12x12 - The Ice Mine Cometh

[bunniefuu]

[ Wind howling ]

♪♪

♪♪

Emily:
dangerous out here.

God, I feel like
I'm on the moon right now.

I just want to go check out
this open water that we have.

We got this, like,
massive lead right there.

I've never dealt with
unstable ice like this before.

This is freaking me out.

At this point, the ice
should be pretty stable,

This point in the year.

The fact that it isn't
is pretty alarming.

The ice is so thin right here.

It's open ocean.

In february, it's open ocean.

I'm just not comfortable
being out here right now.

This is frickin' nuts.

[ Water splashing ]oh!

This is the bering sea, man.

This isn't supposed to happen
until may.

It's breaking off
or it's broken off.

The ice is probably --

Right here,
right where I'm sitting,

The ice is about a foot,

Which I'm really glad I didn't
bring my snow machine out here.

[ Laughs ]

Dude.

I don't know if any of this
is viable this year.

This is nuts.

Doesn't bode well
for this ice season.

Narrator:
for the truly dedicated...

The quest for gold
never stops...

[ Exhales ]

Narrator: ...even when
temperatures plummet...

And the gold is locked beneath
a sheet of bering sea ice.

Kris: your hand's numb.
Your face freezes.

Emily: nothing works.
Everything's shut down.

Vernon:
suddenly, you can't breathe.

Shawn: then you're trapped
under the ice.

Narrator: but this winter...

Nature's wrath is bringing a new
enemy to the b*ttlefield...

Thinning, unpredictable ice.

Emily: the ice is like
nothing we've ever seen.

Thinner than ever.

It could just break apart
at any minute.

It's deadly.

There's open water
everywhere you look.

Narrator: the window is short,
and survival is not guaranteed.

But the lure of winter's
price jump in gold

Is too tempting to resist.

The few with the courage
and perseverance

To dive into this deadly race

Will find that hell
can indeed freeze over.

--Captions by vitac--
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪♪

Off the coast of nome...

On the frozen bering sea...

♪♪

Not looking good.

The ice is more stable
than it ever has been before.

Narrator: ...shawn pomrenke
is meeting the challenge

Of the thin ice head-on.

Shawn: this ice is probably
three, four feet thick.

And then you look out here,
just a jumbled-up mess.

How do you pull equipment
across this stuff?

If it's like this down at
the tomcod, we're screwed.

Narrator:
despite the conditions,

The chance of a lifetime
has mr. Gold back on the ice,

First time in years.

I had an opportunity
to purchase tomcod.

I got the deal signed.

Now I just got to
come up with the cash.

Soon as I make it out of debt,

I put myself
right back into the fire.

Out of the blue,
the tomcod come up for sale.

I've been mining there
for years.

I've built my empire off of it.

I had no choice
but to jump on it.

This season's goal
is to get $400,000

To finish paying off
the down payment for the tomcod

So it's mine.

It's a big goal,
but I think I can do it.

Just one half of the claim
is worth $80 million.

I'm sure the other half's
worth that yet, too.

Tomcod's the mack daddy
of all the claims.

That's why I'm putting
all my chips into it.

I have to make this happen.

♪♪

Narrator: with the ice layers
so uncertain,

The question is...

How are the grounds
at shawn's pricy new purchase?

♪♪

Yeah!

With the purchase of tomcod,

I received a bunch
of drill log information.

So it gives you a really good
idea where to start.

Narrator: the drill logs
list potential hot spots

That are too deep for
the christine roseto access.

Shawn: got to get
the gps out here,

Make sure we're on
the right spot.

Narrator: which means ice diving
will give shawn the opportunity

To mine ground he's never
been able to reach before.

We're gonna go ahead
and pop a couple holes here,

Take the camera out,
see what the bottom looks like.

What do you think,
goldy?

The gold's right here.

[ Drill whirring ]

First hole.

Narrator: miners hunt for
patches of rock known as cobble,

Where gold is trapped
in large pockets.

In summer,
dredges move on open water,

Making the search as easy
as pulling anchor.

But in winter,

Large dive holes must be sawed
out of the ice

For a diver
to access the water below.

And moving the entire operation
each time a new hole is cut

Can take days.

[ Drill whirring ]

Whoa.

We got water.

Maybe a foot and a half
of ice.

This thin is a little sketchy
to have your equipment out on.

Grab the camera,
see what the hell's down there.

Alls it takes is one good
north wind to blow

And drop the sea level
out on the ocean down,

And this all will just break up,
go out to sea.

All your gear could be out here.

You could be out here
and lose everything.

Instead of coming here,
cutting a dive hole,

And finding out
there's a bunch of sand,

We're gonna just drop a camera.

-There it is.
-Sand.

Pretty much
just seeing sand.

We're gonna go ahead
and move in a little bit.

See what it looks like.

And we don't want
to be in deep sand

With a little six-inch dredge.

We want to be in cobble.

The tomcod's huge --
a thousand acres.

You don't know how thin
the ice is wherever you go.

But I have no choice.
I got to go find good ground.

Lot more sand.

Move to another spot.

So this spot,




There's known to be really good
gold right in this area.

There's a lot
of these mining claims

That have absolutely nothing
on it.

No rocks, no sand, no gold.

The clock's ticking.

At any point, I could drive
over a thin section of ice

And fall through.

But I have to find cobble.

Third time's a charm, right?

Third time's the charm.

I hope third time's the charm.

[ Drill whirring ]

♪♪

Oh, it's deep.

♪♪

Ooh. Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, yeah!

There we are.

Oh, yeah.
There we go.

Yeah!

Like, if I was some gold,

I'd be hiding in that stuff
right there.

-Untouched ground.
-Yep.

Now we're on the decline.

We're close
to a good drill hole.

I think this is
a good place to start.

Why don't you head to town and
start getting the gear together?

This is where
we're gonna mine.

If I can't pay out $400,000,

I've spent a fortune
for nothing.

I'll lose access to the grounds.
It'll be devastating.

I have to get
on the gold a.s.a.p.

♪♪

Now instead of spendingmoney,
time to makesome money, honey.

Hoo-hoo-hoo.

Narrator: coming up...

Hey, be careful, dude.

Okay, back up.

Hey, that's water
you're walking in, dude.

I know it is.
Calm down.

Narrator: winter has come
to the bering sea

And with it the thinnest,
most unstable ice in decades.

But in nome...

♪♪

Kris:
back at ice-mining season.

Going to pick my dad and brother
up right now at the airport,

And we're gonna get
a lot of gold this season.

Narrator: freezing temperatures
and precarious conditions

Aren't enough to keep
captain kris kelly away.

I've got a plan so good
and so epic,

Pennies on the dollar.

You know, and I love that.
Let me tell you.

Narrator:
and he's got a plan yet again

To elevate his family
to mining's top tier.

I hope my dad and brother
are in a good mood.

What a piece of [bleep]

Narrator:
as summer mining ended...

Kris: it really is kind of
a piece of [bleep]

...the boat kris anchored
his hopes and dreams on...

Look at the picture
and then look at the boat.

...turned out to be a dud.

It's not what I thought
it was gonna be.

The summer plan, the bering
explorer,that was a disaster.

We sunk a bunch of money
into that deal.

But there's no way we're gonna
be able to finish it.

Right now my dad and brother
are really pissed at me.

But that was plan "a.'

I have a plan "b," and I know
they're gonna love it...

Maybe.

♪♪

Everybody's gone.
Now we're the last ones here.

You know,
waiting for this guy.

Waiting for the captain.

Here they are,
and they're standing outside,

And I'm a little late,
and they're probably pissed.

Ah, here we go.

Ice mining, baby.

Here he is. Let's go.
Come on. Grab your stuff.

Hey!
I'm glad you guys are here.

You guys ready
to make some gold?

What the [bleep]
are we doing here?

What are we doing here?

We said we would never
come back for ice.

This is another step
in the ladder

To getting
rich and famous.

Wait until you guys see
what I have planned this year.

You guys are gonna
be blown away.

Come on.
Come on, let's go.

Plan "b" is simple.
We're gonna get this other boat.

You can basically live on this
thing and go anywhere in alaska.

This one's awesome.
Trust me.

This is the perfect operation.

Are you guys ready
for the next step in your life?

Looks like a [bleep] boat.

Don't get too excited
at once.

You can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make him drink.

Okay, it's good.

Take your phone
and take a video.

Be careful, okay, dad?

Watch out.
I'm gonna come down.

Okay, there you go.

Come up here.
This is our future.

I'm good from down here.

Whoa!

Be careful here.
It's very slippery.

This is
a completely new game.

Look how wide the sluice box is
for this thing.

[Bleep] huge, dude.

This boat doesn't need
a massive amount of work,

And it's here in nome.

This boat can get us
to the places I want to go.

This boat right now
is the answer.

It's the future.

Dad, it's equipped
for long-range operations.

It has a galley.
It's got bunks.

You can live for like
two weeks at a time.

It looks brand-new
in here, dude.

I can rent this boat
out this summer.

It's only gonna cost me


I can just feel the gold.

I'm telling you,
huh, dad?

♪♪

Well, it's real nice.

Yeah,
I'll be honest with you.

I didn't really want
to come up here for ice season.

Ice mining sucks.
I'm not trying to candy-coat.

Now we see
what we're working toward.

You see the prize
at the end.

Now we just got to get the gold
and make this all come together.

We're getting it on tonight.
Andy, give me the ladder.



Give me
the [bleep] ladder.



Give me
the [bleep] ladder!

Narrator: while the kellys
embark on their winter plan...

♪♪

It's wintertime in nome, alaska.

Narrator: ...emily riedel is
brewing up a plan of her own.

Emily: the summer is over.

The eroicais put to bed
for the wintertime.

She's getting a break.

And there's still gold out there
on the bering sea.

Narrator: after lining up
a second dredge,

This winter,
emily is looking for 60 ounces

To get her expanded fleet
fully equipped

And ready for next summer.

Mining gold in the winter
is like an exercise

In how much you want to suffer.

It's murphy's law come to life

In the most extreme way
possible.

♪ Ahhhh ♪

Narrator: for the captain...

Ah!

...ice season has always proven
to be her achilles' heel.

I mean,
I've done eight ice seasons,

And not one of them
has been successful,

But I'm gonna
give it another go.

Narrator: but this winter,

She'll be without
her lead diver.

Emily: you know, I talked
to daryl about coming up

And doing ice with me.

He's not an ice miner.
He's not into it.

He's smart.
[ Laughs ]

So daryl's not coming back.

But I do have a couple guys
that areinsane enough

To want to do ice mining.

These guys are good.

They're solid dudes.
We get along pretty well.

They're up here
to suffer along with me.

And we're gonna see it through.
And I think they will.

I think they will
see it through.

-What's up, boss?
-Come in.

-Hey, what's up?
-Hey, what's going on?

-How you doing?
-What up, boss?

Hey, hey.
Nice ear flaps.

Narrator: with the thin ice
shaking up the landscape...

Emily: well, let me kind of
show you what I was thinking.

I'll pull out some maps here.

Narrator: ...choosing the right
place to base operations

Is priority number one.

Emily: alright, there's tomcod
down the coast here.

I've probably got about 600
hours of dive time on tomcod.

And I don't --
I don't have any hot spots.

We could go back
to my old spots

And then hope that gold
would somehow replenish itself.

Yeah, I mean,
I think we should

Consider that
as a possibility.

There's good old
trusty 14.

I have hundreds of coordinates
on 14.

Something, you know --
some kind of proven gold spot.

Whether there's still
gold there,

Whether there's
a decent quantity of gold

That you can get with a six
there, I don't know.

But 14 is a known quantity,
which is important.

So this is another
known quantity.

Down the coast 80 miles
to the infamous bluff.

Ice mining has taken place
successfully here.

It's a proven area
for gold.

It's a long trek
from nome.

Problem with the bluff is,
like anywhere else,

Is, like, in order to figure out
whether it's even viable,

We have to [bleep]
drive down there.

Drive down there with our auger,
dig holes, put a camera down.

Right.

Emily: with the ice
so unpredictable this year,

If we make the wrong move,

We're inevitably losing many,
many thousands of dollars.

You know, 14,
it's old faithful for me.

I've been mining out there
for eight years.

I have got a ton of --

I have literally hundreds
of coordinates we can go to.

Tried and true,
close to town.

Let's go to 14.

Money.
Awesome.

The window for ice
is so small and so limited.

You just have to go
to what you know.

I know lease 14 the best.

-Alright.
-Let's go.

Go, team.
Time for lunch.

-[Bleep]
-high five.

Narrator:
while emily's team gears up...

♪♪

Shawn: you don't want
to be screwing around

Trying to stay warm.

Narrator: ...mr. Gold
is preparing to suit up

For his first ice dive
in nearly three years.

Finishing up the manifold
for hot water.

Very important piece.

Need heat in your hands
and your feet.

You don't have heat out there,
your hands freeze.

You get frostbite.

Then you ain't mining.

Ice mining's dangerous as hell.

With the way things were going
with the inland mining

And the christine rose,

I was thinking I was gonna
get to hang up my dive suit.

Very important piece
in the whole operation

Is this piece right here.

Now that the tomcod
come up for sale,

I'm coming out
of early retirement.

I can't count on anybody else
to find the gold.

I got to do it myself.
My future's at stake.

Done.

We'll feed hot water from
the hot-water heaters to this.

That'll go right about
like here in the suit.

This is the tubing we use
to distribute the hot water.

Tubings go onto
the barb fittings.

That holds them there.

This is why some people
call it a spider.

Doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo.

Spider-man feeding the
hot water down to my hands here.

Hopefully these are long enough
to go to my feet.

You put them right into
the boot.

That way the hot water
is exactly where you need it.

Suit's ready.

Enough talking.

Time to just get down
and go do it.

Can't lie.
I'm a little nervous.

It's been a few years
since I've been diving,

And I am a couple years older,

So a little rusty.

That's why I'm looking
for anything I can do

To give me an edge.

Keep innovating.

Keeping one step ahead
of mother nature.

Paid a lot of damn money
for those claims.

The only way to pay for them
is time on the bottom.

Let's go get some gold.

Narrator: coming up...

Shawn:
we joke around a lot out here,

But it's still
a very dangerous job.

You lose air and you don't
get up in time, you're done.

Narrator:


♪♪

Shawn: alright,
you guys know what to do.

Let's get her set up,
and I'm gonna go get my suit on,

Get ready to go here.

Narrator:
the time has come for mr. Gold

To go back under the ice.

Time to get in the water.

Cody:
I think shawn will do alright.

Been a while, though,
so we'll see.

See how long he can last
down there.

♪♪

Shawn:
we joke around a lot out here,

But it's still
a very dangerous job.

You lose air and you don't
get up in time, you're done.

We're diving at 30 feet.

Pretty deep for my first dive,
especially...

I haven't knocked the rust
off my -- out of my suit.

But...

♪♪

It's surreal.

Once you go
under that sheet of ice,

There's no margin for error.

You know, that water's
under 28 degrees.

One small mistake
could cost you your life.

You're truly on your own.

Your life's in your own hands.

The doubt creeps in.

Do I have what it takes?
Should I be doing this?

Come on, mr. Gold.

But of course I'm gonna do it.

I'm mr. Gold.

I'm gonna show everybody
why they call me that.

Tear it up.

Oh, yeah.

Yahoo!

♪♪

Oh, this is awesome.

Feels good to be back under.

Looking good down here.

♪♪

I'm on the bottom.

Alright, I'm heading
for the nozzle.

Are you seeing that cobble

On those big rocks we saw
on the underwater camera?

Yeah,
looking like good cobble.

Looks like
really good cobble.

Yeah, it's looking good.

Start punching a hole here.

See what it looks like.

Real loose material.

Real loose.

Coming down --
getting down to some gravel.

Oh, seeing pieces of iron here.

Are you seeing
any gold?

That's negative on the gold.

Now visibility's
not the greatest, but...

We might have to
get you lasik.

I know there's gold
down here.

But it could be
five feet that way.



We just got to keep moving
around until we find it.

I'm gonna go ahead
and punch another hole.

[ Grunts ]

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, here we go.

There's the first piece
of gold.

It's gold all over now.

Oh! Yeah!

[Bleep] good.

Awesome, man.

The gold dance,
the gold dance.

The gold dance.

Make a big old cut,
send it up this way.

Yeah!

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Oh, boy.

Burning gas, hauling a*s.

Whoo!

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

Narrator: 10 miles east...

Okay, try that.

I love it
when it works.

...the kellys load up
their cutting-edge dive shed.

Yeah, I built this myself,
all custom-made.

In case you can't tell,
it is a little [bleep]

If you look at it from the side.

Look at that, huh?
Door handle.

Pennies on the dollar,
literally.

Usually I paint everything
and make it look beautiful.

But this year, I'm not
putting one extra dime

Into this operation
that I don't have to.

Yeah, baby.

Get this thing set up on the
ice, get making some money.

I can stick you
in my jacket.

[ Grunts ]

Come on, let's go.

We're going back to fort davis.

That spot did okay
for me this summer.

We just couldn't see.

Now with ice mining,
we'll be able to see every day,

And we're gonna k*ll it there.

The last thing you want to do
is prospect on thin ice.

The window is super short.

We have all this [bleep]
to move,

And we don't have
a lot of time to do it.

Yeah, baby!

Thank god for gps.

Narrator: first step --
off-load the winter setup

With trademark kelly finesse.

Kris: oh [bleep]

Good job, buddy.
That's why I have you.

-We're good.
-Success!

Narrator:
now find a spot to mine

Without falling through the ice.

Kris: look,
the plan is super simple.

You already see the open water
right there, though.

That's really why we have to go
and punch these holes.

We have to see if the ice
is even thick enough.

We should not be seeing
water like that.

It might be done
before it starts,

'Cause we don't know
how deep it is yet.

You know,
so everybody be careful.

It's always got to be
one thing or another, huh?

I've got a hundred things
to worry about.

And then
I [bleep] see this.

We already got problems
with ice season, man.

Yep. This is gonna be
some sketchy [bleep]

So we have our coordinates
from summer.

So right now we're looking
for a place

Where the ice isn't too thin
or too thick.

We're looking for a place that's
less than five feet thick

So it's not hard to cut a hole

And a place
that the ice is smooth.

We're looking for
that sweet spot right now.

Hey, be careful, dude.

Okay, back up.

You're just getting
psyched out.

Okay.

See, I can't stomp.

I just have to step,
and I'll break through.

♪♪

Hey, that's water
you're walking in, dude.

I know it is.
Calm down.

Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.

As long as I'm alive,
everything else is good.

So here we are at the beginning
of ice mining.

After we drill this hole,
we'll be able to base that --

How deep the ice actually is,
how thick the ice is.

So...

He doesn't need me to [bleep]
coach him everything he does.

So right now
we're gonna do this.

And if it's over 3 1/2 feet,

We can bring everything
down here right now.

See, the snow's
already turning dirty.

Ice is going bad already.

See the ice is already
turning dirty?

Andy: yeah, it is.

So discolored ice means
the ice is rotting already.

Okay, look.
What do you think?


Over 3 1/2 feet thick.

Oh, yeah, man,
I'm almost at the head.

Okay, 3 1/2 feet thick.

Well, it's gonna be thick,
but it's gonna be, like, weak.

You know, we're gonna have to
make the best of this season.

Gonna start moving down
our operation.

-Are you happy?
-I'm ready.

Here we go.

Drive!

The ice is starting to rot, so
it's not as strong as I'd like,

But it's gonna do.

The ice is thick enough
in this area.

We have our coordinates, and
we're ready to rock 'n' roll.

Hey, get off, get off.

Okay, we made it.

Let's get this going.

And let's try to get
in the water today.

Be nice
to get gold today.

Right, andy?

I got to take a piss.

After that.

Narrator: coming up...it's cold as hell.

It's already starting
to freeze up.

Kris, you be careful
going in right where you're at.

Don't worry about it.
I'll be okay.

This is what I do.

Three, two, one.

♪♪

Cody: well, you been back in
the water a couple hours now.

How you feeling?

No, you know, I feel --

I feel good, man.

I mean, hard to imagine that you
got a few feet of ice above you.

Narrator: nearing the end
of his first dive

Under the ice in years...

Shawn:
I got a nice cut going now.

You seeing the color?

Looking good.

It's looking good
up here, man.

Narrator: ...mr. Gold
has shaken off the cobwebs

And finds himself
in a familiar spot...

Shawn:
sending it topside.

Narrator:
...right on the money.

♪♪

Shawn: I like the way
this paystreak's looking.

But I'm working my a*s off.

Running good.
Lots of rock and gravel coming.

Once you find the gold,
you start following it.

You just make
big horseshoe cuts.

It's pretty similar
to the christine rose

Sitting on the spots
digging back and forth.

Pretty much the same concept
as what we do in the summer.

Just a lot smaller scale.

♪♪

Well, that was a cut four hours.

I'm gonna come up.

Well, roger.
Awesome.

Coming up.

Yeah, roger.
Shut it down.

♪♪

♪♪

How was it?
You like it?

First hole, first dive, we're
seeing a little bit of gold.

That's a good sign.

We haven't hit the mother lode,

But definitely
seeing good color.

The old man's back.

Just like riding a bike.

Got ice in my hair.

Maybe more like swimming
in a big frozen pool.

Man, this feels good.

I love it.

Beautiful sunny day.

What else would you rather
be doing?

Sitting in a damn office
behind a desk, pushing papers

Or 30 feet under the ice,
sucking up gold?

Definitely a good feeling
being back on the bottom.

♪♪

♪♪

Okay, the time has come.

Everything's ready
to rock 'n' roll.

We have everything ready to go
to a good enough degree.

I just want to get down there,
get gold,

And I don't really care.

Narrator: at fort davis,
the kellys are on the precipice

Of their first winter dive.

It's been a long day.
We're almost ready.

We're all tired now, hungry.

[ Burps ]

Narrator: but after a marathon
day setting up camp,

Their first venture
under the ice will be at night.

Brad: we're about ready
to start the engines up,

Send a diver down finally.

It's almost 9:00 at night.

Narrator:
and on the frozen ice shelf,

That is far from ideal.

It's cold as hell.

It's already starting
to freeze up.

Look, it's already cold as ba*ls
during the day here in nome.

At night, temperatures plummet.

The hole freezes over quickly.

There's more of a risk
the equipment will freeze up.

It's pitch dark down there.
You can barely see anything.

It's been a long day, but it's
gonna pay off right now.

First time going
underneath the ice this year.

I'm thankful we made it.

I'm thankful to everybody
who put in a hard workday.

I'm just thankful I'm here.

Just thankful right now.

I'm glad we're gonna
go get some gold.

Just need 50 ounces
to get that boat.

Night diving
is definitely not the way

I wanted to start this,
but we're diving tonight.

We're gonna make some gold,
no matter what.

Is that good?

Little tighter?

Okay, how's the top?

Tight.
Little tighter.

Okay.

-Put it on there.
-Good?

-Okay?
-We're good.

Good?

Brad: kris, you be careful going
in right where you're at.

Don't worry about it.
I'll be okay.

This is what I do.

Three, two, one.

♪♪

♪♪

Man, there's a lot of fish
down here.

Really?

Like, a lot.

Too bad we didn't like
to eat them.

[Bleep]
it is tight down here.

It's only four feet tall,
the ceiling.

Kind of dangerous.

Don't go too far
under, then.

We might be on a low tide
right now.

Be careful.

I am being careful.

Moving away from the hole.

Just be careful, okay?
It's dangerous. It's dark.

Everything's good so far.

We have really good visibility.

And it's all cobble.

It doesn't look like
it's been touched yet.

Okay, good job, kris.
Good job.

If I bring in the hose,

We're gonna get this [bleep]
right now.

This is the start of our goal
of 50 ounces.

I hope to god we get it,
but we'll see what happens.

And everything's good.

Everything is good.

Okay, buddy,
get to work, then.

I'm going to work.

I don't feel anything.

There's no suction.

Okay, what's going on
down there?

We don't have suction!

You serious?

Everything is good
but suction.

Okay, I'll tell you what.

Swim up by the foot valve
and see if it's frozen.

[Bleep]

♪♪

♪♪

The foot valve's got
a huge chunk of ice in it.

We're in trouble.

This is [bleep]

♪♪

Hi. I'm kris kelly.

And this is "kris kelly's
secret guide to ice mining."

Don't tell anyone.

Even though it's on
the [bleep] show.

Today I'll be talking about
summer versus winter mining.

In my opinion,
there's not even a comparison.

You know...

Summer -- nice, warm.

Winter -- cold, hell-like,
and very miserable.

The best part about
summer mining is the ocean.

The ocean is great.

The ocean's beautiful.

You know what?
I love the water.

It's the best part of my job.

We got over here, we got ice.

Ice mining just sucks.

In reality, there's no [bleep]
reason you should be on the ice,

The middle of a frozen ocean
in minus-20 degrees

Cutting holes in the water

So you can jump in there
and make money.

You know, you can fall in one of
those leads on a snow machine.

They won't even know
you're gone for a month.

You know, then your body
will show up bloated



Have you ever looked at those
pictures with the old miners?

You know, the dude looked like
he was 80 years old.

He's all sad
and [bleep] beaten down.

That dude is 25.

I'm gonna explain it to you
one more time.

Ice mining bad.

Summer mining good.

Yeah, don't waste your time.

Don't mortgage the house.

There are no winners.

The foot valve's got
a huge chunk of ice in it.

We're in trouble.

Narrator:
on the first dive of winter,

The kellys are already
hitting a cold streak.

Kris: the [bleep] frozen!

What did you think's
gonna happen?

Sat in the water
for a few hours.

No, it's when it sits
on the surface [bleep]

The elements humble you
real quick.

You'll be humbled real fast

As soon as you think
you can overtake the winter.

Narrator: a frozen foot valve
means no suction on the hose,

And no suction means no chance
for any gold.

You know what? You better
call this tonight's dive.

We'll come tomorrow,
fine-tune it.

Kris: I don't want
to go home yet.

I've worked so hard
to get here.

That's all we can do.

What the [bleep]

It sat here all day.

Okay, come on.
Pack it up.

Okay, fine.

This sucks!
We were so [bleep] close.

♪♪

Aah!

Aah-ha-ha!

Yeah, we got in the water,
but we didn't get gold.

I'm not here to get in the
[bleep] ice-cold-a*s water.

I'm here to get gold.

Narrator: three miles west...

-Hola.
-Hey, dudes.

-What up?
-What up?

What's that?

Fearless leader.
How's it going?

Your fearless lever.
Lever.

Lever.
Our fearless lever?

Your fearless lever
has arrived.

[ Laughter ]

With the prospect of thin ice
throughout the bering sea,

Emily riedel needs a spot
to mine the gold

She needs to prep her
growing fleet for summer.

-How's the augur working?
-It's running good.

Got a lot of spots out here
at three feet.

Emily:
here we are. Alright.

Right now, we're a tenth
of a mile offshore

And then 14
is right over there.

Fire it up, roll.

♪♪

I took a big leap forward
to expand my operation,

But ice really has to work out
for me,

Because if it doesn't,
the whole plan might collapse.

I need to find some flat,
healthy ice on 14

And get to work.

♪♪

Oh [bleep]

There's your crack.

This is crazy.

This will be
the next big piece.

Yeah.

That's gonna break off
any second.

That's all the way through
that pressure ridge, too.

Yeah, it goes all the way up
through, like,

How many feet
of hard-packed ice?

Well, it just seems like
right now

We're just south of this
huge crack that's opening up.

And one good north wind,

Even this flat section of ice
is gonna --

You know, it's gonna be gone.

It's gonna turn into
another lead.

All of this flat area, all of
this potential 14, it's gone.

There's cracks here.
It's about to break off.

It's gonna go
at any second.

It's unwise
to have gear out here.

The amount of time
it's gonna take us

To try and get the gear here,

Auger holes, prospect,
and then move equipment.

By the time we do find
something, this ice is gonna --

This won't be here
next week.

Well, this is the situation
as I see it.

This 14
is currently open water.

So this section
of the bering sea

That we're in right now
we can't mine.

I mean, 14 -- done.
No mining here.

Got to find somewhere else.

All of my best-laid plans
for ice

Has just been
completely demolished

Because we can't mine
out here on 14.

We're gonna need to find
a new place to mine fast.

That's it for 14, gentlemen.

No place to mine.

Narrator: back in nome...

♪♪

...shawn pomrenke...

Shawn:
I was a little sore.

I have to admit,
I was a little sore.

...mr. Gold, is ready to weigh
the fruits of his labor

From his first ice dive
in years.

Gonna see
how well we did here.

There's definitely some gold
in the pans.

But till you get it all
cleaned up and on the scale,

You don't know.

Alright, I'm gonna
fire up this wheel.

Shawn: huge haul would be
a huge confidence builder.

Big numbers on the scale
to be a reminder

Of why they call me mr. Gold

And have the proof that we're
going to make that $400,000.

One step closer
to owning tomcod.

Big chunky gold out there.

Looks amazing.

Not much fine.

There's 20.

♪♪



Narrator: 25.2 ounces
is worth over $40,000.

Shawn: this is a great start
to the season.

Feels good to see some gold.

Narrator: and the tomcod
might well be within his grasp.

Shawn: this is awesome.
I went back down there,

Kicked a*s
right out of the gate.

Hell of a way
to start the season.

Now we just have to
keep it going.

It's like a big old
gold burrito.

Fits in there just perfect.

Time to go get some more.

Narrator: shawn's first dive

Starts him at the top
of the gold count.

♪♪

♪ The stage is set
for my people, yeah ♪

♪ Coming back
like a sequel, yeah ♪

Shawn:
securing the tomcod

Is being able to provide
for my family for years to come.

We're gonna make money
any way we can this winter.

♪ Call me an underdog, gonna
make you a believer, yeah ♪

♪ I don't ever, ever
wanna look back ♪

Emily: my goal this year of


The lease I know the best
isn't accessible at all.

The reality of ice mining,
you know.

We just hope for the best
and prepare for the worst.

♪ The future's blurry,
but the past is a trap ♪

♪ I might be staring
at my last chance ♪

Kris: well, first day, and we're
already two weeks behind.

Doing this operation
for pennies on the dollar

Is having its toll this year.

If it was easy,
everybody would be doing this.

♪ But I'm cold-blooded ♪

♪ I'm cold-blooded ♪

♪ Ice in my veins,
never gonna run ♪

♪ Venom on my fangs,
fire on my tongue ♪

♪ I'm cold-blooded ♪

Vernon:
we're ready to rock 'n' roll.

We got to get some gold,
lots of it.

You have no idea
what you're going into.

[Bleep]
come up now.

It's scary [bleep]

Yeah!

Get away!

-Nuts, though.
-[Bleep]

♪ Cold-blooded ♪