Ice Road Truckers' upcoming second season was apparently forced from filming on the same slippery road as its first season and instead had to find a new location.
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While the first season of the History Channel reality series followed truckers hauling diamond mining equipment across frozen lakes just miles from the Arctic Circle, the diamond mines that own those treacherous winter roads outside of Yellowknife, Canada would not allow the show's upcoming second season to do the same, The New York Post reported Wednesday.
"We've had no problems working with the mines; we've found them to be very cooperative," said the History Channel in a statement obtained by The Post, declining to directly comment on the conflict with the mines' operators.
The drivers featured in Ice Road Truckers' first season were responsible for supplying the diamond mines just outside of Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territory, which required them to traverse extremely treacherous terrain owned by gem mining companies Diavik Diamonds and BHP.
Officials for both companies were reportedly not pleased with the way the show's first season portrayed behavior on the ice road, according to The Post, and felt the show presented the six featured drivers as money-hungry, risk-taking "cowboys." In addition, officials believe the show's camera crews caused distractions for the drivers and have since issued new rules prohibiting commercial filming on the road, The Post reported.
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For Ice Road Truckers' second season, the truckers will be moving oil exploration machinery on an ice road in the Northwest Territories' Inuvik Region -- an area that's about 2,500 miles farther north than the first installment's location.
"To keep the series fresh and intriguing, with the assistance of the Territorial Government, we identified numerous potential roads and the current location was selected because of its character and history," said History Channel in the statement. "This is a unique ice road that presents a distinctive set of challenges that fans of the show will appreciate."
Four of the show's first-season drivers -- Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowland, Alex Debogorski, Rick Yemm and Drew Sherwood -- will return for the second edition, which will also feature a couple of new drivers.
Much of the focus in early second-season episodes revolves around "friction" between last season's drivers and the local Inuvik drivers, who perceive the newcomers as interlopers, according to The Post.
Ice Road Truckers' second season will premiere on Sunday, June 8 at 9PM ET/PT on History.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio