BRITTANY_ROWLAND CHEVIE_ROACH CLARE_MORRISETTE_CALVERT ELOVIE_ROWLAND EMRY_ROACH GILBERT_ROWLAND GRAND-P�RE_RUDY JOHNNY_ROLFE KALEB_ROWLAND MARIO_QUEZADA RYDER SONTA_ROACH SYDNEY_ROACH




MARIO QUEZADA
So today I'm out on the ridge line by myself trying to get some wood.
MARIO QUEZADA
Clare and I want to build a generator shed to keep the generators out of the bad weather. So, I decided to come out here by myself while Clare is back at home.

MARIO QUEZADA
It's a little bit extra work, but, you know, out here nothing comes easy. I'm looking for pretty specific size of tree. I'm hoping to get some 12-inch-wide [UNIT CONVERSION 30 centimeters] planks to make the floor for the generator shed. And this looks like a really nice sized tree right down here. And I'm gonna go ahead and cut this down. Away!

MARIO QUEZADA
So now that I've got that tree cut down, I'm gonna load it up and move on to the next tree. Great. All right. And one tree down. Quite a few more to go. Away. Away. Away. That was a great day. I'm pretty tired and now I'm just gonna get home safely and we can start building our generator shed tomorrow.
JOHNNY ROLFE
Out here in the Brooks Range, it could be a very hungry country.

JOHNNY ROLFE
I never know when the caribou are gonna come around. They just show up when they want, and they disappear just as fast. Caribou tracks all in here and there's something natural that funnels between that mountain and the river, and it kind of makes caribou just naturally funnel in this quarter mile [UNIT CONVERSION 402 meters] stretch.
JOHNNY ROLFE
So, I'm gonna take advantage of that and build my snow house right here. Given the cold temperatures, it's nice to find a place to kind of duck in and warm up when I need to. Looks nice and level over there. I think that�s where I wanna go.
JOHNNY ROLFE
So, I want to make a little structure. Woo. Well, let's get building. A hunting base camp. It's simple. I build it with what's out here, right around me. And come spring it melts, and it's gone. 
JOHNNY ROLFE
I don't have to take it down, I don't have to worry about disassembling it, it just disappears. What I'm building here is actually just the negative space of the snow house. This is just, um, the mold, and then I cover it with spruce bows and snow. And that snow will bind into the spruce bow and that spruce bow will, uh, act as like a rebar. The snow I used in the Midwest when I was a kid was wet packing snow. It wasn�t this dusty snow. This snow is gonna bind together tonight when it gets down to negative fifty, and this will just be rock hard. Basically, what's left to do is just use all this remaining snow on this side and build it up about this high to where all these spruce bows are buried. All this, uh, shoveling I've been doing, it just reminds me, it's just so much of, probably the most profound turning point in my life. I was, uh, in the rehabilitation shelter in the west side of Chicago. And there's a big giant snowstorm that hit Chicago. And I went to the janitor, and I said, hey, can I borrow your shovel? And every day I would walk up and down and wait for people to come out of their apartment complex to find their car buried. And I'd say, I'll dig you out for 50 bucks. I made so much money I was able to get a cellphone, ended up getting an apartment. The first job I landed after that rehabilitation was at a three Michelin star restaurant, downtown Chicago. So, after that, my whole life just changed. And if it took me going through a lot of hell to get here, that's fine. At least I made it because I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I'm right where I know I'm meant to be.

CHEVIE ROACH
A lot of people in Alaska burn wood, but I don't know how many people would drive in 30 mile an hour [UNIT CONVERSION 48 kilometers an hour] winds at five below to get it.

CHEVIE ROACH
I see a nice little baby tree for you right there, Emry. You wanna cut down that one?
EMRY ROACH
Yeah, and that one.
CHEVIE ROACH
And that one. You're getting greedy like me. Once you get out in the woods, you want to bring home all the trees. Do you guys know why we're out here getting wood?
EMRY ROACH
For grandma and grandpa.
CHEVIE ROACH
For grandma and grandpa. One reason why we live in Shageluk is so we're close to Sonta�s parents. One of the ways to be there with them is to help provide them with something that they need. Why don't you go out there and pick out a couple trees? Sydney, you wanna try to cut down the tree?
SYDNEY ROACH
With a chainsaw?
CHEVIE ROACH
Yeah. I'll help you. The kids are gonna deliver some firewood and a little bit of ice.
EMRY ROACH
This one.
CHEVIE ROACH
That's the one I was looking at too. And in return, Grandpa Rudy will share some knowledge and that's how he'll pay the kids back.
EMRY ROACH
Can I still break that tree down?
CHEVIE ROACH
You still wanna break this one down?
EMRY ROACH
Mm-hmm.
CHEVIE ROACH
You could try. You wanna hang on it or what?
EMRY ROACH
Yeah.
CHEVIE ROACH
Go ahead. Okay. Come on, Sydney.
EMRY ROACH
Yeah, I give up.
CHEVIE ROACH
Even if you're not strong enough to start a saw yet, you'll, you still gotta know how to. See this bottom one? That's choke. Pull the throttle. And at the same time, push down. I'll just get it started for you this time 'cause it is pretty cold. Okay.
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
I'll cut this tree down. Okay?
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
And then when you cut it for the first time, it's better to start off learning with just bucking it up. It's easier than trying to fall a tree. Okay?
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
One thing that Sonta and I were both raised with was helping our grandparents. Sonta had to pack wood and I spent a lot of time at my grandma's house helping her with whatever chores that she needed done around the house.
SYDNEY ROACH
Timber.
CHEVIE ROACH
Just gotta let the saw do the work. Okay? Go ahead and hold it right here with your left hand. It's going out of your way to help somebody else. It's important thing for our kids to understand. Yeah. There you go. Okay, now you're gonna cut it right about here. Okay. Rev it up first before you put it on the wood. There, there you go. I want to make sure to give them the tools to be able to help their grandparents.
SYDNEY ROACH
Yay.
CHEVIE ROACH
There you go. And other elderly people that need help in a tough situation. All right. I'll cut the rest of this up. Okay? To make quick work of it, you guys can be putting it in that sled. Okay?
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
All right. Let's get to ice.
KALEB ROWLAND
I�m always trying to learn from the wilderness.
KALEB ROWLAND
But it's difficult because in nature the test often comes before the lesson. Timber. You cut your first piece of beaver bait.
GILBERT ROWLAND
Yeah.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Load this up so that we're all ready to go when he's ready.
KALEB ROWLAND
Today, Brittany and I are headed out to go set some beaver sets with the kids. All right, we got our pole.
KALEB ROWLAND
For us, trapping is an important skillset. Here we go. Now we just need to load the gear in and trap it all down. It provides us with furs to make warm clothing that separates us from the cold, bitter, temperatures that winter throws at us. All right. You guys ready to go?
ELOVIE ROWLAND
Yeah.
KALEB ROWLAND
I think we got everything we need. The beaver ponds are on the opposite side of the river from our Nizina River camp, so we have a bit of a trek to get there, and on the way we have to cross the Nizina River.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
We'll just hang out here and hopefully not fall through the ice.
KALEB ROWLAND
This is the main channel of the river and seeing as how I haven't been across it since the Chinook, I'm gonna go out there and, uh, test it with my axe. A huge warm front blew up off the Pacific ocean. Snow�s all slushy. We've got glare eyes. When we get these Chinooks it�s a nightmare for most people in Alaska. We had a big Chinook just recently, and it caused water to run on top of the surface of the ice. If this axe goes through, then I get the heck out. This river's super important for getting back and forth, but we don't cross the river if it's not safe.

KALEB ROWLAND
So far so good. Feels really tight. I'm working my way back to the snow machines and then we'll cross. I think it's safe. I couldn't chop through. Let's get on the machines and go. Beaver houses are really obvious. They are a shape on a lake that doesn't belong there.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Check out that beaver house.
KALEB ROWLAND
That is huge. I don't think I've ever seen a beaver house that big. I'll bet there's a hundred cubic yards [UNIT CONVERSION 76 cubic meters] of mud right there.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Wow.
KALEB ROWLAND
The beaver house is probably 20 feet [UNIT CONVERSION 6 meters] tall and probably 30 feet [UNIT CONVERSION 9 meters] around at the base. It's gotta be just loaded with beavers. Maybe we'll try one here and one here. How's that sound?
ELOVIE ROWLAND
Good.
KALEB ROWLAND
Alaska is a place of bounty. If a person is willing to put in the time, there are resources out there that that person can harvest and use to their own benefit.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Look at that.
KALEB ROWLAND
Seeing signs of beaver in the ice, so that's good.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
What are the signs, are the.
KALEB ROWLAND
Bits and pieces of his food.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Okay.
GILBERT ROWLAND
Smells like a sewer.
KALEB ROWLAND
So, this is the top of the ice. This is probably the bottom of the ice. And then we have about that much water before we hit the mud. So, we want to hang our snares right here.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
How many snares will you do?
KALEB ROWLAND
We always do four in a hole.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Okay.
KALEB ROWLAND
Growing up, we chased after lynx, wolverine, and marten, primarily with beaver sets thrown in wherever we could find beaver ponds. I'll drop it down and you can hold onto all the snare ends.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Okay.
KALEB ROWLAND
And we covered hundreds of miles every week just for a few furs. Enough to cover our gas bill. Yummy, yummy, Beavers. Come and eat it. In the past, I've been fairly successful with trapping, but the beavers in his element and Alaska does not give up her resources easily. All wired together. Now, let's do the other one.
MARIO QUEZADA
Living a subsistence lifestyle especially up here in Alaska, really makes you aware of your resources and how much you use and makes you a more conscious person.

MARIO QUEZADA
There you go. Good job.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
That's stable.
MARIO QUEZADA
Use your legs, not your back.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yeah.
MARIO QUEZADA
Today, we're ready to get started on our generator shed build.
MARIO QUEZADA
The Arctic isn't great on machinery. Having these generators inside of an enclosed building, it's gonna extend the life of these machines. Good enough. Yeah. We're on the business of making things perfect out here.
MARIO QUEZADA
You know what I mean? It just needs to work.
MARIO QUEZADA
I'm gonna be milling the wood that we need to build our floor. Clare's gonna help me. All right. I'm gonna fire it up. All right?
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Okay. Yep.
MARIO QUEZADA
Ready?
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yup.
MARIO QUEZADA
All right.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
We've been having a lot of issues with our generator this winter. Generators are not meant to run at really cold temperatures.
MARIO QUEZADA
Oh, man, this is brutal. This weather sucks.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
We've gone with periods of no power and electricity this winter. It was extremely tough and difficult.
MARIO QUEZADA
Hey, come around the other side now so you're not getting this sawdust in your face. Okay.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
This shed is gonna allow the generators to stay warm, and most importantly, it's gonna give us power in the house. Nice.
MARIO QUEZADA
One down. A lot more to go.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Is that our last board?
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah, this is the last one.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Great.
MARIO QUEZADA
There you go. Grab these two. They're not as monstrous. Great. Now we just need to go get the metal roofing. Need to cut that in half with that grinder. Then we'll have everything prepped.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Good.
MARIO QUEZADA
So, let's light him up.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
This is my first winter in Alaska, so this is definitely a new experience for me.
MARIO QUEZADA
All right, let's cut it up.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Cool. I don't have a manual labor background, so it's been really nice to be out here with Mario and to have a lot of building projects and become really familiar with a lot of these tools we're using.
MARIO QUEZADA
There you go. Go down. There you go. Go slow. All right. Go nice and slow. All right. There we go. Now push it. There you go.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
All right.
MARIO QUEZADA
Great.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Cool.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah, that was great. Good job.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yeah.
MARIO QUEZADA
Let's get this guy over to the work site.
JOHNNY ROLFE
I am a big fan of just letting things evolve. And just kind of seeing where things go, how things take shape, and that's kind of the freedom out here that I have.
JOHNNY ROLFE
So, I'm gonna use the slog here to make a tool and that tool's gonna help me hollow out the snow house.
JOHNNY ROLFE
I don't want to use the shovel 'cause it's, it's hard to just get in there with that long handle. I need something real small to just scrape snow. This will be a first. Snow house carbon tool. Oh my wrists, my forearms are burning from holding that shovel, making this massive pile of frozen sky water. Harder to grip a tool when you gotta grip through thick winter gloves. I need something light because that's a lot of volume of snow that I'm gonna have to carve out of there. I just, I don't want to be doing it with something heavy, so it's got like a, a flat edge along the top so I can scrape. Then it's got this spoon, like that'll kind of help. As I scrape the top, it'll just kind of projector roll right off this onto the ground, and then I'll pull it out or use the shovel to dig it out. I think it's gonna work pretty dang good. We'll find out. All right. I wanna be really meticulous inside, but I don't go too far. Poke through the side of it, poke through the roof of it. You put this much time into making something, you don't want to ruin it at the last minute. So, I feel like it's a delicate balance. If I were to take too much off on the wall, you know the walls support the dome. And if, if I take too much off, it's just gonna cave in. It's a lot of work for something like that to happen. You can see how packed the snow is that I'm taking out of, that I'm excavating. I just hope it structurally sound all around to pull itself up. I'm not gonna lie, as I'm in here, I worry about it collapsing.

JOHNNY ROLFE
It's a lot of weight on top of the dome. I think I need to dig out the top a lot more than the sides and let the sides be what's holding up the top. We'll see what happens. Look at this. You can see spruce bow here, here, here, here, here. I'm just so grateful I put these in, you know, they're hopefully acting as rebar, but right now, the obvious, uh, help they are as they're telling me when to stop carving. It's got some more carving to do and I'll be, uh, I'll haul it out.
SONTA ROACH
I really believe in our core traditions and our core beliefs, and a lot of it is tied to how we live off the land and how we harvest resources.
CHEVIE ROACH
Grab those ice picks, kids.
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay, come on, Emry. Get up. Don't pretend you're sleeping.
CHEVIE ROACH
Today we're gonna haul some ice. Baby's kinda getting fussy, so I'm just gonna cruise her around on the snow machine-
CHEVIE ROACH
While Sonta and the kids find some good ice for their grandpa and start filling that sled up. Me and Chevelle will go do a little bit more recon.
SONTA ROACH
Yeah.
SONTA ROACH
All right, you guys, let's check out this ice here. How does it look?
EMRY ROACH
Good.
SONTA ROACH
So, you see how it has this top little cloudy layer?
EMRY ROACH
Mm-hmm.
RYDER
Yes.
SONTA ROACH
That's what we don't wanna have. Yeah. And then the clear ice layer. And this is the good stuff. This is what we want. It's filtered water, naturally filtered. Grandpa will be really happy for that clear ice.
EMRY ROACH
But I see a little dirt.
SONTA ROACH
Let's clean off this little snowbank about a foot [UNIT CONVERSION 30 centimeters] or so. As ice freezes, the water is still dropping, even with the frozen ice there, and so it ends up leaving these ice shelves. This Elsa, woo. Look at that. Look at that nice piece. Sydney, grab that little piece.
EMRY ROACH
That's a big piece.
SONTA ROACH
Yeah. My dad is pretty particular about the type of water he drinks. And he�s gonna value it even more because it's the grandkids bringing it to him. Nice. That's real pretty. Look at that. Little specks.
CHEVIE ROACH
Me and Chevelle were doing a little bit of scouting.
SONTA ROACH
Yeah. Do you see any more area where there was more ice?
CHEVIE ROACH
Upriver about another mile, there's a decent spot for next time when we come back out. Listen Sydney, this time of year, there's just gonna get more and more and more snow. So, you have to remember where you see this ice. Cause it's all just gonna be covered in snow.
SYDNEY ROACH
I know.
SONTA ROACH
I grew up really living off the land in this way. We didn't have water coming out of the faucets. We had water in barrels and buckets.
SYDNEY ROACH
Mom, that's good.
SONTA ROACH
Yeah, I definitely think that this ice gathering method, you know, that's been practiced forever, makes us who we are. This is a part of our identity. Good job today. Grandpa's gonna be really happy about this. Let�s wrap it up.
CHEVIE ROACH
All right, let's get this stuff delivered.
MARIO QUEZADA
There's a certain sense of freedom living out here. I feel like I have more hope for the future. There's no constraints out here with the things that you wanna accomplish. I wouldn't trade it for the world. All right, let�s cut �er.
MARIO QUEZADA
The first thing we have to do to build this generator shed is to place the floor down. Clare and I are gonna be using the material that we made yesterday. Great. Let's save this for something if we need it. All right?
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Okay.
MARIO QUEZADA
So now that we have the floor set down we're gonna create the base for the wall.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Um-hmm.
MARIO QUEZADA
So, all we need to do is grab some wood and then create a big square. That should be as level as we can get it.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Let's grab those beams.
MARIO QUEZADA
Okay. You better not pee on that, Maple. That's a four-footer, which is fine.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Perfect.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah. I don't get really hung up on having blueprints of everything that I build out here. I just know things need to get done, and I'm really thankful to have her support out here. Getting a little wild there, aren't you?
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
All right, that looks good.
MARIO QUEZADA
She kind of trusts me and trusts my visions and, and as long as they're safe, I think that you can call it a success. Just kind of like right there and that gives us room for that other stuff.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
For the other beam. Yeah.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah, hell yeah. It's almost like I know what I'm doing. Almost. We're using as much recycled lumber as we can and some of our cuts are not the best.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Short.
MARIO QUEZADA
That's not good.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Well, let's just cut one of these. Looks like a good board.
MARIO QUEZADA
But it's kind of nice to have some of these mistakes because then you can just use the scraps that you have laying around, can repurpose them and really get every little inch you can outta them. This is using all the scrap.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yup.
MARIO QUEZADA
You know what I mean? All right. Look at that. Perfect. Perfect.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Nice. Yeah. Oh, wobbly. Be careful up there.
MARIO QUEZADA
That's not good. Okay. I�m short or something. This way, oh.

MARIO QUEZADA
Oh, sorry. Sorry, I just leave it down there until I'm ready.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
So, where's my hard hat when you need it?
MARIO QUEZADA
We, uh, G2G. Uh-oh.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Maybe this? Good, huh?
MARIO QUEZADA
This would be good. Yeah, this would be great. That's the wall structure, and then we can start putting the plywood on there. All right here. All right. Lift up.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Nope. Nope. We gotta go this way by like half an inch. There you go. Living in the interior of Alaska has really allowed us to use all our resources possible. We can create whatever we dream.
MARIO QUEZADA
Perfect.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
There are no boundaries living this lifestyle.
MARIO QUEZADA
This would be the last piece of plywood. Hold that up.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
And I wouldn't choose any other way to live.
MARIO QUEZADA
Great.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Straight. Yeah, it looks good.
MARIO QUEZADA
Sweet. Let's build the roof.
JOHNNY ROLFE
I lived in a world where people that I never met made rules and regulations for me. And now I live in a place where nature decides what my rules are, and that's the way I prefer to live. Spruce poles.
JOHNNY ROLFE
Spruce bows. It's time to make, uh, an arctic entry.
JOHNNY ROLFE
I'm just gonna take those spruce poles and kind of make a little entry here and then pile 'em up with spruce bows and then some snow and I'll have a nice entry to get into the snow house. It would be really awesome if one day this winter I managed to get a caribou from this shelter. I think that would be pretty special, but that's kind of what my paycheck is. Paycheck, I'm happy with. Arctic entry turned out really well. All I need is a door to cover it up. That way, any heat inside the snow house will kinda just linger in the snow house. Every time I tie a square lash I, I think about the first time I ever tied one, which was out here in the Brooks Range, grow pretty quick out here. I'll tell you that much. Kind of forced to. It's cool to have different shelters built around because I never know when I'm just gonna wanna have a place I need to duck in, kind of warm up. It's kind of a little bit of safety to my mind to know that I got a place to go to if I need to. The sucker is good to go. Last thing I need to do is I wanna put some windows in the side.
KALEB ROWLAND
Trapping is one of the oldest ways of survival known to man. The art of placing a snare in such a way that you fool an animal to step in it. That's something that's been happening in Alaska since the beginning of time. All right, guys, who's excited to check these sets?
ELOVIE ROWLAND
Me.
KALEB ROWLAND
We're gonna pop the corner off here.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
So, what does everyone think? Gilbert, do you think there's one down there? No?
KALEB ROWLAND
Um.
GILBERT ROWLAND
There is one. I see one. I thought I saw fur.
KALEB ROWLAND
I don't see anything. I think.
GILBERT ROWLAND
I think I see.
KALEB ROWLAND
Look at that. There's our plastic.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Elovie, what do you think? I think there's one down there.
ELOVIE ROWLAND
Me too. See anything?
KALEB ROWLAND
This water is so murky. I can see about a foot and a half [UNIT CONVERSION 45 centimeters] down there. Just the last of the snow off, see if I can get a better idea here.
GILBERT ROWLAND
Well, it's chewed it.
KALEB ROWLAND
Oh, yeah, that's actually a beaver chew right there. The beaver had started chewing on this pole, knocked all the snares down and left it be. Well, I've got high hopes 'cause now I know the beavers know exactly where this pole is. They've already started chewing on it. I'm sure they will be back. This is a fantastic learning opportunity for the kids because out here, you just can't give up. You get knocked down, you get right back up, figure out the problem. Okay. And move on. Let's go check the other one.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Let's hope for the next one.
KALEB ROWLAND
Oh, this one's broken.
GILBERT ROWLAND
Oh, yeah.
KALEB ROWLAND
We might have a beaver. This one's been chewed completely in half. Well, I had pretty high hopes for this house, considering how big it is. He's been inside my snares. There's gotta be a beaver in this hole. Where's the beaver?

BRITTANY ROWLAND
Oh, no.
KALEB ROWLAND
Don't tell me he outsmarted us.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Oh, no.
KALEB ROWLAND
Dang it.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
He did.
KALEB ROWLAND
See, what they do is they chew it off right beneath the ice, and then he knocked my snares down, enjoyed a free snack and got off Scott free. Oh, my goodness.
GILBERT ROWLAND
Well, we can't set this thing back up.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Oh, man.
ELOVIE ROWLAND
He outsmarted us.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
He did.
KALEB ROWLAND
Yep.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Nature wins today.
KALEB ROWLAND
Yep. Oh, well we know this is a live house. We can just leave that one and come back and check it. 'Cause we know there's beavers in the house now. Well guys, we're learning about trapping here. Well, I'm gonna be super excited to come check this next week knowing that there's beavers in this house.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Yep.
KALEB ROWLAND
I'm gonna start getting this broken apart, and then we can take off and leave the beavers to eat their gourmet meal.
JOHNNY ROLFE
I think it's important to always hone and exercise survival skills and remember how to use what's around you.
JOHNNY ROLFE
You don't want to get complacent. The best way to not get complacent is to just build something from nothing. So, I'm gonna make a window, and I'm thinking it's gonna work if I just melt snow right on the fire. In my experience, if you boil water and then freeze it, it'll be clear. And all these things are things I've never done before. I've never made a giant snow house, never made the arctic entry, put a window in it. When I look around and see all these things, it, it just makes me feel good. It makes me feel proud how, how hard I've worked, how far I've come, relying on myself, let that freeze until I got a nice disc, and that's gonna allow sun to come in. There's my window. It's a little, uh, funky in the middle, but it doesn't need to be perfectly clear. It's gonna let light in. So now I'm just gonna take it up to the side, kind of trace out a little area, pop this in. It's pretty sweet. Okay. Look right about here. Everything about this is natural. This is made from the land and all I need is what nature provides. There it is. That is a thick wall. Goodness. That's a perspective man. That adds a lot of perspective. Melt a little bit of snow, kind of create, uh, almost like concrete with the slush and just kind of put it around the edges to make sure that window's kind of locked in there. It reminds me of like the privacy windows and bathrooms. They let light through and that's the whole point of them. It's one of the cooler things I've ever made.

MARIO QUEZADA
It's really important to be super safe out here. I feel really equipped to be successfully operating in super stressful conditions because having construction knowledge has really brought me a long way out here. So now that we've got the roof beam up. All we have to do is lay the - the two-by-fours that we cut down to size and then that'll create the support.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Great.
MARIO QUEZADA
For the metal roofing.
MARIO QUEZADA
You got your.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
I'm not standing in under that thing.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah, don�t.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
That thing scares me.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah.

MARIO QUEZADA
Next. All right.
MARIO QUEZADA
I think I can get on the inside of it now.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
That sounds like the safest plan. You know, being on a roof, being on a ladder in wintry conditions is always dangerous.
MARIO QUEZADA
Remember that time I fell 20 feet [UNIT CPONVERSION 6 meters] off the freaking ladder. I'm surprised I didn't die, but it would've been quick, so. This is great. Look at this. This thing is bitching. We need two pieces per side. This stuff's sharp and nasty.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yeah, it's sharp.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
All right. You ready?
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Yep. That looks perfect.
MARIO QUEZADA
All right. Great. Let's move on to the next one, Clare.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Okay.
MARIO QUEZADA
Putting the sheet metal on the roof, it's really important to be safe with that stuff. Cause when you combine ladders with sharp metal and snow, it can get really dangerous. One side down. All right. Hand me my gloves and I'm gonna get up here and straddle it. And I want you to hand me the ridge beam from the front 'cause I'm just gonna slide it right underneath me. So, hold the ladder.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
There's not a lot to grab onto. Be careful. Careful, baby. Are you okay?
MARIO QUEZADA
This feels super sketchy.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Okay.
MARIO QUEZADA
Hand me that ridge cap, pumpkin.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
If you say so.
MARIO QUEZADA
This is a bad idea. Wow.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Okay.

MARIO QUEZADA
Great. Look at that.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Looks good.
MARIO QUEZADA
Help.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
I can't help you. Just don't fall.
MARIO QUEZADA
I can't stretch that much. I bet you didn't know I took gymnastics in college. I did.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
No, you didn't.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah. Everyone at West Point takes gymnastics for semester.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Really?
MARIO QUEZADA
Two semesters actually. It's horrible. Perfect. Just kind of like that. Wow. Last piece. Come on, Clare. Wow. This thing's come a long way. Now all we gotta do is cut those two holes for the CO2 to kind of exhaust out of, put the generators in and.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Great.
MARIO QUEZADA
Fire'em up. Hi. All right. Let's grab the generator.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Sweet.
MARIO QUEZADA
To know that this shed is serving the purpose that we set out for, it feels good to know that when I come outside in the morning to fire him up.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
She's in.
MARIO QUEZADA
They're not gonna be covered in three feet [UNIT CONVERSION 91 centimeters] of snow.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Cool. We have it in enclosed building.
MARIO QUEZADA
It isn't some preassembled building that I bought in a kit. It's something that Clare and I created and we put a lot of hard work into it, and I know that when I look at it, I'm gonna have really good memories. It's great. I'm really excited.
CLARE MORRISETTE CALVERT
Good.
MARIO QUEZADA
Yeah. It's been a long time coming.
SONTA ROACH
Hi, Grandpa.
GRANDPA RUDY
Hello.
EMRY ROACH
Hi.
SONTA ROACH
You guys tell grandpa what you brought him.
SYDNEY ROACH
Oh, yeah.
GRANDPA RUDY
What did you bring?
EMRY ROACH
We brought him ice.
SYDNEY ROACH
We brought you ice.
EMRY ROACH
We brought you some wood.
SYDNEY ROACH
We brought you wood. And I ran the chainsaw.
GRANDPA RUDY
You ran the chainsaw?
SYDNEY ROACH
Yeah, I ran the chainsaw.
GRANDPA RUDY
You like it?
SYDNEY ROACH
Uh, I was worried I was gonna saw someone's legs off.
GRANDPA RUDY
Let's, you wanna unload the ice first? Okay.
SONTA ROACH
The kids at the age that they're at, more so than just the action of what they're doing, they're really starting to understand the why and the purpose. Just slide it in. This lifestyle is all about helping one another out because people get old, and they really depend on the next generation.
SYDNEY ROACH
We found some very old sap on, on a piece of wood.
GRANDPA RUDY
You know what that sap does?
SYDNEY ROACH
No.
GRANDPA RUDY
When it's green, you can chew it and that's your chewing gum. Yeah?
SYDNEY ROACH
But I did not know it would be used as chewing gum.
GRANDPA RUDY
And also, it burns like gas. Really, really hot. So, you gotta watch that. Otherwise, you're gonna burn your house down.
SYDNEY ROACH
Oh, gee.
GRANDPA RUDY
Yeah.
SONTA ROACH
Ultimately, you want this lifestyle to be consistent throughout the generations. That's something I know that our kids are gonna carry on with them.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
All righty. Let's see what we can find.
KALEB ROWLAND
Yeah, I mean, it's a huge giant house, so it stands to reason there's a bunch of beavers in there, and they're really hungry. Let's see if our patience has paid off here. Oh, oh, it's been chewed off. Shall we pull it up?
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Yeah.
KALEB ROWLAND
Hold on. Had a snare frozen. What is going on here? Okay, well we caught some sticks.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
He gave us his stick instead.
KALEB ROWLAND
Stinking beaver. This beaver swam out from his house in that murky water that we can't even see in. Saw the dangers that were there, eliminated the dangers, and then got free food. See how this, the snare was hanging? I mean, his head was right in the snare. To me, that makes him a worthy adversary. My hat is off to the beaver. He won this round. I mean, he put the stick in this one. I want my kids to know that even though we did not catch a beaver, we can learn from this outing. Well, I guess these beavers are gonna live. We're gonna have to adapt our methods to catch these beavers if we want to get a fur.
BRITTANY ROWLAND
Beaver two, Rowlands nothing.
KALEB ROWLAND
Absolutely nothing. And ultimately, I wouldn't call this a failure. I would call this a learning opportunity. Well, thank you beavers for matching wits with us. It was honor being beaten by you.
JOHNNY ROLFE
Plenty of room in here. That's incredible. The snow house worked out really well and just keep hunting this area 'cause this area is just, seems to be so rich with caribou and kind of feel a little peace at mine that I gotta little spot, I can just come and hang out, you know, take a break warm up just from a little lantern in my own body heat. It's in the negatives outside and I don't know, it's probably right now, zero degrees. It's warm in here. I envisioned this snow house very briefly in my mind, but I didn't think it was gonna look the way it does right now. And to me, that's the way I prefer to build things. And this life out here gives me that freedom. It takes a lot to get yourself motivated, but with a lot of will and drive, that�s all I know how to do is survive harsh conditions and climates and living situations. That�s kind of all I know.

JOHNNY ROLFE
This is a place of freedom, it�s a place to kinda just be who you want to be. To choose to do what you want to do. And I like it. I made this snow house as a hunting shack and this lifestyle of a subsistence hunter allows me that freedom.

CHEVIE ROACH
You guys want to start a little fire and have some hot cocoa?
EMRY ROACH
Yeah.
SYDNEY ROACH
Definitely.
CHEVIE ROACH
All these branches and all this stuff that we just cut down is perfect for starting a fire. You guys remember how windy it was out there?
SYDNEY ROACH
Oh, yeah.
CHEVIE ROACH
If you ever get stuck at night or you have a break down, this is the type of place that you want to get to. In the bottom of a creek, in the opposite side that the wind�s blowing. Out there in that flat you would freeze. There�s plenty of places to keep you warm all night in here. So it�s always worth knowing where these places are and being able to get to them if you can, okay?
EMRY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
It�s fun to be able to reward the kids with something when you have a light duty job like hauling a little sled load of wood.
EMRY ROACH
It�s still hot, Sydney.
CHEVIE ROACH
It�s nice to be able to just kick back, have a little fire, and I just want to be able to make sure that they�re comfortable, they got something warm in their bellies and they�re ready to head home after a day of travel and cutting wood.
EMRY ROACH
Hmm.
CHEVIE ROACH
Hmm, that�s good. Are you guys excited to get some wood for grandma and grandpa?
EMRY ROACH
Yeah.
SYDNEY ROACH
Definitely.
CHEVIE ROACH
The thing about it is, you guys, when you live in a place like where we live it�s very important to be able to help one another out. So being able to bring a load of wood to somebody that needs it is sign of respect that you care about them. And there�s always something that they can teach you, too. Remember this piece of wood?
EMRY ROACH
Uh-hmm.
CHEVIE ROACH
That�s sap. It�s all sap coming out of the tree, and you guys when you drop this wood off with your grandpa, we�ll put this piece in the back of the snow machine and you can ask him about what you use it for, okay?
EMRY ROACH
Okay.
SYDNEY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
You guys think we should start heading back towards town?
EMRY ROACH
Yeah. Let�s go.
CHEVIE ROACH
Get all dressed up and get the snow machine strapped up.
EMRY ROACH
Okay.
CHEVIE ROACH
Hit the road.




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