Surfing through the channels on my television one rainy evening a few weeks ago, I came across a curious program on the History Channel - "Ice Road Truckers."

The reality-based adventure reveals the virtually unknown occupation of ice road trucking, considered to be one of the world's most dangerous jobs. It charts two months in the lives of six  men who haul vital supplies to diamond mines over frozen lakes that double as roads through Canada's Northwest Territory. The livelihood of many depends on these tenuous roads, which through the years have been responsible for the deaths of dozens of men.

The desolate white landscape stretches as far as the eye can see in a world where the land meets the sky at an invisible horizon, just miles from the Arctic Circle. The little-known ice road trucking industry, stationed just outside of Yellowknife, is responsible for supporting the diamond mines located there. Canada now stands as the third largest diamond producer in the world, housing an industry that rakes in $1.9 billion a year.

Each year, when the many lakes of this region completely freeze over, engineers build an ice road over them that can withstand the weight of tractor trailers, hopefully. Jackknifing, breakdowns and accidents are commonplace. Since the terrain in this region is virtually impenetrable, and there are so few paved roads, the only way for supplies to reach the mines is by traveling over the ice. The entire industry depends on a two month window of weather and the brazen ice road truckers who are willing to push themselves to the limit in a dash for cash with the constant cracking of the ice right beneath their wheels.

Just how cold is -20C, the temperature at which most folks freeze their gel packs?

There are interesting video clips on the Ice Road Truckers web site which shows what happens to a banana, a cup of Ramen Noodles, soap bubbles and a cup of boiling water at -20C.