There’s some big boulder-sized trouble brewing in Alaska’s frigid McKinley creek which roils through the walls and chasms of rocky terrain. It bodes poorly for our two main characters from Gold Rush: White Water — father and son, Dakota Fred Hurt and Dustin Hurt.
Tonight’s episode illuminates how one’s luck can turn on a dime and how a high can turn into a low in a blink.
The action we see on our exclusive clip is hair raising and it looks like all the greatest fears that Fred expressed during the season are coming to light.
In our exclusive clip, we see Carlos Minor watching and monitoring the comms as Dakota Fred and Dustin are both underwater. Dakota Fred is jack-hammering and Dustin is using two powerful suction dredges to suck out the debris as the water becomes less and less clear, silt and rock particulate hindering their lines of vision.
While Fred blasts rock and material above his head, Dustin uses two powerful suction dredges to suck up the rock as they head towards a crevice purported to be rich in gold.
For thousands of years, gold and ore tumbled down the waterways of Alaska, where the heavy weight of the metal finally settled where it could escape the currents and motion of the water.
It makes sense what they are doing, but no doubt — these guys are literally in over their head.
And, there’s a really huge problem.
The pressing issue at hand is that, due to decreased visibility and distorted perception of where they are in relation to vertical angles and level ground, Fred inadvertently made a vertical wall above their heads underwater.
As Fred jackhammers the rocks under the water, the vibrations travel upwards and they have repercussions.
The energy traveling in waves from this underwater job causes an unexpected landslide above the water line as enormous boulders come crashing down where Fred and Dustin are diving. This could kill them instantly.
Carlos explains all of this in the video.
Right before the landslide, Dustin used both dredge hoses together to tunnel towards the crack at double speed and said: “We know [what is] at the bottom towards the crack…but what we did is made a vertical wall right in front of us and the rocks are right over our heads.”
Watch the dramatic footage as the guys above the water line have to scramble fast to get Fred and Dustin safely up and out of harm’s way as the boulders come crashing down into the creek.
It’s a scary one this week:
Gold Rush: White Water airs Friday 10 pm on Discovery.