I get it that it's a reality TV show and we only see the things that the producers want us to see, blah,blah, blah. But there is something rather fascinating about the idea of a bunch of guys that would take these kinds of risks in a hostile environment with no guarantee of a payoff. Throw in the mechanical and electrical engineering and big machines required to make this all work and you have a show that guys who like this crap can only dream about doing. I'd almost like to take a month off work and go up there to help out just to experience the adrenaline rush of working hard, engineering solutions and seeing it all come together just for an ounce of gold.I never knew a thing about gold mining until this show and thought mining was something you did in a tunnel. I had no idea of the scale involved to move massive amounts of earth to get an ounce of gold(or not!). The breakouts of how the equipment works(or fails) are the best parts of the show.My favorite characters on the show are the Schnabels. How can you possibly not like a 17 year old kid that eschews video games, girls and tv to work 14 hour days running giant dump trucks, excavators, and loaders? His grandfather John is an awesome person that always seems to be happy even after Parker slams the excavator into the dump truck. They go into alot of background about John on the Aftershow episode that you got to see. A true American!