Tougher in Alaska

Extreme Isolation

Original Airdate: 2008-08-01

Synopsis:

Rugged terrain and isolation define Alaska; Geo Beach explores the state's Southeast Panhandle to see how people manage with very few roads; the state capital of Juneau can be reached only by air or water.

Frozen Freeway

Original Airdate: 2008-07-27

Synopsis:

Examining how Alaska's climate and terrain challenges travelers; dogsleds; bush pilots; hovercraft; traveling the frozen Kuskokwim River, a 724-mile lifeline for native communities scattered along its length.

Arctic Troopers

Original Airdate: 2008-07-20

Synopsis:

State troopers face unique challenges trying to keep the peace in vast Alaska; Geo joins recruits for an intense survival course at the academy in Sitka; investigating caribou crime scenes; hunting alcohol smugglers.

Wild Waste

Original Airdate: 2008-07-13

Synopsis:

Getting rid of waste is a problem as old as Alaska itself; collecting trash in Ketchikan before black bears can get it; Geo Beach teams up with the sole plumber, electrician and carpenter for nearly a dozen bush villages.

Extreme Salvaging

Original Airdate: 2008-07-06

Synopsis:

Geo Beach explores Alaska's dramatic history of shipwrecks, rides a Coast Guard helicopter and joins a team trying to salvage a wrecked barge in the middle of a severe winter storm.

Dangerous Roads

Original Airdate: 2008-06-29

Synopsis:

The lonely and deadly Haul Road is the only road connecting the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope to the rest of the state; Geo Beach rides shotgun with a legendary trucker during the dangerous winter season.

Dangerous Earth

Original Airdate: 2008-06-19

Synopsis:

Alaskans have learned to live with seismic changes and geographical challenges throughout history, including volcanoes, glaciers and deadly storms.

Deadly Winter

Original Airdate: 2008-06-12

Synopsis:

While spending a week in Fairbanks during a winter cold snap, Geo joins a volunteer fire department, hunts wolves and gets a taste of daily life in Alaska's second largest city.

Railroading

Original Airdate: 2008-06-05

Synopsis:

Geo Beach hops aboard the Alaska Railroad for a trip through some of the most perilous and unforgiving terrain on the planet, a region where avalanches, earthquakes and giant mountains test railroaders and their equipment.

Logging

Original Airdate: 2008-05-29

Synopsis:

Unforgiving coastal mountains and steep valleys make logging especially dangerous in Alaska's Southeast Panhandle; host Geo Beach works with loggers in Ketchikan, located in the heart of the Tongass National Forest.

Electric Linemen

Original Airdate: 2008-05-22

Synopsis:

Host Geo Beach flies to the remote village of Kasigluk and visits Fairbanks to witness the challenges of keeping the electric power on in a state where more than half of the population lives off the grid.

Salmon Fishing

Original Airdate: 2008-05-15

Synopsis:

More than 2,000 fishing vessels converge in Alaska's Bristol Bay every June to profit from the annual run of millions of sockeye salmon to their spawning grounds.

Gold Mining

Original Airdate: 2008-05-08

Synopsis:

The skyrocketing value of precious metal triggers a new gold rush in Alaska, where prospectors use ingenious techniques in hope of hitting the mother lode.