On Thin Ice: Breakdowns, Whiteouts and Survival on the World's Deadliest Roads

The snowdrifts were as high as our trucks. We were boxed in on both sides. There was nothing but blackness beyond the small arc of our lights. The wind harassed us every foot of the way. I bludgeoned and knifed my way through walls of white piled high in front of my bumper. Sometimes I'd slam into a mound so hard that the snow would explode high into the air. The road was deeply rutted and we swung hard back and forth with each jarring drop. The cab creaked and torqued even as the engine strained and roared. As we slowly rumbled and sledgehammered along, I radioed Paul, "Whatever you do, don't stop. Just keep coming no matter what. If you stop, you'll never get going again."

You've watched him battle the odds on HISTORY's Ice Road Truckers. Now read Hugh "The Polar Bear" Rowland's own storm-by-storm account of surviving and conquering the infamous ice roads of the Arctic. Join Hugh in the front seat of his truck as he shares his most chilling, adrenaline-fueled tales of the world's most dangerous job.

Every year, a fleet of truckers travels beyond the northern equatorial line to the Arctic Circle, battling subzero temperatures and perilous conditions. Though treacherous, it is a region heavily endowed with natural resources. Locating this abundance of natural gas, conflict-free diamonds, and gold is relatively easy; extracting and transporting these goods is another matter entirely. The elite truckers chosen to deliver materials vital to these efforts spend two months traveling hundreds of miles on naturally formed roads of ice that is only sixteen inches thick.

It is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

For more than twenty years, Hugh Rowland has survived the ice roads like none other. Each year when the temperature plummets, Rowland leaves his family in Vancouver, Canada, to drive 1,900 miles to Yellowknife, where he will begin his odyssey. Facing the threat of perilous avalanches, hundred-foot cliffs, and the ever-present danger of cracking through the ice, Hugh must push himself to the limit. The payoff is sweet, but Rowland isn't in it just for the money; he is driven by the camaraderie, the call to adventure, and the chance to battle the odds year after year.

From the first snowstorm to the final thaw, On Thin Ice traces the history of ice road trucking, chronicles Rowland's preparation for the trek, and follows him through his perilous journey along the infamous ice roads.

Take a ride with Rowland as he recounts tales of epic breakdowns and breathtaking heroism that are just a daily part of the job. In this classic battle of man and machine versus cruelest nature, only the strong will survive to see their payday, their families, and the chance to do it all over again...on thin ice.

Hugh Rowland is a burly, bearded, hardliving man who blows methyl hydrate into his own brake and fuel lines, and welcomes whiteout storms as breaks from boredom. A trucker with more than thirty years of experience, he runs a successful excavation business in British Columbia and is the leading president of the Ice Road Trucker Foundation. He has been married for nearly thirty years to his childhood sweetheart, Dianne, and has three daughters, Karly, Chandra, and Candace, and two grandchildren.