Operation Gold Rush with Dan Snow - Season 1

In this first episode, Dan and his team take on the Alaskan Coastal Mountains, a wall of snow and rock blocking their way to the Klondike and its gold. Following the routes used by the Klondikers, they split up to experience two very different gold rush journeys. As they begin their journey to the gold fields, they have to cross icy rivers, avalanche prone slopes and climb a near vertical icy ascent.

So far the team have travelled just thirty of the nearly six hundred mile journey to the gold fields. Having made their way across the Alaskan Coastal Mountains they now face a very different challenge: the treacherous Canadian Lakes and rivers.

In tonight's episode Dan and the team begin a marathon boat trip. They'll be travelling in a specially built replica wooden boat based on original designs from the gold rush. It's basic, heavy and difficult to control but somehow they're going to have to navigate it across hundreds of miles of water. They'll face enormous lakes, notorious for unpredictable stormy weather and "One Mile Rapids"- a narrow canyon filled with churning white water and jagged rocks that wrecked dozens of the Klondiker boats. No one has attempted to run these rapids in a boat like this over a hundred years.

In tonight's episode they finally arrive at Dawson City, gateway to Klondike gold. Guided by historical accounts the team set up a 19th century-style mining camp in the heart of the gold fields. Using traditional methods they set about the back-breaking work of mining for gold. They'll have to use both their expertise and muscle to give them any chance of striking it rich. It's not going to be easy, they have just five days to prospect in an area that's already been extensively mined. But in a game where luck can play as much a part as experience, will they walk away having struck gold?