Lisa Kelly and the other drivers had to brave Atigun Pass on Ice Road Truckers, Season 4, Episode 4, which aired on the History Channel Sunday. A Phase 3 storm has hit that area for 24 hours-plus, and the DOT thinks that avalanches may ensue. Drivers had to endure delays, low visibility, and drifting roads. Season 4, Episode 4 of Ice Road Truckers saw Hugh Rowland not take kindly to being paired up with Jack Jesse. Still, the load tallies are steadily moving up for most of the featured drivers on this History Channel show.
Atigun Pass Tests Lisa Kelly and the Other Drivers on Season 4, Episode 4 of Ice Road Truckers
Alex Debogorski is 50 miles outside of Prudhoe Bay with a 28,000 pound load. There is very little visibility and he almost whacks a truck coming in the other direction. As he heads south into what he deems “The Twilight Zone”, the visibility gets worse until he spots a grader that helps him see the road to Coldfoot better. At Coldfoot, he sees one of the delineators he took out in an earlier episode.
Ray Veilleux is in Prudhoe Bay, hoping to get a load back to Fairbanks. But he has to tie down his trailer load in winds of 50 mph, which he gets help from another driver Tim Bishop. It takes over an hour, and tests the men’s stamina on Ice Road Truckers, Season 4, Episode 4. After being delayed at Coldfoot, Ray heads south to Fairbanks with a small convoy amidst blowing drifts on the road and spots a wreck. He then encounters less visibility and the blowing snow gets so bad the drivers pull over in -57 degree weather on Ice Road Truckers, Season 4, Episode 4. After seeing the northbound convoy, Veilleux gets rolling again and makes it through Atigun Pass.
Lisa Kelly is in Fairbanks, and gets a 43,000 pound load of VSM pipe, a “hot load.” She has a 48 hour deadline. But the storm at Atigun Pass slows her down, and she’s delayed at the Coldfoot truck stop. She heads north with a convoy, but the storm gets so bad, she and the other drivers have to pull off the road. But when the weather gets a little better, Lisa Kelly and other drivers head north without help of the DOT’s plowing, and she beats the deadline.
Hugh Rowland Doesn’t Like Pairing Up on Ice Road Truckers, Season 4, Episode 4
Hugh Rowland gets another load of pipe, but isn’t happy having to follow Jack Jesse per the company’s directive to pair up in bad weather. “The Polar Bear” gets madder having to wait for him for over three hours. So Rowland takes off an hour before Jesse, who will be hauling a vacuum truck. At Coldfoot, he sits with Jesse briefly then waits in his truck while the man he deems as “King James” eats. Hugh decides to drop the load at Coldfoot and go back to Fairbanks. Jack Jesse makes it to Prudhoe Bay finally with his load, playing it safe rather than take on the storm as aggressively as the other drivers.
In Bettles, Merv’s rigs need to get 12 loads of fuel over the ice road to the small town of 60 people. When the ice road is tested by Jamie in his pick up, it doesn’t go well at first, but he manages to get across, but barely, so that means a delay in ice road trucker deliveries on Season 4, Episode 4 of Ice Road Truckers.
Greg Boadwine gets a load of pipe to Coldfoot, but as he goes down one of the Dalton’s hills, he almost loses control. When he gets to Coldfoot, he sits down with Lisa Kelly for a spell, but then heads back to Fairbanks, avoiding Atigun Pass.
After four episodes of Ice Road Truckers, the leader is still Jack with five loads. Lisa, Alex, and Ray have four. “The Polar Bear” has three, and Greg has two. For those who need a recap of Episode 1 go here; Episode 3 is here.
Source:
“Monster Storm Over Atigun”, Ice Road Truckers, June 27, 2010, History Channel