[narrator] as winter mining races to a finish...
Left drive.
[narrator] ...Who will take home the ice crown?
[shawn speaking]
[narrator] a titan fighting to retain his title.
We're off to the races, baby.
[narrator] or an unlikely underdog, risking it all to unseat a legend.
[vernon speaking]
[narrator] while the battle rages...
[man speaking]
we can push it one more day.
[narrator] a new father hopes to water seeds for a future empire.
He better put as much gold in there,
because it's going to blow the ice away.
[narrator] and a trailblazing innovator,
just tries to keep his operation alive.
[zeke] if I can't make ends meet,
I'm going to have a serious doubt about my future as a gold hunter.
[narrator] where will the chips fall
on the season finale of bering sea gold?
-[man speaking] -this is it.
Look at that nugget.
[narrator] it's been the worst winter in 100 years.
A relentless barrage of storms has assaulted nome.
Now, in less than 24 hours, the brutal season...
Will be history.
A blizzard looms less than 100 miles away.
With winds and downfalls so severe,
there is no chance the rapidly deteriorating ice will survive.
As most miners flee for the safety of shore...
A brave few head out for one last chance
to make their golden dreams come true.
[vernon] so the weather report has changed.
Now, it looks like the wind picked up some,
it's going to be a toss-up, whether or not it's workable,
I'm thinking it's probably still going to be workable.
[narrator] vernon adkison, currently the miner with the most gold in the fleet,
readies to push his luck one last time.
We got an open water lead out there that's struck down here by the nome river,
and then it goes on out there.
And then all the way to the west, as far as I can see.
The ice has broken off and drifted out to sea, so it's encroaching on us.
I knew this was too good to last.
Best season of my life, but now this storm is going to put the kibosh on it.
And that lead has been exploding in the last day or two.
More ice is breaking off every hour.
With this wind bearing down on us, we're playing russian roulette for sure.
[speaking]
[vernon] you never can tell what the damn ice will do.
I'm thinking, I'm always knocking on wood.
Most people would run for cover under these circumstances,
but I'm on the best gold of my life.
I'm going for 200 ounces this season.
Let's dive.
Yeah. Let's dive.
This is our last chance to grab the good stuff.
There's no way we're sitting it out.
You're ready to go get it?
Going to get it. Yeah.
All right. That's your last chance.
Yeah.
[narrator] 12 miles west...
[shawn] heading out to the tomcod,
got a storm brewing,
that's coming,
but we still want to keep going.
[narrator] in the final hours of the season,
mr. Gold's trying to tap into a jackpot
and retake his place atop the gold count.
Hey joe!
[joe speaking]
but we're going to get that gold, hey?
[shawn] hmmm-hmm.
Last chance at greatness.
We've been searching for this jackpot all winter long.
Last time out, we were on the hottest gold thus far.
We're definitely at the cusp,
but we're not at the epicenter yet.
Today, we should be able to find the last three ounces
I need to make up my payments.
But that's not all I'm after, I want the motherlode.
I want the stuff of legend.
We're going to hop in this hole and see what's here?
Might be a pile of gold down there.
[shawn] gold's going to go down first
and then I'll go down and finish this hole off.
Storm's going to bear down on us fast, so I got to be tight.
I want to get off the flicks and get into the nuggets.
[shawn speaking]
[gary speaking]
okay, gary,
why don't you try to give me an assessment
on how much ground you think we've got to work?
[gary speaking]
I don't know. You tell me.
[gary speaking]
it's, I mean, pitch blackness down there.
[gary speaking]
so he's trying to figure out...
What's been cleaned out and what hasn't.
He's working in pitch blackness own there,
except for what he sees with his light right in front of him.
It's like looking through a tunnel.
[gary speaking]
[man speaking]
oh [bleep] come on [bleep] break it down.
[gary speaking]
all right.
We're starting to waste time here.
[gary speaking]
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
[gary] I see gold all through this.
It's coming down on this rock. Quite a bit.
See the gold all over it.
[vernon] all right, gary.
[gary speaking]
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
we're off to the races baby.
[narrator] while the salty veteran rakes it in, back on tomcod...
How's that gold looking down there?
[joe speaking]
[narrator] shawn and joe are still on the hunt for the jackpot.
[joe speaking]
[shawn speaking]
tap the floor.
This is not it.
Last day, last chance.
This ain't it.
Look, we'll have a good day.
Bills will get paid.
But looking for that jackpot, all winter long and just missing it,
it's not easy one to swallow.
[joe speaking]
yeah, this really sucks.
But we're going to keep diving and keep making gold.
[narrator] in the end of season battle,
between the two captains, vernon,
at least for now, has the upper hand in the gold count.
Nothing would please me more than to stick it to mr. Gold.
[narrator] as the storm that'll shut down
winter mining grows ever closer, nine miles west of town...
[zeke] I was seeing gold, right over in there,
and then I was within the call,
edge of the call field went over there
and I think that's my best bet.
So we're going to go, just kind of like 30 feet over that way.
And I think that's where the gold's going.
[narrator] zeke tenhoff's looking for one last dive to save his season.
[gabe] we got one more hole and we get to get this,
put this bastard of an ice season in the rearview mirror.
So it's all come down to this,
with all the bad weather and the crappy ground,
this season has been really rough.
We're finally on to something good at tomcod.
If I can stay ahead of the storm and have a good day today,
I'll be able to get the eight ounces that I need to get through till summer.
If not, then I don't know what I'm going to do.
I mean, am I going to hang up my wetsuit?
This could be it.
This might be a really productive hole, might be a really good one.
It's been a nightmare, an absolute slog,
but she finally warmed up at the top of the mountain here.
One more dive and we're done.
Very excited.
[zeke] okay.
All right, I'm going to go kinda to the southwest of the hole.
Let me go investigate.
[gabe speaking]
[zeke speaking]
gotcha.
[zeke speaking]
[gabe speaking]
[zeke speaking]
seems like, from everything that he's said that it's been kind of patchy,
so that can go a lot of different ways.
[zeke speaking]
[zeke] what the [bleep].
There's some gold here.
[gabe laughs]
[zeke speaking]
tell me about it.
[zeke speaking]
it's a lot of coarse?
[zeke speaking]
[zeke] dude, look at this.
[zeke speaking]
-[phone rings] -[gabe] uh-oh.
Weather advisory just popped up.
-Hey, zeke. -Yeah.
Hey, we got a weather advisory.
So, in an hour, the wind is going to pick up to 35 miles an hour.
[zeke speaking]
what do you want to do?
[zeke speaking]
all right. It sounds like a great plan. Perfect.
[zeke speaking]
[gabe] last hole.
Whoa! Let's make some money.
[narrator] while zeke gets on the gold, one mile east...
[kris speaking]
my [bleep] baby's killing me all night long,
waking up 10 times a night screaming.
[man speaking]
you are so lucky.
Perks of being on the other side of the house.
Anyway, but it's not going to be like this for long.
I hope a couple of weeks of hell
and then the baby gets on a sleep schedule and...
-[man speaking] -[kris] yeah, couple of weeks.
By the time, the baby's a month old,
everything should be better in my life.
[laughing]
that's the strategy, okay.
Don't [bleep] with me.
The best strategy is throw the [bleep] out the door right now, buddy.
[laughing]
[narrator] as the kelly's head out for the last time,
they're hoping the ground they're on is so rich,
it'll be like taking candy from a baby.
You know, we didn't do great.
No, there's too many excuses.
Got that right.
Too many things to dial in.
Throw a baby on top of that,
you know, throw a crazy winter on top of that,
but nothing lit on fire yet.
[man] get away.
[man] [bleep].
Yet. Please don't light on fire.
Look, most of the seasons sucked,
but you never remembered for how you start, only how you finish.
And right now, we're out of debt,
making money on the best gold we've seen this season.
That's where you want to be.
We should be pulling out right now.
Yeah, we shouldn't be, we can push it one more day and dive one more day.
Almost every miner's off the ice,
but we're the desperate guys still out here.
Desperate equals crazy.
Desperate equals desperate.
Desperate is dangerous.
But I have a family to take care of now,
and I have huge plans for this summer.
I need a war chest,
so screw this storm coming, we're going for it.
[andy] you better do something down there and put as much gold in there,
because wind is going to blow the [bleep] ice away
and we're going to lose all of our stuff,
so we should be actually packing up right now and leaving too.
[breathing heavily]
[kris] hey, hot water works great, the air is good.
I'm seeing some great material.
Everything's going great down here.
[andy] everything's going great up here.
Fine. Finally, everything's going great.
[kris speaking]
hell, now we're kind of like the last man out here.
[kris speaking]
or it means we're making the wrong decision. Could work 50-50.
[kris speaking]
I'm on the gold.
Uh, well, get as much as you can.
The wind's picking up.
We got to make this dive count man and get the [bleep] out of here.
[kris] I told you we're going to do really good.
It will be set up for the summer.
[narrator] by nightfall, winter mining will be over,
as the last storm of the season
is about to terrorize nome and out on the ice...
[kris speaking]
[narrator] after four hours of trying to outrace the storm, one kelly down...
[kris speaking]
[narrator] and one left to go.
Well, you can man up and take it yourself if you want.
[kris speaking]
right now, I'm going to get andy underneath the water
and I'm going to figure out how to get this operation wrapped up.
Andy, last dive.
Get in the water.
The gold looks great, I couldn't ask for more from that last dive.
Now, we just have to get andy in there before the fat lady sings.
Do what you do best right now, get down there and just clean this up.
We're almost at the end.
I need andy to come through.
The more he gets, the better chance we can start the kelly empire this summer.
-Hey, are you ready? -I'm ready.
Hey, your light's good, go.
[kris] okay. This is the end, are you ready to rock and roll?
[andy] I'm ready.
I'm seeing some good material.
I'm on the gold.
Oh, yeah.
[kris speaking]
[andy speaking]
[kris] okay. Well, that's great.
Just you and I now, finishing strong.
[narrator] as the kellys press on, 11 miles east...
[gary speaking]
[vernon speaking]
[narrator] fighting to keep his lead over shawn,
vernon's playing chicken with a different kind of lead.
We've got some dangerous open leads out there,
but the wind seems to be picking up.
[speaking]
[gary speaking]
[vernon] gary.
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
[wind whooshing]
the wind has picked up quite a bit.
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
yeah, yeah, I got you.
I mean, we got to...
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
[vernon speaking]
[gary speaking]
so, yeah, you know, when you're sitting there in your rocking chair,
you know, 40 or 50 years from now,
you just tell your grandkids,
yeah, I used to dive with vernon on 56.
[gary speaking]
I had to drag gary off that primo gold.
It's hard to leave gold behind,
but I don't want to leave any dead bodies down here.
Yeah.
We might end up dead ducks
and I'm not in the dead duck business.
You know, it's over.
The ice is bad.
We've got to move like right now,
but we had one hell of a season
and I'm hoping this last clean out will tie everything up
in a pretty little bow.
That maybe, just maybe,
we got more gold than anybody else in the fleet.
All right, well, let's get out of here, guys.
[man] yeah.
Going to gear up and get the hell out of here.
[narrator] vernon ends his season as the current gold count leader...
But 12 miles west...
[shawn] how's it going down there, joe?
[joe speaking]
[narrator] as the storm grows closer...
Shawn's not going down without a fight.
[joe speaking]
smooth!
[joe speaking]
[shawn] I'm going to have to accept it.
No jackpot this winter.
It's fine.
We'll stay profitable.
Keep moving ahead.
I'll get over.
[joe speaking]
on top of black sand?
[joe speaking]
that's what we need.
Come on up. I'm going to get suited up.
We'll do a hot swap.
Well, I got the nozzle sitting right here.
I'll head on up to switch out.
I can't wait to get down there.
[joe] I'm heading up.
We may have one last ray of hope.
Seems to be getting coarser as we're coming up to that rock pile.
Coarse gold, black sand, for a miner,
this is the stuff dreams are made of.
Outlook pretty good.
Yeah, looks pretty good.
Yeah, got nice big cuts.
Look, it hasn't happened all winter,
but this, this could be it, this could be the jackpot.
Sounds like joe's got it right where we want it.
[intense music]
yeah, there was a nice soft sand patch, right where the nozzle dropped,
and I worked, I worked that coming up to a big pile of rock.
And it was getting pretty rich coming up to it right before shawn got in the water...
So curious to see what he's going to find down there.
[shawn speaking]
come on. [groans]
yeah, I wasn't seeing nuggets, where I was diving.
I was just south in the...
[shawn speaking]
what's that?
[shawn] look at that nugget, oh, that's a beauty.
That one's going in the glove.
Woo-hoo.
[shawn] ah, here's another one.
Ah, oh, oh!
Finding nuggets coming in behind this big rock, you know.
Holy [bleep].
There's like $5,000 right there.
Yeah.
Woo-hoo.
[joe speaking]
he might have a whole glove full of gold.
[shawn] I'm pulling it outta here.
[shawn speaking]
this is it.
This is why we get here...
[shawn speaking]
ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.
Whoa!
[shawn] oh, we're kicking ass now, boy.
[narrator] suddenly, in the gold count battle,
it's anybody's game.
Hey, how are you doing down there bud, you're still seeing color?
[zeke speaking]
[gabe] okay.
[narrator] determined to keep his operation afloat,
zeke tenhoff is pushing into the face of a storm.
Well, it looks like we're in a really consistent pay layer.
It's amazing.
And so, we're just kind of at that grind stage.
[zeke] I don't really have any way to accurately assess
what I think the cleanup is going to be.
[gabe] all right.
Just some stripper money, you know,
it's all I'm asking for, I'm a simple man.
All right.
That northwest wind just hit, and it's starting to get real bitchy out here.
How are you feeling down there?
[zeke speaking]
[gabe] all right. Yeah, the weather's really starting to pick up.
[zeke speaking]
yo.
-It's a wrap? -It's a wrap.
I'm not going to lie, this is not an easy season.
I was really worried for a minute there
that the whole thing was going to be a huge bust for me.
-Looks good to me. -[gabe] hell, yeah.
[zeke] but once we moved to tomcod, the fortunes turned around.
I'm really happy that we found it in ourselves
to keep our heads down and keep going.
I'm psyched to see what we got today.
Fingers crossed is what we need.
[engine revving]
[narrator] as the winds reach 30 knots, one mile east...
How's it going down there?
[andy] it's going good. Everything's good.
[andy speaking]
[narrator] the brothers kelly may have taken it as far as they can.
Andy's probably getting as much gold as we can
before it's the end, it's the end.
So we got to get out of here.
Look, we pushed it like basically to the point of insanity,
but the fat lady is losing her voice right now.
She's singing so loud.
[kris speaking]
[andy] this hole's basically finished.
[kris] okay. Come on, let's get the hell out of here.
You did a great job. I'm proud of you. We count this out together.
Okay, I see you. Let's rock and roll.
For where we came this season, disaster halfway
through the season with no gold to where we ended up
out of debt, making money, ready to kill this summer.
I'm really proud of how we stuck it out
and we came out on top at the end.
The nozzle's at the bottom of the hole, hooked.
[kris] okay. Good. Change. I'm going to start taking everything apart.
Now we're done. Pack it up. Let's go.
Time to get the hell out of here.
[narrator] while the kellys head for the safety of shore,
one mile west...
[shawn speaking]
woo-ee.
[narrator] there's still one last miner under the ice.
Woo-ee!
[laughing]
[shawn speaking]
yeah. She's pretty brisk.
[shawn speaking]
[laughing]
[shawn speaking]
[wind whooshing]
she's pretty brisk.
[shawn speaking]
it sounds like we've got a good end to a long winter.
[shawn speaking]
[laughing]
look at this, joe.
[joe] what we got? What we got?
-[shawn] there you go. -[joe] oh, man.
Thicker rocks [bleep], man, dude.
[laughing]
woo-ee!
I'm a big believer in perseverance pays off. And today it did.
Nugget.
Oh, that's a dime.
Wish we could have found it earlier in the season.
But bottom line, it's one hell of a way to end the winter.
It'll be a great way to start summer.
The box is loaded.
Man, look at that.
[narrator] and now social hour with vernon.
Ah, let's see.
Somebody named billy's mullet.
[reading]
more than they're in the sluice box?
[laughing]
well, I've been known to eat a cookie or two.
Okay. One more and I'm done.
Have I been vaccinated?
I was circumcised against my will,
I might add, I mean, when you're making your way through this world,
well, you need every edge you can get.
[man] I didn't expect that.
[laughing]
[narrator] this has been another episode of social hour with vernon.
Things are going down the tube real fast.
I got to get out of here before I get canceled.
I'd be canceled already, but you know what?
[narrator] off the coast of nome,
the spring breakup is officially underway.
And in town...
[zeke] this will be our last clean-up.
I hope we're breaking even to be honest.
Yeah, worst season I've ever seen.
It was well thought.
[narrator] zeke tenhoff's hoping to spoils of war
will be enough to keep he and his crew
on the battlefield this summer.
That doesn't look too shabby. I like it.
I mean, I was seeing some good gold.
So I'm super stoked
to have color in this coming up after what we've been through,
I mean, it's just amazing to see.
I love it. I'm a happy, happy man.
[zeke] I'm totally exhausted, but I'm feeling optimistic.
We only need about two ounces to keep going,
and I know we've given it everything that we've got.
I think the gold gods will smiled down upon us on this day.
Now, we got half an ounce.
There's one,
one-and-half,
and we're coming right by 2,
and 2.5, I think we're going to hit three.
Come on. All right.
3.63.
[narrator] 3.63 ounces give zeke 8.67 ounces for the season.
That's over $16,000, enough to carry the boys from winter...
That's going to be enough of a payday to roll me over into the next season.
[narrator] into summer.
Yeah, I mean, the ocean's melting, as we speak.
I mean, I only got a few weeks to get my boat ready for the summertime.
I know that ice mining is hard,
but this was way harder than I anticipated and it definitely tested me.
I mean, how much can get thrown in our faces
and we can still keep going and survive?
That affirmation is very rewarding.
And now, I'm super stoked about this summer. Let's do it.
To one more ice season.
Don't spend it all in one place.
Daddy and a caddy.
We'll get there.
[narrator] down the road...
[kris] yeah. The material is looking good right now.
Oh, gold in here is starting to stack up.
We did better than I thought we did.
[narrator] despite starting the season deep in debt,
the kellys crawl back
and they're ready to see how high of a note they've finished on.
[kris] we did great. We killed it.
We're in the black now. Everything's going good.
I'm glad we're done with the season. My body is done.
I'm done too.
You need to heal your [bleep] arm.
We need to start going to the gym more or something,
just because we need more stamina.
You know, in the past, I'd be really pissed off
when we had an unsuccessful season,
but I would have just accepted it and move on.
Not now, not with the baby. We had to succeed.
And you know what? We did, now we're just counting how big our profits are.
What a great feeling that is.
Hey, let's see what we got.
Come on.
Three ounces, lots of chunky.
That place has got everything chunky, fine.
Oh, I love that gold.
6.8 ounces, good day at work.
[narrator] 6.84 ounces brings the kelly total to 45 ounces,
worth over 85 grand,
giving them a hearty war chest for summer.
But now we're back on, not on top,
but at least we're at one, two.
We're at two, so we're slowly crawling back up there.
This is the dawning of a new day for the kellys,
money in our pockets to start with.
Are you kidding me?
This summer is going to be great.
We're going to take this money and make this operation grow a lot.
We're aiming for an empire. Mark my words.
This summer, if everything works out,
we'll have a brand new eight-inch boat.
You know, we'll get out there and we'll just kill it.
This is probably going to be a 200-ounce summer for us.
[andy] I'm just looking forward to no snow.
[kris] I am so looking forward to no snow.
[narrator] on the outskirts of nome...
The nuggets are just pouring out of the gravel,
just kept pouring and it was like, tink, tink, tink.
Did you hear them hitting the nozzle?
[narrator] mr. Gold is about to find out
just how big of a jackpot was at the end of his rainbow.
[shawn] one of the hardest winters we've ever had.
It's definitely worth pushing through,
because that last hole was a hot one.
[narrator] and across town...
-Final weigh up right here. -Yeah. It's been a hell of a run.
[narrator] shawn's unlikely competition for the gold crown
is making his final weigh out.
We've dug down right on top of it,
I'm telling you buying 56 was the best move I've ever made in my life.
That's quite a haul.
For a little pan...
Look at all those nuggets.
You got to weigh it up, gary, let's see what we got there.
[narrator] with 125 ounces to shawn's 117,
vernon is clutching a slim 8-ounce lead.
Lots of nuggets.
[vernon] pour it up. Let's find out.
One, two.
[shawn] oh, nuggets.
Seven, eight.
That's a heavy pan, joe, it's a heavy pan.
[joe] and we're in it.
[vernon] nine,
10.44.
[shawn] 53.
-Ho, yeah. -Look at this.
[narrator] 53.1 ounces give shawn 170 ounces for the season,
worth a whopping $323,000.
We're in it now.
[narrator] while vernon's 10.4 ounces
brings his final haul to 135.5 ounces, not enough to steal the crown,
but enough to ring in at over a quarter million dollars.
That's a nice little top up for the end of the season.
[laughing]
-yeah. -[vernon] I needed that.
[gary] yeah.
I may not have hit my 200-ounce gold, but 135 ounces,
that's a real banger under any circumstances, I'll take it.
-Yeah, 56 has got it. -56.
And come the summer, when I've got months
instead of a few weeks to mine this stuff, the sky's the limit.
It is going to pile up this summer, we're going to kill it.
Mining's not just about grinding it out,
paying the bills, staying in the black.
To me, it's something way bigger. That's following my dream.
It's the hunt.
It's finding something that nobody else can find.
It's times like these, that rekindle my passion for mining.
Reminds me of why I got into it in the first place.
And let me tell you, it doesn't hurt when it's a boatload of money.
Unstoppable.
Yeah. This is going to fill up some buckets.
[shawn] I can't wait to get back out there this summer.
Days like that is what keeps you mining.
[narrator] in the final moments of winter,
shawn vaults to the top while vernon stand strong as a titan.
Next summer on bering sea gold...
Battle stations!
It's a clash of empires.
You're going to go down.
Hey, you want to fight [bleep].
This is all very crazy, been using that word a lot, because that is what it is.
You got jane kilcher here.
It's like the wild wild west out here.
-[bleep] you. -[bleep]
yeah, baby, it's gold time.
[kris] come on, andy, get in there. Yeah.
I can see the hospital right there. That's good news.
[kris] we took a big wave. He flipped over.
It's not looking good.
Now, they do call me the naked sponge diver.
Biggest nugget I've ever found.
That's huge!
There's going to be more gold.
We're making money, baby.
We gave it our all.
[narrator] so man, your battle stations.
Not going to [bleep] quit and I'm not backing down.
[narrator] because the fight--
I'm going to get your permit pulled.
[narrator] is on.
Not until I get my [bleep] damn money.
[laughing]
[911 operator] 911, what is your emergency?