Driving the Winter Ice Road to Fort Chipewyan
Winter Ice Road to Fort Chipewyan from Ryan Jackson on Vimeo.
Take a ride up the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March, depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Video by Ryan Jackson, Edmonton Journal
I got to go on a little adventure to my favourite place in Alberta. Journal reporter (and now Globe and Mail reporter) Marty Klinkenberg and I got approval to head up north to Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan for five days to cover various stories. The best story is of the doctor up in Fort Chipewyan which I will be writing about in a future blog post. The coolest part (pardon the pun) was that we were going to drive the temporary winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan, Alberta’s most isolated aboriginal community. Fort Chipewyan is only accessible in the summer by air or boat via the Athabasca river. There is no way to drive to Fort Chipewyan except for a few weeks in the winter when an ice road can be made.
We were going for five days so I had to pack relatively light for the trip. I new it was going to be cold which meant everything would slow down so the less gear the better. I was able to fit all my camera gear and clothing and supplies in two Thinktank Logistics Manager suitcases. I love these cases because they are tall enough to fit tripods and light stands so that you can literally have everything on wheels. I brought two Panasonic GH4 cameras for shooting video and a Canon 1DX for stills. I also squeezed in a Kessler Pocket Dolly and a Slik tripod and head for support.
We interviewed the Mayor of Fort McMurray and other local business owners about the economy and looming recession. The price of oil hadn’t plunged anywhere near to where it would be a year later. I bet if we re-asked all the same questions today we would be getting very different answers.
Here’s a photo of me shooting some video on the hood of our rental SUV. The Panasonic GH4’s handled the cold surprisingly well. I only had one incident where the camera literally froze up and the buttons stopped working. On the bright side it kept recording video and I didn’t miss anything.
It was incredibly cold that week but that was a good thing. We had a mild winter so far and the ice road had only recently been open to the public. Simply put, without cold weather and ice, there is no road. With warmer winters lately, the ice road is open fewer days each year which closes the window of opportunity to ship fuel, building supplies and cheaper groceries up to Fort Chipewyan.
Loading up on supplies. We bought all our groceries and got an extra snow shovel for our rental vehicle.
The gate to the Fort Chipewyan winter ice road.
The winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 4, 2015. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
The winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 4, 2015. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
A construction worker sprays water to build up ice thickness on the Firebag River along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 4, 2015. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
This was the weirdest thing we saw on the ice road. This tree was literally in the middle of nowhere. A random tree is decorated in Christmas ornaments along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 4, 2015.
Cracks in the ice over the Slave River crossing along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 6, 2015. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
A grouse on the side of the ice road between Fort Chipewyan and Fort Smith. The winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 6, 2015.
Journal reporter Marty Klinkenberg poses for a photo at one of the river crossings along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta on on February 4, 2015.
Journal reporter Marty Klinkenberg, left, and photographer Ryan Jackson try to push Isaias Morgan’s vehicle after he got stuck in a snow bank after losing control along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan.
Journal photographer Ryan Jackson, left, and reporter Marty Klinkenberg try to add weight to the back of Isaias Morgan’s vehicle after he got stuck in a snow bank after losing control along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan.
Journal reporter Marty Klinkenberg stands by as Ice Road Trucker Ed Sullivan pulls Isaias Morgan’s vehicle out after he got stuck in a snow bank after losing control along the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan.
We made it to Fort Chipewyan!
You don’t see buffalo crossing signs every day.
This was the worst!
On our drive back from Fort Chipewyan we had an incident. Marty drove the way up to Fort Chip and I drove back. It was my birthday that day and my wife and I were headed to Phoenix the next day for a nice warm vacation.
I was so excited and happy to drive the ice road that I didn’t notice when I missed the VERY IMPORTANT turn to head SOUTH to Fort McMurray. Instead we drove North for TWO HOURS before seeing this faded sign that said we were only 119 kms from Fort Smith, NWT.
We were in disbelief for a moment. We thought we were almost back to Fort McMurray and here we are two hours north in the wrong direction!
Lesson learned. Even in 2015, a compass can come in very handy.
This experience reminded me of a great TED talk about being Wrong. Kathryn Schulz points out the important difference between being wrong and knowing that you are wrong. I spent two hours driving the wrong direction thinking I was going the right way. I ignored all the subtle sign that would have indicated I was going the wrong way (the sun, the different terrain, the lack of traffic) but I ignored them because I was certain I was going the right way.
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Front page of the Edmonton Journal on Feb. 28, 2015.
Double truck story by Marty Klinkenberg in the Edmonton Journal on Feb. 28, 2015.
Finally, here is the fun video I made about the Ice Road. I put a GoPro on the front of our vehicle and recorded the entire drive and then sped it up 800% for the video. We also interviewed an Ice Road Trucker and a Fort Chipewyan resident who have driven the road for years and offered great tips.
You can also read Marty’s story about the Ice Road here and Alex Zabjek interviewed me and wrote a nice little feature about the making of the video.
Winter Ice Road to Fort Chipewyan from Ryan Jackson on Vimeo.
Take a ride up the winter ice road from Fort McMurray to Fort Chipewyan in Northern Alberta. The 200-km temporary road typically opens mid-December and closes mid-March, depending on the weather. During that short window of time all the construction materials, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel for the year is shipped up to the isolated community of Fort Chipewyan which can only be accessed by air or river barge in the summer. Video by Ryan Jackson, Edmonton Journal
My next post will be about the main reason we were up in Fort Chipewyan and what is probably the most important video I’ve ever made.
