16x03 - New Kid on the Ice Block

[bunniefuu]

It's race day in nome.

Every winter, for over 50 years,

the town has turned out
for the nome-golovin 200,

the oldest snow machine
race in the state of Alaska.

Go, guys, baby. Let's do this.

This year, the
celebrated 1999 winner

is returning for one
last stab at glory.

Ooh, yeah.

One of our biggest events
in nome is the nome-golovin.

You win this thing,
you achieve god status.

I did it back in '99, one
of my proudest moments.

I'm returning this year to
show this town I still got it,

and make a run
at the grand prize,

two grand, two ounces of gold.

This race is nome to the bone.




across the twists and
turns of nome back country.

Good luck!

Nome-golovin, it's no joke.

Most years, only half
the racers at the start

make it back to the finish line.

People crash and
get hurt all the time.

But I'm not gonna back down.

I'm competitive
about everything,

not just gold mining.

While Shawn is racing for glory,

the rest of the fleet are
jumping at the chance

to zoom up the gold board.

Gold.

Some will win...

They will do that
under the water.

Hey, come on.

And some will wreck.

Here we go.

Shawn's not the only member of
the fleet with a competitive drive.

Got my off-road on. Make
sure your off-road is on.

That means you're ready to go.

Chris mccully is racing
to take advantage

of Mr. Gold's
absence from the field.

He's gonna rally it,
notch it up and down.

This winter, I am determined to
get the most gold from this fleet.

If Shawn wants to go out
and race, that's okay with me.

I can just keep piling up
that gold, and be on top.

In fact, I'm gonna make
today my biggest haul yet.



That's where all the
drone footage tells me

that the ground I really wanna
poke on is right over there.

If I wanna stay on top,
I've gotta make sure that

we're on the k*ller
ground, off the bat.

And I'm pretty
confident that we will be.

The last time I used
my rov to prospect,

the ground that I
found, it looks sick,

and it's the best ground
that I found all winter.

Yeah, I did.

The fact is we've been
sucking up a lot of gold so far.

There we go.

Wow!

And I think today
is gonna be really lit.

Yeah.

All right, going in.

I put together a great team,

but if I'm gonna
get this day started,

I wanna go dive first.

All right. Let me know
whatever's going on.

There's a lot of glare
around it right now.

I'm just trying to
clean up the place

so I can get a better
look on it right now.

All right, yep, here
we go. Coming up.

Man!

Do you like what you're
seeing down there?

I like Jeff bezos' account.

Yeah, we'll pick it up for him.

Looks like there's a lot
of ground ahead of us.

You know that I'm
gonna make money.

As Shawn careens
towards the 50-mile marker

in the nome-golovin 200.

And I'm really hoping
to pull it right off the bat.

I really need it.
Please, pretty please.

Pretty, pretty,
pretty, pretty please.

You talk to yourself a lot, and
have some good conversations.

An irishman is always forced to
talk to himself to find his equal.

I guess you get the
best answers you want.

Look in the mirror. Yeah,
kris, you're good looking.

- Shut up, stupid!
- Yeah, you are, kris, stop worrying.

Kris Kelly is trying
to keep his season

from careening off course.

It looks a good
spot. Lots of gold.

Lots of gold. It's
from my corner.

Like, if we go down there
and we start making money,

we're gonna k*ll this off.

- This is the ideal condition.
- Yeah.

Shawn's out there
running his race,

and this is the perfect
time for me to get some gold

and catch up to him.

And in theory, I got
just the way to do it.

Bringing in my
custom-made crawler

to scoop the gold
off the seafloor,

and we're on a
great spot for it.

The problem is, the
thing's not here yet.

So, I gotta figure out another
way to capitalize on the day.

I'm expecting Daniel and
Andrew to get down there.

Move the hose
around it a little bit.

Maybe work two,
three hours apiece.

Hopefully they can do it.

The crawler should
be here any day now,

but if it doesn't,

I'm gonna have a dive
team on standby ready.

I'm gonna start training
Daniel and Andrew

so we don't miss a beat.

We cleaned out the engine.
We've changed spark plugs.

We did everything we
could to that engine.

Last time out, this
engine gave us trouble.

We inspected every
nook and cranny,

so it should be
running great now...

In theory.

I just don't know
what is the problem.

Fuel, air and
spark. We have fuel.

We have spark.

That's why it's
not working, dude.

The fuel pump is
pinched up here.

The fuel line is
pinched up here.

We inspected everything.
Every piece of that engine.

But we never noticed the fuel
line was pinched against the wall.

That's why we haven't
been able to get gold.

A fuel line.

That's why we cost
ourselves a bunch of money

and wasted our time.

This winter, we're
our own worst enemy.

- Wow, that cost us a lot of money.
- 10 grand.

You know, that cost us 10 grand.

I need 10 grand!
I need 10 grand!

Whatever, it's fixed. Now
on to the next disaster.

We'll get everything set
up and see if these rookies

have any gold-getting potential.

If you have a problem
priming your hose

and you don't have one
of those little ball primers,

the only way to get it done
is to suck it through the line

and then hook it up like that.

And this is the result.

That's why I don't
do it personally.

Hey, you're not supposed
to swallow the gasoline.

You know that, right?

While the Kellys get
their engines going...

Welcome to ice
station wild ranger.

A familiar face is getting
back in the gold race.

Jesus Christ.

Dad, I'll drive us
back. How about that?

This season got
off to a bad start.

A heart fibrillation almost
knocked me on my a*s.

- I've gotta go sit down.
- My heart's up again.

Yes.

I need to talk to that heart
doctor is what I need to do.

Now, I'm rested
up and ready to go.

But my daughter, Yvonne,
came up to keep an eye on me.

- Hi, I'm Yvonne.
- I'm Larry.

She's come up to
nome over the years.

You get stuck on
a sandbar up here,

and the next thing you
know, you're damn bear bait.

A pretty damn good goal.

Hands off, I know how you are.

But I'm especially glad
she's here this winter.

With everything going
on, it's good to have

one of my daughters
up here with me.

Even if it is for a short visit.

I need all the help I
can get these days.

Shawn may be able to
take time off from mining

and race snowmobiles,
but I sure as hell can't.

I made it for 200
ounces this season,

and so far I've
got nothing. Nada.

Yeah, I just get kinda nervous

'cause I feel like he may, like,
accidentally fall into the ice hole.

Heh, get away from the ice hole.

Jesus Christ.

She actually worries
about me a little bit.

It makes me nervous.

I'm thinking right the middle of
that cobble field due west of here.

We'll go out there and
see if we can find a place

that looks flat, not jumbled up

and that we can get
all the way through it.

It sounds good.

It works.

Today is pretty simple.

Find a hole with promising
ground and get a diver in the water.

We're already behind
because of that heart nonsense,

and now I've got
no time for dillydally.

We've got to make it
happen today or die trying.

Finally, some good news.

Larry found a great spot

with plenty of untouched ground.

It's time to call in the cavalry
and get this show on the road.

Drive those in, and
tie these things down.

That needs to be on this side.

Make sure it's gonna crank up.

Make sure all the
valves are caught out.

We've got that pretty
much in the hands.

We've got that pretty
much in the hand.

I got ran over by
a four-Wheeler.

You got a

sticky throttle I assume.

But, yeah, that'll do it.

It could have been bad.

All it did is, the net effect
was it knocked me on my a*s,

but no damage done.

But good to go.

Yeah, I just looked over
and I saw him say, "",

and the four-Wheeler
just knocked him over,

and I thought he got,
like, totally ran over by it.

But it's scary.

I mean, he's too
old to be getting hit

by four-wheelers
and stuff, I mean.

That was a new one.

Getting plowed in
by a four-Wheeler.

Heart problems, what's next?

I'm not sure if it's bad
luck or if I've got nine lives.

All I know is we've
gotta get back to work.

Nothing's gonna stop
me from getting gold.

It's taking a while, but
we've got excellent weather.

We've got some
time left in the season.

All the parts have
finally come together.

I'm not sure how much,

but we'll put gold
in the box today.

Back in the nome-golovin 200...

See you later.

As competitors
bow out left and right,

Mr. Gold's hanging tough
and quickly gaining steam,

looking to crack the top ten.

And back in the gold race

I feel like a yeti right
now, I'll be honest.

Despite sudden wind gusts,

team Zeke is getting ready to
enter the gold board grand prix.

How goes it out here?

Sweet. I'm gonna suit up.

- So then I'll send you down next.
- Sounds great.

Good to go.

Shawn's off guard today.

But letting a day go to waste,

for me, is criminally
negligent in this situation.

I can't afford to hold
ashore on a windy day.

With all the money
that I've spent

building this
self-contained dive shack

and just all the expansion
that I've done to my operation

like bringing in
my friend, Nate.

He really impressed
me this summer.

But ice mining is a
totally different beast.

So, we're gonna go through
some training drills today,

and hopefully he
can get up to speed.

Pretty stoked to go down under
the ice for the first time today.

Um, every breath
could be your last.

I'm gonna be
taking it super-slow.

I think once I get this
down, I'm gonna crush it.

But, for today, it's just baby
steps from the greenhorn here.

All right, I'll get your light.

There Nate goes. First dive.

All right, why don't you
just hang out for a little while,

just a little below the hull.

Roger, Roger.

He's gonna be hanging out right
down below the hull there for a while

until he gets comfortable.

I want him to get comfortable.

I've got another
mask rigged up here

in case I jump down there.

How're you feelin'?

It may seem like we're
just goofing with Nate,

but this is an important drill.

You're putting your life in other
people's hands when you're under the ice.

If you hear from above
that you need to come up,

you cannot hesitate.

You have to get up immediately.

An extra second or two
could make a huge difference,

and he passed the test.

I'm feeling really good. I'm
feeling really comfortable.

I've been through
whatever, I mean,

I'm gonna, like, take
it slow and everything.

I'm also, like, I'm
really down to dredge.

Thank you.

If you're ready to
dredge in the hole...

Okay, I've still gotta practice,
I mean, for a little bit of time.

Yeah.

My gut tells me that
Nate's ready to go.

So, I'm gonna send him down to do a
little mining and we'll see how he does.

How does everything
feel down there?

We have turned the pressure
off. You should have suction.

Yep, I've got suction.

I found the spot, right where
the sand meets these rocks.

And I'm gonna try
and turn that big bench

and go back and forth
and it's feeling really good.

Well, that's awesome
news, man. Keep at it.

Copy that.

Yes!

Making money.

More than halfway through the
nome-golovin 200 snow machine race,

Mr. Gold makes a pit
stop on his race for glory.

Truth is, I'm not as
young as I used to be,

but I'm still in the game.

It's like gold mining.

I give it my all,
no matter what.

You can never stop
trying to rise to the top.

Go.

As Shawn motors off

back out on the ice.

Chris mccully chases gold.

Heck yeah, baby.

We're gonna give them all a
run for their money, for darn sure.

Hey, John, you got a copy?

I'm gonna start heading up.

I prospected great ground.

It turned out to be
better than I expected.

I mean, it was gold
the entire time, nonstop.

And really, we just getting
started on this pastry.

It looks like the gold
goes in all these directions.

Right.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gold's
out on his snow machine.

That's fine for me.

I'm just gonna keep
loading up this box

while he's out there
chasing trophies.

So, I think everybody is
still caught onto this race day.

You're just racing
for the podium.

I rather race for the riches.

So, while they go partying,
I'm out here getting gold,

and I'm totally fine with that.

That dive, it's a big
win, for sure, a big win.

While one team
is done for the day,

there's gonna be no
problems today, my friend.

I have no fear right now.

Started up the air compressor.

Another is yet to
get in the water.

Rule number one,
plan your escape.

Make sure your hose
is not wrapped up,

your ear line is not
wrapped up on anything.

- If it gets wrapped up, I cannot save you.
- Yeah.

So, the crawler isn't here yet.

And my whole season
is depending on that.

But that's okay.

And the engine wasn't working
for the dumbest reason ever.

But whatever, it's fixed now.

We're gonna get the first
of our rookie divers off,

my buddy Daniel,

and hopefully get the
first gold of the season.

Better late than never, right?

Getting ready to go in.

Nerves are picking
up a little bit.

But I can handle it.

Nothing to fear
but fear itself, right?

Good. You got him here.

Okay, Daniel.

This side.

- Check. Check.
- Roger.

Starting my first dive.

Okay, are you at the
bottom of the hole?

Yeah.

Okay. I want you to make sure
your umbilical's on, the good side.

You know, the, the
furtherest point away.

You know what?
Your breathing is great.

You're doing a good job so far.

A lot of people start
hyperventilating. Right away.

Roger that.

All right! That's
what I wanna hear.

And I want you to
clear off that cobble.

That's a good way
to start the day off.

Are you okay?

- Yeah, I just puked up in that bathroom.
- Okay.

Well, don't worry,
you'll be okay.

Don't do that under the water.

I don't know.

Well, we'll give him the chance,

but I guess I'll stand
next to the dive hole

so I can help him out.

What's he gonna
do? Puke in the mask?

As in what, he's gonna take
the mask off to try to clean it?

The plan today was getting both of our
new divers in the water and tested out.

But Andrew's still
puking his guts out,

so I don't think
he's gonna dive.

You've got some puke on
your face right here, dude.

Truth is... The other
side. The other side.

Truth is, do you think I should
risk putting you underneath there?

You... you tell me right now.

Okay well, let's
wait till tomorrow.

Okay. Just 'cause I wanna give
you the best shot you can do, dude.

I really want you to work out.

Sorry, you don't have
to siphon gas very often.

Once in a while.

Andrew's out. And
then there was one.

They've been down about
an hour without a problem.

I'm happy.

I'm...

Yeah, stand up.

Stamp your feet. Wiggle around.

Just try to make it work.

Okay. Fine. You did a pretty
good job, if you wanna call it a day.

Coming up.

You did a pretty good job.

So, how do you like your
first ice mining experience?

It was good. I wish I had
done better putting my hose in

because I could go longer.

You know what, though,
you did a better job

than I thought you
were gonna do.

So good job.

- I don't know if that's...
- It's a compliment.

That's a compliment, you know.

Only got a few flakes. Not
enough to do a clean out.

Everything that's
happened so far,

I'm gonna call this a
win. The hell with it.

At least we got a diver down.

Thank you.

Daniel got some experience, and it seems
like he might be a diamond in the rough.

Once we get the crawler,
we'll be in good shape.

Success. He did a great job.

He exceeded the
expectations that I had for him.

I think he's gonna
work out just fine.

Eleven miles east.

We've got all the major parts
to the buggle put together.

Got the main pump
and engine running.

After several
heart-stopping delays,

Vernon adkison is
finally on the verge

of getting some ice
mining on the books.

We sent out somebody in
the water here in a few minutes.

And right after that, we'll be
putting some gold in the box.

It certainly hasn't been
easy, but finally, finally,

it's showtime.

I went out and found some of the
best divers in the gold mining business.

Larry's first up.

He's dived all over the world.

He's totally, absolutely,
a complete pro.

I was lucky to get him.

I can't wait to see
what he produces.

Okay, Larry.

All right.

Well, I mean, I'm thinking,
especially the other one...

Gosh.

Gosh!

Bam!

Unbelievable.
Larry's airline froze up.

And just like that,
he had no air at all.

It has to be terrifying,

even for an experienced
diver like him.

It's been one
thing after another.

- Start this again.
- All right.

We're gonna try it again.

We've got everything sorted out.

We've taken some precautions
to prevent another freeze up.

There are no
guarantees in this game.

Okay, Larry, check the air.

After a very rocky start,

he's actually
seeing visible gold.

He's only been
down a few minutes.

We haven't hit the
mother load yet, but

at least we're
into visible gold.

Yes.

Boy.

A rock jam. Of course.

At this point, it's just a matter
of what's gonna happen next.

All right. You stay here
and communicate with him.

Okay.

Throttle down.

Open up the dump valve slowly.

What?

Well, this is about as frustrating
as a day can be out here on the ice.

At this point, I
wouldn't blame Larry

if he just told us
all to go take a hike.

Not ideal to say the least.

I'm gonna call it for the day.

I got clocked in the head pretty
hard by that dump valve line.

It knocked me
off the 8-inch hose

and sent me back
to the ocean floor.

Rang my bell pretty good.

It's been a very
interesting day.

We had, like, at least four that I
could count near-death events.

But we survived them all.

Tomorrow, when we start her up,

I don't think we're gonna
have all those problems.

And I feel better knowing that,

I'm leaving and you
guys are up and running,

and hopefully all of the bad
stuff we've gotten out of the way,

and it'll be smooth
sailing from here. So...

Well, you know you could
stay a couple more days.

He doesn't know about my limit.

Yeah.

As Shawn heads
into the final stretch,

he's finding his groove,

hitting speeds over


On the move.

While over on tomcod...

This is so fun.

Nate Wednesday is
also finding a groove

on his first dive under the ice.

Probably like eight inches down.

Roger. Roger.

Nate had never dredged
before I came to know him,

but last summer, it was
obvious that he was a natural at it.

It appears that he is a
naturalized miner as well.

I think a lot of guys would struggle
diving at these depths in the dark,

like, under these
pressure ridges,

um, these temperatures.

But Nate takes to it like
he's been doing it for years.

- Hey, Nate?
- What's up?

I think I wanna
wrap it up for today,

and get everything put
away before it gets dark.

My plan was to have
a four-man dive team

so we could put a massive amount
of hours on the box all the way along.

Now that Nate's
got its feet wet,

we're ready to unleash the
four-headed monster and get after it.

I couldn't be more stoked
about how this is going down.

First dive. Go, Nate.

- Whoo!
- All right.

Yeah, baby!

Yeah, high five.

That was rocking.

Dude, it was so dope.

Well, I got my little
cleanup sleuths out here.

We got the concentrates
from our first hole.

The price of gold's
super high right now.

All-time historic
gold price high.

So, we're definitely
in the right business.

After Nate's rookie ice dive,

Zeke tenhoff is hoping to
speed onto the leader board.

I would say with
this 8-inch dredge,

it's probably like, you know,


It's the first clean
out of the season.

Nate went down on his
first dive under the ice

and he crushed it.

I'm not really expecting a
huge number for this cleanup,

but I'm encouraged that we're
really starting to pick up the pace

and we're gonna start really
piling up some gold here.

Yeah, this is definitely gold.

I'm gonna light up this torch
and dry this gold out outside.

What have we got?

Two point eight seven.

- Decent. Decent.
- Decent.

Two point eight seven
ounces is worth $5,400.

And Zeke and company finally
get their names up in lights.

So that's good.

It's not a bad number
to start out with,

but I'm aiming for a much
bigger take over this ice season.

I think now that Nate's got
his bearings with ice diving,

we've got a pretty powerhouse
team across the board.

Pretty soon we're gonna be able to
put multiple divers down every day

and the cleanups are just
gonna get better and better.

That's why, like, I
wanted to have four guys.

It really helps.

Team tenhoff has crossed
the finish line for the day.

And back at the race,

the chequered flag is
finally in sight for Mr. Gold.

That's Shawn.

Did you love that?

Just as tough as I remember it.

Well, that was a blast.

I finished eighth.

Top 10 finish.

Against all these
young kids, I'll take that.

That's enough fun
and games for me.

We need to get back to mining.

As Shawn leaves
with a top 10 finish,

back in nome...

So far it looks pretty healthy.

Wow, look at that.

Chris mccully is trying to race
to the top of the gold count.

Wow.

When opportunity
presents itself,

you gotta take every
advantage you can.

Shawn entered the
nome-golovin race.

That means, I'd be
mining and he wouldn't.

So, I had to make
the most of it.

Just judging what
I see in the box,

that is exactly what I did.

The gold down there is
absolutely phenomenal.

The final process.

Gold!

Yes. Let's see it.

Really heavy stuff right here.

Here we go.

We've got 40.

One hundred.

Two hundred grams.

Three hundred grams.

Four hundred.

Five hundred.

Six hundred eight grams.

But wait, there's more.

Here's our bonus round.

Look at that, bonus pickers.

Whoa.

Now that bumps
it up to 617 grams.

Divided by 31.1.

Twenty ounces. Boom.

Twenty ounces is worth $38,000.

And just like that, there's a
new leader atop the gold board.

I would say an hour.

Wow. These numbers are bonkers.

The gold kicks up like this,

no one's ever gonna touch us.

Not Mr. Gold, not
Mr. Clean, not anybody.

We couldn't be on
hotter stuff right now.

We're absolutely smoking.

Just gotta keep it up.

Boom.

Yeah, good job, guys.

Time to go and have a
nice dinner, buy a pizza,

ooh!

Shawn proved himself
in the snow machine race.

But he has fallen back
in the race for gold.

Next time on Bering sea gold...

It's gonna be amazing.
Everything's gonna work.

Everything's gonna be great.

But that would be nice.

I'm kind of nervous 'cause
he doesn't know how to swim.

You got this, dude.

There's no excuses.

You just gotta do it
every day, keep doing it.

Some big chunks down here.

Kinda sketchy.

There it is, baby!

Cable on.

- Attaboy!
- Yes!

Good god.

Finally.

That'll put a
smile on your face.

- Give me some love, baby. Yeah!
- Yeah, about time.

Andy, pull him up.

This must be...

We're just getting going.