Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road, an extension of the Dempster Highway, was an ice road on frozen Mackenzie River delta channels and the frozen Arctic Ocean between the Northwest Territories communities of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, in Canada. The road closed permanently on 29 April 2017 at the end of the 2016-2017 winter season. [1] Construction of an all-season highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk commenced in April 2013; [2] [3] it opened on 15 November 2017. [4]
It serviced gas hydrate fields and exploration facilities at Mallik, Aput, and Langley, along with the ice-locked barges Wurmlinger and Arctic Star , which act as bases of operations for ice road crews and exploration personnel. In addition, the road was a key supply line for Tuktoyaktuk and the hamlet of Aklavik.
A History channel blog announced that the second season of Ice Road Truckers would be based out of Inuvik. A CBC North story reported that the episodes of this season occur on the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road. Four of the featured drivers from the first season took part: Alex Debogorski, Hugh Rowland, Drew Sherwood, and Rick Yemm. [5] [6]
The road returned in 2012 for the sixth season of the show, with Debogorski the sole featured driver behind the wheel on this winter road. (The entirety of the Dempster Highway, as well as the Dalton Highway in Alaska, and Manitoba's winter roads, were also featured.)
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,144,000 km2 (442,000 sq mi) and a 2016 census population of 41,790, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of 2023 is 45,668. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and only city in the territory; its population was 19,569 as of the 2016 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.
Inuvik is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service centre and is home to federal, territorial, and Indigenous government offices, along with the regional hospital and airport.
Numbered highways in Canada are split by province, and a majority are maintained by their province or territory transportation department. All highways in Canada are numbered except for three in the Northwest Territories, one in Alberta, one in Ontario, and one in Quebec. Ontario's 7000 series are not marked with their highway number but have been assigned one by the Ministry of Transportation. A number of highways in all provinces are better known locally by their name rather than their number. Some highways have additional letters added to their number: A is typically an alternate route, B is typically a business route, and other letters are used for bypass (truck) routes, connector routes, scenic routes, and spur routes. The territory of Nunavut has no highways.
The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway, is a 414-mile (666 km) road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. Once called the North Slope Haul Road, it was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974. It is named after James Dalton, a lifelong Alaskan and an engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and, as an expert in Arctic engineering, served as a consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska. It is also the subject of the second episode of America's Toughest Jobs and the first episode of the BBC's World's Most Dangerous Roads.
The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a highway in Canada that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta. The highway crosses the Peel and the Mackenzie rivers using a combination of seasonal ferry services and ice bridges. Year-round road access from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk opened in November 2017, with the completion of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway, creating the first all-weather road route connecting the Canadian road network with the Arctic Ocean.
Tuktoyaktuk, or TuktuyaaqtuuqIPA:[təktujaːqtuːq], is an Inuvialuit hamlet located near the Mackenzie River delta in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway. One of six Inuvialuit communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, it is commonly referred to by its first syllable, Tuk. It lies north of the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and is the only place on the Arctic Ocean connected to the rest of Canada by road. Known as Port Brabant after British colonization, in 1950 it became the first Indigenous settlement in Canada to reclaim its traditional name.
Kenn Borek Air is an airline based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operates regional passenger and cargo services, contract operations in the Arctic and Antarctic and aircraft leasing. Its main base is at Calgary International Airport. It charters aircraft for scientific expeditions, oil exploration, etc., and operates air ambulance services.
George Kourounis, is a Greek-Canadian adventurer and storm chaser who specializes in documenting extreme weather and worldwide natural disasters. He presents the television series Angry Planet.
Tuktoyaktuk/James Gruben Airport is near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada.
CHAK is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 860 AM in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. The station broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network known as CBC North.
Ice Road Truckers is a reality television series that aired on History Channel from 2007 to 2017. It features the activities of drivers who operate trucks on ice roads crossing frozen lakes and rivers, in remote territories in Canada and Alaska. Seasons three to six also featured Alaska's improved but still remote Dalton Highway, which is mainly snow-covered solid ground.
Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road is an annual ice road first built in 1982 to service mines and exploration activities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Northern Canada. Between 400 and 600 km long, the road is said to be the world's longest heavy haul ice road and operates for eight to ten weeks starting in the last week of January. Most of the road (85%–87%) is built over frozen lakes, 495 km (308 mi), with the remaining 73 km (45 mi) built on over 64 land portages between lakes.
This is a list of Ice Road Truckers Season 1 episodes.
At the top of the world, there's an outpost like no other... and a job only a few would dare. The mission: To haul critical supplies across 350 miles of frozen lakes to Canada's remote billion-dollar diamond mines. The challenge: to transport 10,000 loads in 60 days—before the road disappears. The rewards are great; the risks even greater. These are the men who make their living on thin ice.
This is a list of Ice Road Truckers Season 2 episodes.
At the top of the world, there's an outpost like no other…and a job only a few would dare. The ice men return: two titans of the southern ice roads, and two contenders. Last season they drove loaded semis on frozen lakes…this year, the Arctic Ocean. Deeper into the deep freeze. Further out on thinner ice. The new mission: to haul the heavy metal of natural gas drilling rigs up a frozen river and across ice-choked seas. Ice road truckers have come to the edge of the earth. These are the men who make their living on thin ice.
GSI Mariner is a Canadian research/survey ship. She was built and used originally by Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI) to record seismic data on the Mackenzie River delta and the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean. Later she was owned by other companies, including Halliburton Canada. She is currently beached on the banks of the Mackenzie south of Inuvik, near the beginning of the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road.
The Husky Lakes are a system of brackish estuarine basins in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Formerly known as the Eskimo Lakes, they are called Imaryuk in Inuvialuktun, the language of the Inuvialuit, the original inhabitants of the area.
The Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH), officially Northwest Territories Highway 10, is an all-weather road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is the first all-weather road to Canada's Arctic Coast. The idea for the highway had been considered for decades. Final approval came in 2013 and construction began in 2014. It was officially opened on November 15, 2017.
This is a list of Ice Road Truckers Season 4 episodes.
At the top of the world, there's a job only a few would dare. The ice road truckers are back. Last year, they chased their fortunes over the frozen gauntlet of the Dalton. But this season, Alaska's most fearsome road is just the beginning, as the new riders of the last frontier head off the Dalton and over the frozen rivers of Alaska's outback. This year, the ice road truckers finally break through.
This is a list of Ice Road Truckers Season 6 episodes.
The Midnight Sun Mosque, also known as the Inuvik Mosque or Little Mosque on the Tundra, is a non-denominational Islamic house of worship located in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. The mosque was built in 2010 for the town's small Muslim community. It is the northernmost mosque in the Western Hemisphere and the only one in North America above the Arctic Circle.