18x11 - Place Your Bets

[bunniefuu]

Only 72 hours remain before
the doors slam shut on ice mining.

And the fleet is feeling the heat.

If this don't work, I'll be done.

Now, with some captains
closing in on their goals,

and others trying to claw their way back,

it's time for the miners to
give it everything they've got.

We've got to keep the
ball rolling, dive after dive.

Holy.

And leave nothing behind.

Yeah.

I love that sound.

That's more gold than
I've seen in any winter.

Look at that picker, dude!

Yeah, baby! We're
gonna make some money!

There's so many things to do
right now, it's almost overwhelming.

In winter's final days,

Shawn pomrenke is using
gold from his ice operation

to try to uncover the
treasure of a lifetime.

Star and Joe are out mining
away on the tomcod kicking a*s.

But now I gotta get this
inland up and running.

The inland is thousands of
acres of land to mine. It's exciting.

I'm gambling everything I
have on this inland mine.

I think I know where the old timers
worked in the original gold rush.

And I believe they left
behind 50,000 ounces.

I've been doing my homework,
so I know where I want to start out.

But I need to do some
more investigations.

I got all my pennies in this basket.

If this don't work, I'll be done.

I invested everything I had to
get access to these grounds,

including the gold from this ice season,

to find out if I'm onto something or not.

The first thing I had to do was
drain all this water out of the pit.

It's 60 feet deep, and we've done that.

Now we've got to clear all the ice

and dirt out of the way,
which is another 10 to 20 feet.

Then we'll find out if
there's pay down there

or I've just pissed away a fortune.

Late 1800s,

they come through and mine
this with picks and shovels.

The old timers went after
a layer about that thick and,

and left the rest and those spots are hot.

Hopefully, we're headed
in the right direction.

We'll know today.

Nervous, excited.

Either there's going to be a
bunch of pay dirt or there's not.

We're like gold mining archeologists.

I want to find ancient beach
lines, old mine shafts to prove

that this is where the old timers worked.

With modern equipment, we could reach
ground that those guys might have missed.

And we're talking over
$100 million in gold.

We got to get the ice out of the way.

It's time to get to bedrock.

In ancient times,

this location would have been
on the coast of the Bering sea.

Gold carried by rivers would
concentrate here on the bedrock

of what was then the beach.

Pay dirt, pay dirt.

Finally.

Pumping water, doze
and running the excavator

and finally seeing some pay dirt.

Yeah, heading in the right direction.

As Shawn breaks
ground, out on the ice...

A brand-new hole. Things
are looking pretty good.

We're about ready to go?

With the claim sporting the
best ice in nome this season,

Vernon adkison was primed
to be in the catbird seat.

But in winter's waning
hours, he's in the hot seat

as crew relations reach a breaking point.

We're a one-trick pony here, and
he's the pony. We'll ride him hard.

Things have not panned out
the way I'd planned this season.

Even though I'm collecting
royalties from tenants,

and the gold has been good, tensions
with his crew, it made for a bumpy ride.

Chris, you put that upside down

like I told you not to do it.

I set it in there like that!

- No, you did not.
- -You're gonna piss me off.

We had to say goodbye to Chris.

Sometimes you don't listen too
good. The writing's on the wall.

So now we're down to just one diver.

But hopefully we'll get into this new hole

and we can get back to
the business of getting gold

and cut it with the pissing and moaning.

Because we need to
k*ll it the rest of the way.

We had a little issues
with the bottom of the ice.

It didn't wanna break off even,
but it was enough to get the hose in,

so hopefully I can get in.

All this ice out here is layered.

Back when it was forming,
there was a lot of overlap.

Anytime we open up a new
hole, we've got to make sure

it's safe for the diver to get in and out.

But the ice here is tricky.

It's about seven feet
thick and multi-layered.

Even though we got through most of it,

the bottom shelf had not
been completely cut out.

If that opening is too small down there,

it could get plugged by a chunk
of ice, and Gary couldn't get out.

It could get dicey.

We've got to enlarge the hole.

There's some layers underneath.

It's hard for him to get in.

Damn it.

It's cutting into our time, but

it's got to have the hole
cleared or it can't get down.

By the time he gets the ice out of there,

he's gonna be too tired to dive.

That takes a hell of a lot of energy.

Did he get it loose, Kevin?

That's a big piece of ice.

What does it look like down there?

It doesn't look like it's been worked.

I'm seeing some marine growth
on the rock that looks pretty good.

All right. That's what I want to hear, Gary.

Stay on it.

We can't slow down.

Let's get back in money-making.

Jeff dove last night on the same hole.

And I got a text last night
and said it's good ground.

Believe it or not, I had the best dream
last night right after I read that text.

So I'm ready to go check this ground out.

As the end of ice mining looms, the
gold count leader is pushing his luck.

We gotta keep the ball
rolling, dive after dive after dive.

This summer, I'm gonna be paying
for premium upgrades on the norpac

so we double our goal late in the game.



But everything has already been
ordered, so there's really no turning back.

To pull this off, we're going
to be diving around the clock.

Wilson dove late yesterday.

- Jeff dove last night.
- Now it's my turn.

We've got to make this happen.

I'm ready to rock and roll.

- All right.
- Just got to the bottom.

All right, bud. Let me know
when you're at the nozzle.

I'll get that thing fired up for you.

Here we go. Time to
go make some money.

Sick, man.

Across the ice...

How goes it out here?

- This spot's so hot.
- -Right on, I'm excited.

As the season speeds
into the homestretch,

perhaps no one is up against
it more than Zeke tenhoff.

Right now, we're just gonna grind out the
rest of the gold we can get in these holes.

We've got a few days left.

But the mad scientist's recent
discovery offers a glimmer of hope.

I'm super stoked. We'll be
diving on this hole in no time.

We're in a tough spot.

The season's almost over
and we're very far from our goal,

and I need money for my family.

The last time out, we got into
some great gold at the edge of a reef.

Are you liking our spot?

Dude, that's awesome.

And so we're just going to hammer this

for the rest of the time
we have left out here.

There's like a sand line that
runs along this big cobble field,

and the whole edge of that
sand cobble edge is really good.

Nice.

Nate logged a dive last night
and he found a really hot spot.

He thinks it might be the best
gold that we've seen so far.

So I'm gonna go down and
grind as many hours as I can on it.

It's kind of dark under here today.

I'm on the bottom.

I'm gonna see what I can find.

I hope this gold continues on.

All right, I'm ready for the pumps.

Roger that.

You don't want to jinx it
and think it's better than it is.

But seriously, there's some gold
down there that looks so good.

Hell, yeah, dude, I'm stoked on it.

There's no reason not
to be happy about this.

Four miles west...

Okay, let's get started, everybody.

I hate having to look in my sluice
box and hope I'm catching gold.

That makes me feel violent.

Reaper nation's been singing
the loose sluice blues this season.

I need you guys to
really take care of this girl.

But for the final days, captain
kris is bringing out a new sluice box

to maximize gold collection.

To begin with, it's not the new
sluice, it's a old piece of sluice

that we had to bring back
because the new one didn't work.

Thank you, kris.

- Not a new sluice box after all.
- It's just a new old sluice,

which they valiantly tried to
fix up for the final few days.

Hey, careful with the


We've been on great gold this season,

but our sluice box
situation's been a disaster.

The first one leaked out the front.

So we replaced it with the coffin sluice

that we used a couple of seasons ago.

We're leaking gold out of the box.

That's kind of a big problem.

Somehow that sluice
box was actually worse.

Today we're bringing back
the one we started off with.

We did the best job we could patching
it up after we worked through the night.

And we've got a plan to get the
best gold we've gotten all season.

I think now that we're
in the deeper water,

we're just going to
keep finding better gold.

The general rule is, the deeper
you go, the better the gold is.

So we're going deeper.

And if the sluice isn't 100%, I
still think we're gonna crush it.

Okay, good luck, buddy.

Okay, check, check.

Okay.

Yeah, baby. I knew to
send you down there.

How you doing? That's amazing.

Did I tell you gold is at an all-time high?

We're gonna make some money today!

I'm pretty excited to see
what's at the bottom of this cut.

Finally reaching the
pay layer, 80 feet deep.

It's looking good over here.

Shawn pomrenke is looking for
evidence of the old time miners' footsteps.

Let's see if I can find this...

From the research I've done,

the old timers followed an intermediate
beach line that runs through this ground.

If we can find any traces
of tools from the old timers

on the intermediate beach line, we'll know
we're sitting on top of a possible fortune.

Where are you at?

Aw, that's good looking dirt there.

What the hell is that?

I thought I seen something in here.

Boy, the old beach line.

You see the beach line
in that where it changes?

From right here down was old beach.

A million plus years ago,
the ocean was right here.

Look, all kinds of seashells.

Mother nature washed and concentrated
all the gold on this beach line.

So that's what we're going after.

I'm gonna open this up a little bit more

so I can see if I can tell which
way the old timers are headed

and make sure we're
heading in the right direction.

If they were here mining, you
know there's good gold around here.

This is a good sign.

Back out on the ice.

I'm doing a check-in.
How are things going?

Smoke it, baby.

Kris Kelly's plan to go deeper

could be resulting in deeper
pockets for reaper nation.

You know, you made
it almost three hours.

So you did really well.

So come on up, get warm.

Good job.

Turn it off.

We're gonna check the box out.

Well, that's not good.

I don't see. But that doesn't
mean it's not in here, okay?

Like, it's probably in here.

So, I'm not seeing gold in the box.

Two possibilities.

One, it's deep in the mat
and we're actually doing fine.

Or all the work and
fixes didn't do anything.

But I'd like to see it.

All I can do is hope
it's option number one.

And if I get down there and
put a bunch of hours on the box,

we're gonna have a k*ller day.

Good luck, kris.

Good luck, Jay.

Yeah, I know.

It'll clear up as you go.

Don't worry.

Are you liking the ground?

There's gold throughout all of this.

Yeah, I know.

- We're on gold.
- That's all that matters.

Yeah.

Well behind his season
goal in winter's final days,

Zeke tenhoff is pushing
past the five-hour Mark.

Yeah, I thought it looked really good,

and, it's kind of all over
the place here, too, so...

Looks hopeful.

I'm gonna run the pumps down and...

Pull the tether.

Yo, dude. Great dive.

I'm really hoping that this cleanup's

gonna be a big one,
because we really need it.

My family needs it.

The gold here is just stellar.

I don't care if the season
hasn't been so good so far.

If we can end strong,
it will make up for it.

- Look at that picker, dude.
- -Look at that.

Across the claim...

Gary's getting his ya-yas out down here.

There you go.

Clocking in on his fifth hour on the gold,

fatigue is setting in

for Vernon adkison's only driver.

It's hazardous. It's hazardous.

Gary cut out a pretty
good sized chunk of ice,

so he was able to get in the water.

But there were other layers underneath

and there's a possibility that
the current will come along

and grab that chunk of ice and
move it and plug up your hole.

That could be fatal.

It's a dangerous business.

This is what happens
when people get tired.

He was tired when he went down...

From fighting that ice.

- He's getting frustrated.
- He's tired.

I gotta pull him up.

I can't stand listening to this.

Come on up, Gary.

Idle down. He's coming up.

Holy!

Is it still plugged?

This son of a b*tch.

The bottom of the
hole was awfully small,

and now there's an ice chunk blocking it.

Gary can't get out.

We can't reach that
ice chunk from up top,

but we do have enough
room to get a saw down to him.

Hopefully, he'll be able to cut his way out.

But he's already exhausted.

This is not good.

Right now, everybody's stressed out.

Is it clear?

Mother!

- It's clear?
- Yeah.

All right. He's coming up.

It's clear now.

But, this was a very close call.

How're you feeling?

Nothing comes easy

when it comes to mining
and especially ice mining.

It's a tough business.

Let's get put away and go get some rest.

That's good, buddy.

You're making everybody up here happy.

Kris Kelly's followed up a stellar dive

from brother Andy with
a strong one of his own.

And now, reaper nation
is on target for a big day,

as long as any of it actually
remains in the sluice box.

I saw how much gold I sucked up.

When they do a cleanup,
if the gold doesn't add up,

there's a problem.

I think today was a
very profitable day for us.

Come on up, buddy. You did good.

Okay, great.

Well, we did what we set out to do.

We got on k*ller gold.

Beat.

I'm hungry, and I'm
glad I got a lot of gold,

now we'll see if the
sluice box caught any of it.

Eight miles west...

Hey, bud. How's the
thing going down there?

Yeah, dude. Sweet.

Five hours in,

and nome's young g*n
still has gold in his sights.

Copy that, I'll idle down.

Efficient and relentless.

That's this team right now.

Just dive after dive after dive.

No one can stop us.

Woo-hoo!

This stuff right here
is looking really great.

Yes, sir!

We're still a long ways from 200 ounces.

And time is really running out.

But with this team, we can do anything.

Wow. Rock and rolling, baby.

Exactly what I want to see.

Back on land.

I feel like I'm right at home. Instead of...

Instead of being under 38 feet of water,

I'm on a old beach down in a hole.

Shawn pomrenke is searching
the ancient shoreline...

Trying to find the site

of nome's original gold rush.

Every time we've had our best years,

it's been running around the old timers

and where they've dug.

We found the beach line.

Now we just need to find evidence
of where the old timers worked.

If there is,

there could be thousands upon thousands
of ounces hiding beneath our feet.

What's that?

Wood.

Man. They were in here.

There's the timbers that have
been in the ground for 100 plus years.

They were here.

Look. There's the shaft.

You see the wood in the wall?

That's a good sign,
'cause if they were here,

you know there was gold here

and they're doing pick and
shovel and scoop by scoop.

And hopefully they didn't get it all.

What the hell is that?

A pick.

Look at that.

Look at that.

That's a 100-year-old pick.

Looks brand new still,

except for the handle's a little busted up.

We'll save that one.

I'm gonna take a pan and
see if they left anything behind.

I'm just gonna grab
some of this right here.

Well, let's find some water,

which ain't a problem around here.

See if they left anything for us to mine.

Right now, it'll tell the tale.

Yeah. There it is.

Nice chunkers in there.

Lots of finds.

We hit pay dirt.

Finally.

This is amazing.

We found a whole mine
site and we found gold.

It's been a tough season,

but this is proof that
going after the inland mine

was the right choice.

And if everything goes right,
I'm gonna make a fortune.

As soon as the water starts running

and it's warm enough
to fire up the wash plant,

we're gonna fire that pig
up and make some gold.

I'm excited.

This summer's gonna be fun.

Hello and welcome to another episode

of kris Kelly's secret
guide to successful mining.

Today we're gonna be talking about

the backpack to save your life.

So this is my sexy assistant, Andy Kelly.

Open it up.

- Ibuprofen.
- Ibuprofen.

When you're out there,

you're literally breathing in
a lot of fumes from engines.

It will give you a headache from hell.

Or if you're me,

you get a headache from
listening to your brother all day.

Andy, I know you can hear me.

The next item is hand
sanitizer for those nasty

that have snot hanging
out their nose all the time.

Hand sanitizer.

a*s wipe.

Me, personally, I don't leave my house

- until I go number two.
- Yeah.

Never on the ice.

But if you do, what
can you say, happens.

Orange gloves.

There's so many things
with these you can do.

You can do this. Never
get your hands wet.

They always stay warm or you just...

They work great.

They work for everything.

That's always a good sign,

when the carpets are heavy.

Feels like there's a
few Benjamins in there.

Yeah.

Shawn pomrenke had a
breakthrough at the inland mine.

Let's see what's in this dirt.

Now he's hoping the ice mining team

breaks through their 100-ounce gold.

What're you guys thinkin'?

How many ounces?

I'm hoping for the moon,

but I suppose I'll be okay

somewhere in between here and there.

A nice, big, fat clean up.

That's what we're looking for.

That's a decent test pan there.

As the end of winter mining looms...

Every soup is glittery.

The pomrenke team's not the only one

looking to hit their goal.

Let's get this in the pan.

We got some gold here.

You got a good bit of gold there.

As the entire fleet's feeling the pressure.

See what the hell we got here.

- Ready? Mind if I pour this one?
- I'm ready.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

See what it comes out to.

Here we go.

Come on.

One...

We got two ounces.

Three.

I love that sound.

Yeah.

We got 3.1.

We got 4.1.



That's pretty close to five ounces.



Far short of Zeke's hopes for the day.

And the tenhoff team's chances

of hitting their goal remain a long shot.

Honestly, it's like, with
the amount of expenses

and the amount of
work that has gone into it,

the amount of gold we've got

doesn't make this, like, a huge success.

The gold in this reef is good so far.

But we need it to be great.

All we can do is keep pushing

and hope for a miracle
at the end of this season.

Six, seven... Come on, man.

Eight, nine, ten.



All right.

That's what I'm talking about.



And despite the scare,

the one man team of
Gary keeps on rolling.

I'm feeling pretty good about this.

I'm happy with it.

All right.

- Kevin.
- All right, Kevin.

We go from thinkin' we
might lose our only diver,

to comin' pretty close to
hitting our season goal.

If we can get one more decent day,

I think we're gonna pull this off.

Come on, five. Come on, five.

Five, six, seven...

Eight. We punched eight.





One of reaper nation's
best hauls of the season,

despite the less than ideal sluice.

I don't wanna talk about losing gold.

All we can do right
now is just get out there,

push hard and hope to god
everything goes good for us.

If we would have gotten numbers like
this all season, we'd be on easy street.

But it's really late, so we
need one last big number.

It's tough, but I think
we still have a chance.

Ten...

We're gonna hit 20.

There's 20.22.





Hell, yeah.

Nice job, guys.



And after a rough start to the season,

Mr. Gold's come through late

and smashed his 100-ounce goal.

Heck yeah. That's amazing.

We did it.

We moved to tomcod
late and it's paid off.

And I proved my
theory at the inland mine.

It's where the old timers worked.

It could be the biggest haul
I've ever had in my career.

Eight, ten...

That's more gold than
I've seen in any winter.

Keep pouring.

Keep pouring.

Boom.



That's so good.


the young g*n 62 grand.

And the gold count leader
stays well atop his perch.

- That's crazy, dude. That's good.
- Right.

Wow, dude.

We just keep getting better and better.

It's still a long shot,

but I think we can end
where we want to be.

My feet are dancing
off the floor right now.

- I love it.
- Let's keep going.

- Yeah, baby.
- What a feeling!

Chris mccully continues
climbing into the triple digits,

while Mr. Gold does the same.

Next time on Bering sea gold...

This is our last chance
at everything right now.

The finish line is right there.

We're gonna finish this season strong.

This will be my last time on the tomcod.

Tears of joy.

It's gonna be our last
dive of the ice season.

I just wanna find a bunch of gold.

Rock and roll, dude.

Gary's grinding away
getting in that final foot.

What we do is dangerous,

there's no getting around that.

Holy.

We're on a pressure Ridge.

It's dangerous, dark situation.

Get the out of there!

We're not gonna stop.

We can't stop.

Yay!

This could not get any better than that.