From Ice Road Legend to Business Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Lisa Kelly’s Bold New Journey 🚛❄️🔥

When the engines of Ice Road Truckers thundered back to life in early October 2025, fans of the iconic History Channel series felt an icy rush of nostalgia.

The show’s long-awaited twelfth season didn’t just mark the return of legendary driver Lisa Kelly—it introduced a new generation of fearless rookies ready to test their limits on the frozen highways of Alaska and Canada.

What no one expected, however, was just how much danger, heart, and grit these newcomers would bring to the screen.

Filming began in late January 2025, deep in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, where temperatures regularly drop below –40°F and even the bravest drivers know that one wrong move could be their last.

The season’s premise was simple but deadly: veterans like Lisa Kelly and Todd Dewey would mentor new drivers navigating the unforgiving terrain of the Arctic roads.

For the rookies, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove themselves—not just to television audiences, but to the unforgiving wilderness itself.

Among them was Scott “Scooter” Yuill, a burly, bearded Canadian from Yellowknife known among local truckers for his quick humor and even quicker reflexes.

“You can’t fake respect on these roads,” he said during an early interview on set, tightening the straps on a massive load of mining equipment bound for the Arctic Circle.

Scooter had driven ice roads for years, but never under the glare of reality TV cameras.

“The ice doesn’t care if there’s a camera rolling,” he joked.

“It cracks when it wants to crack.”

In his first on-screen run, Scooter teamed up briefly with Lisa Kelly as the two tackled a dangerous new stretch near the Mackenzie River.

A late freeze had left the ice just under ten inches thick—barely enough to support their rigs.

Lisa, with her signature calm and calculated precision, took the lead while Scooter followed close behind.

Over the radio, his voice betrayed a mix of awe and anxiety.

“Lisa, that cracking sound normal?” he asked.

“Depends,” she replied with a smirk.

“If it gets louder, speed up.”

Further south, viewers were introduced to Shaun Harris, a 51-year-old veteran trucker from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, who arrived not alone, but with his two sons—Riley and Zach Harris—in tow.

Their family-run company, Harris & Sons Transportation, had been operating for more than three decades, but this was the first time the trio would take on the legendary ice roads together.

“This isn’t just about money,” Shaun explained in a confessional segment.

“It’s about legacy.I want my boys to learn what it means to earn respect out here.”

Riley, the older of the two, appeared confident and measured, often taking charge when routes split.

Zach, younger and fiery, carried a different kind of pressure—the desire to prove he could live up to the Harris name.

In one memorable sequence from episode three, the brothers attempted their first solo haul across a frozen lake in the Northwest Territories.

Halfway through, the temperature spiked unexpectedly, softening the ice.

“You hearing that creak?” Zach asked nervously over the CB radio.

“Keep steady,” Riley replied.

“Dad said no sudden stops.

The ice will hold… probably.”

Back at base camp, Shaun listened to the radio transmission, his knuckles white against the wheel.

“They’ll be fine,” he muttered, though his eyes told another story.

Moments later, Riley and Zach’s trucks appeared on the horizon—alive, safe, and covered in a fine mist of frost.

“You did it, boys,” Shaun said proudly as they stepped out.

“Now you know what it’s like to earn your first scar.”

The dynamic between the rookies and the veterans quickly became the emotional heartbeat of the season.

Lisa Kelly, long regarded as the queen of ice trucking, naturally slipped into a mentor role.

“They remind me of myself when I started,” she admitted.

“Cocky, curious, and completely unaware how close you’re dancing to disaster.

” Off camera, she often checked in on the rookies, offering advice about tire chains, load balancing, and the mental toll of driving for hours through total isolation.

“You’ve got to learn to love the silence,” she told them one night around a campfire.

“It’s when you stop hearing the ice that you’re really in trouble.”

Scooter Yuill’s journey, in particular, captured fans’ attention.

In episode five, his trailer axle locked mid-run, leaving him stranded thirty miles from the nearest checkpoint.

The temperature had dropped to –46°F, and his emergency radio was cutting in and out.

Instead of panicking, he used a pocket torch and a spare metal pin to repair the linkage himself—a move that saved his load and possibly his life.

When he finally rolled into camp twelve hours later, Lisa met him with a grin.

“That’s how legends are made,” she told him, handing over a steaming cup of coffee.

Meanwhile, the Harris family’s story evolved from a father teaching his sons to a trio learning mutual respect.

Shaun’s seasoned instincts occasionally clashed with Riley’s cautious logic and Zach’s youthful recklessness, but together they found a rhythm.

In a tense finale sequence, the three worked in tandem to haul an oversized fuel tank to a remote Alaskan settlement before a storm front closed the pass.

“We’ve got six hours, maybe less,” Shaun warned.

Riley, steady on the throttle, replied, “Then we don’t stop.

” They made it—just minutes before the road shut down.

By the time the credits rolled on season twelve’s final episode, the rookies had proven themselves worthy of the title “ice road truckers.

” The mix of old and new blood reinvigorated a show once thought to be frozen in time.

Fans online were quick to celebrate the balance between nostalgia and fresh energy.

“Lisa Kelly’s still the heart,” one viewer wrote, “but these rookies brought the soul.”

For Lisa, the experience was about more than mentorship.

“Every season reminds me why I started,” she reflected in a behind-the-scenes segment.

“You don’t conquer the ice—you respect it.

And if these new drivers can learn that, then they’ll do just fine.”

The ice roads may thaw each spring, but for the drivers of Ice Road Truckers, the call of the north never fades.

As the show closed its twelfth chapter, one thing was certain: the next generation is ready, the legends are still alive, and the ice—beautiful, brutal, and unpredictable—will always be the ultimate test.