Gold Rush

JohnWayne · Jan 21, 2011

Has anyone seen this train wreck? Its like American Chopper but... somehow, worse. These idiots are from Oregon. I can't help but think people might relate all Oregonians with these tools.

swoop · Jan 22, 2011

Yeah, what a cluster .... the only one with a lick of sense is the guy building the shelter. Sure, bring the kids along before a camp is built in the Alaskan wilderness..makes sense to me. Then there's gramps on that track hoe punching holes all over **** like bugs bunny lookin for the Glory Hole...To much for me..hope the bears don't eat the kids, but I won't be back to see.

JohnWayne · Jan 22, 2011

It wouldn't surprise me if someone on the board know these guys. I would like to know if these guys are really idiots or just play them on tv.

spectra · Jan 22, 2011

I have been watching it I like Train Wrecks :s0114:

They are from Sandy if I remember right. I do not like seeing some of the things on there but hey they have to get people to watch it somehow. I also like the neighbor who has been mineing up there for over 40 years.

ejmpnu92 · Jan 22, 2011

I have seen it a couple of times. It has been interesting to watch, mainly because of how out of their element they are, or at least seem to be. I have a feeling they got gold fever and lost a little foresight. I am sort of curious to know how much of their antics are for the cameras and how much of it is real.

TonsOfOregonBrass · Jan 22, 2011

they are super nice, and not tools at all. drama sells tv. but then again i do not know them personally. a few of them have been in my store, and i talked with them in vegas at the shot show again. people seem to forget that the footage they see is just a very small portion of everything.

EZLivin · Jan 22, 2011

TonsOfOregonBrass said:
they are super nice, and not tools at all. drama sells tv. but then again i do not know them personally. a few of them have been in my store, and i talked with them in vegas at the shot show again. people seem to forget that the footage they see is just a very small portion of everything.

I'm glad to hear that (have been wondering if the show was legit). Have been watching the show mostly due to my interest in mineral exploration and prospecting. Usually just shake my head and laugh/scream when I hear them say they have "3 months to find gold." 3 months!? There is a reason gold is around $1350 an ounce - it is really hard to find (in amounts that allow for economic extraction and processing on a commercial scale). If a bunch of novices can lease a claim, find gold, set up and run a processing plant, recover their costs, all within 90 days then they are absolutely the luckiest group of guys on the planet (big understatement). I think I will stop reading this thread in case someone who knows them mentions how it turned out. Wait... Ok, I don't know anything about the compensation for these reality shows, but I'm guessing that since they made it to TV maybe it doesn't matter if they found gold or not because they are going to make some decent money off the show anyway?

clearconscience · Jan 22, 2011

It reminds of the show whale wars. A bunch of incompetent people trying to do this they have no business doing.
I support both ideas, but get at least one person that's not a complete idiot.

They should have save all the time trying to put together that contraption that didn't work and just panned for gold until the could get enough money to sustain the time it would take to get equipment.
There's no way people who have no idea how to do something can go get rich. Or everyone would be rich.

Epic fail.

Trlsmn · Jan 22, 2011

I think bringing their kids up there the first year is a very bad idea.

jordanvraptor · Jan 22, 2011

I've watched it and don't like the drama but I think it goes a long way to show how hard the "gold rush" dream actually is.

clearconscience · Jan 22, 2011

Trlsmn said:
I think bringing their kids up there the first year is a very bad idea.

No kidding. I wouldn't take my kids to a camp out in Alaska so far from help.

Also how can you run out of food? Your in Alaska! Every thing that moves is food.

Just out right ignorant.

I would love to go do that, but I would plan on living a very humble life and eating nothing but wild meat. By myself.

Sun195 · Jan 22, 2011

I'm actually more interested in the show mechanics: did a producer find these guys, or did these guys pitch the show idea to someone? Who's paying for a lot of this stuff - it's hard for me to believe that the father/son are footing the bill for everything. What's the lease arrangement with the person who owns the claim? Percentage? Flat fee?

I agree - no way I'd bring my little kid and wife up to somewhere like that. Are the show producers paying to fly them all up there? Because, I can't imagine it's cheap to fly into the area where they're located. (especially if these people don't have jobs) These guys are only going to be up there for 3 months - it's not forever. Military folks are on deployment a lot longer than that.

I will say this - seeing how they haphazardly put things together, it maybe explains the condition/layout of many old mining camps that I've come across.

teflon6string · Jan 25, 2011

It's sorta like a car crash - you just can't look away.

I'd be interested to know what the ratio is between footage shot and edited scenes finally viewed.

Wives and grade-schoolers? And bears? Really? What's next, Ice Road Trucker families in Winnebagos?

By far, the most impressive player on the show is the 15 year old son or grandson of the career miner next door. He already "gets" things about mechanics, outdoor living, business, critters and human nature that most adults and very few peers (if he actually has any) will ever understand. Kid'll be downright awesome when he's old enough to drive.