Interview with an Ice Road Trucker

It was a defining moment for a young trucker who'd been long-hauling for less than a year. T.J. Tilcox, 21, still remembers the moment he first eased his 18-wheeler off the terra firma just outside Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on to the ice road he would follow to the Ekati diamond mine - 300 kilometres over frozen rivers and lakes deep enough to swallow him like the Titanic if his big rig fell through. "I put the window down because I was sweating," he recalls. "That was when I heard the cracking. I figured, 'I'm going straight to the bottom.' It's a pretty gut-wrenching feeling." The window went back up.

The History channel followed a group of road warriors as they cajole, ease and rev their rigs from Yellowknife to the three diamond mines that depend on them for their annual supplies of everything from diesel to replacement parts. The truckers have 50 or 60 days to move about 10,000 loads. They face -50C temperatures, steep hills, tight curves and, of course, the ever-present danger of plunging through. "I had a guy go through right in front of me this year," said veteran ice-roader Hugh Rowland."If you're not scared, you're crazy."

Driving on ice isn't like driving on asphalt, truckers say. Speeds must be kept down to about 30 kilometres an hour or a pressure wave builds in the water under the ice that can burst right through. And if a driver uses the brakes in his truck rather than his trailer, he's likely to jackknife and land in the ditch or the drink.

What draws drivers to what may be North America's toughest run? Money, for one thing. Rowland said a trucker with his own rig can take home $25,000 for eight weeks work if he does about 30 trips. Some call the ice road season the "Dash for Cash." Adventure, for another. "I thought it was going to be a hell of an experience," said Tilcox, who drove through a whiteout so dense he couldn't see past the hood of his truck and still sounds awed when he describes leaving the trees behind and heading out into open tundra. "All of a sudden you hit wide open and it's blowing ... oh my Jesus."Says Rowland: "It's a new adventure every day. It's like four-wheel driving with a truck."