Diamonds on the Ice Road

Let’s hope NGOs don’t watch The History Channel.

Last night, Jim went upstairs to listen to some new CD’s, and I parked myself in the den to catch up on some reading. (In a post-Sopranos world, what else is a girl to do on Sunday night?) A few minutes into Newsweek magazine, I saw an ad for Ice Road Truckers, a new series on The History Channel. I looked at the clock: 10:12 p.m.; IRT started at 10.

I’d seen posters for the program on busses and bus shelters in New York, and I’d given it a moment or two of idly curious thought, but hadn’t seriously considered watching it. My sole interest in big trucks is limited to staying out of their way on the road. But since it was on—and I really was curious about why an 18-wheeler would be sinking into a frozen lake—I grabbed the remote and hit the “info” button.

A-ha! This wasn’t just a show about big trucks—this is a show about really big trucks driving across a frozen lake, carrying megatons of equipment to the diamond mines in Canada’s Northwest Territories! (Note to self: Schedule any visit to Canadian diamond mines in the summer.)

The show itself features narratives from a lot of big burly Canadian truckers—and a lot of swearing, all bleeped out—describing their daily lives hauling equipment from Yellowknife, where the home base is, to the diamond mines. It’s dangerous, scary, and, of course, freezing. You can read all the program details here.

One point the narrator made: De Beers, whose Snapfish Lake mine (still under construction) was featured in last night’s episode, isn’t used to these conditions. It doesn’t even snow in South Africa, let alone get down to -44 degrees.

It’s interesting to think about. The company has withstood apartheid, violence, NGO activity, Blood Diamond, losing total control of the diamond market, and much more—but might frozen Mother Nature prove to be the one thing it can’t take in stride?