What Really Goes On Behind the Scenes of Gold Rush, According to Rick Ness
Gold Rush is a long-running reality show where ambitious miners deal with various challenges in pursuit of placer gold in faraway regions throughout the United States and Canada.
But have you ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes? Well, Rick Ness, one of the beloved stars of the hit gold mining series, has given the fans an inside look at what the viewers can't see on camera.
Rick Ness first joined the popular show during the third season as a truck driver. Before venturing into the gold mining industry, he used to be a touring musician and even played football in college.
Despite having no previous mining experience, he rose through the ranks to an integral position on the team and eventually became a mining boss with a crew of his own. However, this line of work is not as effortless as it may appear to the viewers.
As most of the mining takes place in locations like Alaska and Canada, the weather conditions can be quite extreme, or dare we say, borderline brutal. It's not only physically demanding but can also pose a number of obstacles for the mining itself, especially logistics-wise.
Finding solid land and moving heavy machines – all while trying to keep the costs down – is certainly no easy feat.
This is also the main reason why the lion's share of mining is done during warmer months.
However, that's not to say that the miners don't do anything during the rest of the time, as the work does, in fact, continue year-round.
Ness revealed to Hollywood Soapbox when talking about the spin-off show Gold Rush: Winter's Fortune that there's plenty of work to be done even when they're not mining physically.
"We can only do it for six months physically, so we're not moving dirt in the off-season, but, especially for me, there's a lot of planning and a lot of organizing and a lot of logistics and setup for shipping for the new season and stuff like that," he explained.
It's no secret that gold mining is far from being the type of business that will deliver instant results. And according to Ness, one of the greatest challenges that comes with the position has to do with the tremendous amount of time that goes into it, as it's not your regular 9-to-5 office job.
What's more, he disclosed in an interview with Park City Television that they must be prepared to work anywhere from 80 to 100 hours per week throughout the entire summer, as they only get one season of 6 months to work.