Discovery Channel hoping to strike it rich with 'Bering Sea Gold' (VIDEO)

Tired of the Hoffmans finding nothing but dirt on Gold Rush? Check out the new Discovery Channel series Bering Sea Gold.

Fans of the Discovery Channel hit Gold Rush will have the opportunity to see another setting for gold discovery on Friday, in a new series, Bering Sea Gold. Perhaps, unlike the Gold Rush crews, some of the Bering Sea Gold teams will actually be able to come up with a significant amount of the glittering prize. The show will feature four crews on the Bering Sea: The Christine Rose, The Clark, The Sluicey, and The Wild Ranger.

• The Christine Rose is owned and operated by owner Steve Pomrenke and co-owner Shawn Pomrenke. The vessel, built in 2009, is over three times the size of any other gold dredge in the waters off of Nome, AK, and employs deckhands Robbi Wade and Cody Moen. The crew is aiming for a $2 million score this season.
• The Clark was built, from the ground up, by Zeke Tenhoff in 2008. Since that time, Tenhoff has worked to improve the rig, and has upgraded her capabilities each dregging season. This year, deckhand Emily Riedel will assist Tenhoff in bringing in the gold.
• The Sluicey was modified for gold dregging in 2010. Now, it is a modified skiff with an attached pontoon. The tiny rig barely holds owner Ian Foster and his (unrelated) deckhand Scott Foster, but they make it work with one diving to vacuuming the ocean floor, while the other monitors on-board machinery.
• The Wild Ranger is owned by Vernon Adkison, a boat pilot for major cruise lines and oil tankers. Adkison, a Mississippi native, spent $100,000 during the 2010-11 winter on a 25-foot Stiletto to convert it into what is The Wild Ranger today, but it is far from the perfect dregging vessel, with a long list of malfunctioning equipment its inaugural season. The system—much like the Hoffmans’ many failures—should have worked perfectly, at least according to specs on paper, but Bering Sea gold mining doesn’t often follow the rules of what “should” be.

On Gold Rush, as fans know, the Hoffmans have been piddling through Alaska and Canada for two seasons, trying to dig up the gold they are always claiming to be on, but never finding enough to amount to anything, when compared against the enormous debt they have taken on in order to chase the “American dream” with their crew. This season, the show has also featured the Hoffmans’ nemesis, Dakota Fred, as well as the hard-working, 17-year-old Parker Schnabel, neither of whom have done any better at finding enough gold to cover their various expenses for the season. Assuming that the crews of Bering Sea Gold bring up some of the heavy hauls being teased in the previews of the show—and, as these crews are presumably doing this for a living, not just getting their kicks chasing a wild dream in an industry they appear to be totally unfamiliar with, no doubt they will actually “go out and get it,” as the Hoffmans are always saying—it will most likely be a welcome contrast for loyal Gold Rush viewers, many of whom are tired of all the fumbling, and would really like to see some gold coming out of the ground somewhere.

Bering Sea Gold will premiere on the Discovery Channel tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 27, at 10 p.m., following a new episode of Gold Rush.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Video: Discovery Channel, Bering Sea Gold

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