Timber Titans

Heli-loggers are deep into their winter season on Vancouver Island; rain and fog threaten to strand two fallers on the hill; a crew races to get the wood out before the spring thaw turns the block road to mush.

As a crew races to prep logs for a new heavy lift helicopter, a substitute pilot is tested on postage-stamp sized helipads; another logging crew moves their 40-year-old yarder onto a new block, but a series of mechanical issues set them back.

The Duz Cho Logging crew has only days to finish their winter block before the spring thaw destroys the road. During the chaos, a giant sinkhole shuts down production. Meanwhile, Integrated Operations is rushing to find enough salvage wood to keep their jet-powered heavy- lift helicopter busy and affordable. Inland, the Peters Contract Logging crew has a recurring loader problem that forces them to roll the dice with a band-aid bush fix.

Summer is in full effect, and that means Integrated Operations is moving into the final phase of their project: loading four million dollars worth of timber onto a giant floating barge. Down south, the clock is ticking for Peters Contract Logging as they continue to deal with their troublesome loader and a raging nearby wildfire.

With the entire country experiencing the worst wildfire season in history, the Duz Cho Logging crew races to place a critical bridge on the block. After two months off, Freya Logging moves into their summer block under the threat of a wildfire shutdown. Setting up their high-tech fleet is marred by some unwelcomed ghosts in the machinery.

The Integrated single stem logging team tackles steep ground and climbs some of the tallest trees in the British Columbian wilderness. Five hundred kilometers north, Duz Cho Logging is rocked by an unexpected fall snowstorm that turns the block road into an ice track.

A rotten bridge forces the Freya crew to move to another section of the block, but the road is still under construction. The Peters crew is on track to finish Statlu by the end of the day, when an operator error threatens to shut them down for a while.

The Integrated single stem crew fights to finish The Drop, but the wind and fog are fighting back. The Peters crew suffers a huge mechanical malfunction that could kibosh their plan to finish the block before snow flies.