:36:00
to combat the piercing cold.
:36:09
For other humans, the cold
has posed a mortal threat
:36:13
recorded dramatically
in images of another age.
:36:18
In 1897, one of history's
largest gold strikes
:36:22
drew
a quarter-million "stampeders"
:36:25
through the snowbound passes
of Alaska
:36:27
towards the gold fields
of the Klondike.
:36:32
Anticipating easy wealth
:36:34
they trudged headlong
into an lce Age.
:36:39
Half the prospectors would never
even reach the gold fields.
:36:44
Arriving ships were
marooned eight months by ice.
:36:50
Many attempted to make
the journey with pack horses.
:36:56
The animals died
by the thousands.
:37:04
Hundreds of men died
from exposure
:37:06
or were buried alive
in avalanches.
:37:12
Of the quarter million who came,
perhaps 400 struck it rich.
:37:21
yet some who failed to find
easy wealth were inspired
:37:24
by the challenges
of this new land.
:37:28
Like waves of others
across the ages
:37:31
they adapted to Alaska
and stayed on.
:37:36
Five, four, three,
two, one... go.
:37:43
Before a crowed
that includes descendants
:37:46
of those "stampeders"
:37:47
dog sled teams set out
from Anchorage each year
:37:51
to commemorate the Gold Rush
:37:53
in a thousand-mile race
known worldwide as the lditarod.