole, probably, you know, three, four feet of ice,
36:52and that's a lot of work, but you do what you've got to do in the north.
37:00Basic supplies for the locals comes via the ice roads.
37:05But a diverse diet, especially one containing fresh vitamins,
37:08can only be achieved by hunting and fishing.
37:11Brian fishes mostly for his own needs.
37:14He sells the surplus fish in the village.
37:23Only a few moments after they come out of the water,
37:26the fish are already deep frozen, ready to be taken home.
37:30An exceptionally yummy dish, if fried in the pan.
37:38I used to do a lot of hunting and fishing with some of my family,
37:41and to be back out in the community of God's Lake now to help some of my friends now,
37:46it felt really good, you know, doing things the way they used to do things,
37:51and knowing that whatever I put into my day with them was going to help his family out,
37:55so it was good, it was worth it, I really enjoyed it.
38:06Vlad and Hugh are still at work,
38:09but they too have almost arrived at God's Lake.
38:18A few kilometers from their destination,
38:20the last great crossing of the lake is waiting for them.
38:26A safety distance of 500 meters and walking pace are obligatory.
38:39Because when you come onto the ice, it deflects the ice and makes a wave on the end.
38:49So all the time you're going across that ice, you're actually deflected,
38:52and you've got a big wave pushing in front of you.
38:54So now he's got a wave in front of him, and I got a wave in front of me.
38:58You don't want my wave to catch up to him,
39:01because the wave will hit his back tires, break the ice out, and he'll sink.
39:10So you've got to go slow, steady and slow, respect the ice at all times.
39:14Go slow going on, go slow coming off, and keep your spacing between the trucks.
39:19Because you're not only going to kill yourself,
39:22you're going to kill somebody else if you don't respect the ice.
39:29Even after 30 years, the men still hold a great respect for the ice.
39:35It's their life insurance on the ice roads.
39:39After two days of driving, Vlad and Hugh do not want to lose more time.
39:48As soon as they are within radio range, they try to reach their contacts in God's Lake.
39:55Hey Hugh, tell me one more time what's loaded first and what's loaded second.
39:59Okay, the health unit is at the back, and the admin is at the front.
40:04You're going to back office, that's the first load.
40:07They're going to unload you, and Ella from health authority is going to
40:10meet you at the back office and drive you over to the complex and unload the second half.
40:16Okay, so is somebody going to marshal us from the corner up here?
40:21Yeah, Ella is taking care of it.
40:28Unloading is manual labor. It takes time, especially if you arrive at the wrong time.
40:34Today, they are lucky. The helpers arrive quickly, and they make good progress.
40:40While 40 tons of load are stored box after box, the driver's thoughts are already one step ahead.
40:53I mean, the whole season, you know, it's like roller coaster. It's like
40:57a long-lasting marathon, you know. You load, and you start thinking about the trip.
41:04When you get there, you start talking about unloading. When you unload, you start thinking
41:09about how you're going to get back, and when you get back, you're thinking about the next load.
41:14Because that's the name of the game. You got to get all these loads up here before the ice melts,
41:18and you've seen it today. It got down to only minus six. That's too warm for these roads.
41:23If that happens for all week, we're finished already.
41:26The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is getting my paperwork signed
41:29and getting back for my next trip.
41:39Scott, too, has arrived at his destination.
41:44Hey, bud. It's me, Scott. I just made it in.
41:47Hey, glad to see you, buddy. How was the trip?
41:50That was good. It was good. It was a long trip, but
41:54I got here, and I got the sled on the back. Everything's all fixed up.
41:57Right on. Yeah, I was beginning to get a little worried. I might have some trouble.
42:02No, it was a good trip. I'll see you shortly.
42:06Right on, buddy. I'll be waiting.
42:10It was a long trip, but I'm glad it's over. It's almost 30 hours on the road, and
42:17roads are pretty decent, but it's only half over now. I got to unload this and
42:25turn around, and then I got to head back.
42:34In delivering the snowmobile, Scott has completed his mission.
42:40Just like you and Vlad, he will now head back as soon as possible.
42:45Back across Canada's ice roads for as long as the ice still carries.