INTERVIEW: Steve Riedel digs deep in ‘Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice’

On the newest season of Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, the Discovery Channel show that follows teams of gold dredgers in the rough Alaskan winter, Steve Riedel has taken over his own operation and finally become a boss in the competitive trade. Captaining “Steve’s World on Ice,” Riedel still has a lot to learn, but he recently told Hollywood Soapbox that he’s confident in his ability to overcome all odds.

“Well, you know, being the boss, your job is triple,” Riedel said recently in a phone interview. “Not only did I dive but I managed people and I also managed equipment. So it really was a lot more of a juggling act than just as a diver.”

Riedel started his own operation in part because he found Vernon Adkison, his former boss, such a “curmudgeon.”

“Working with him was very difficult because you had to bite your tongue,” Riedel said. “He is very unforgiving and judgmental and bossy, so I had to leave. … And I just made that choice because it appeals to me, making my own decisions and being, you know, the captain of your own ship. It’s appealing to me. I like the independence, and I like the opportunities it creates for myself. You know, it’s the American dream.”

Riedel said that most of the crews are making “big mistakes” when it comes to the relatively new adventure of winter dredging. The new captain, though, likes the experimental nature of the winter, plus the edge and the newness of it all. He said the calmness and clarity of the water are worth the effort.

“You never forget what you’re there for, and that made it all worthwhile,” he said. “And, yeah, financially I probably spent more money than I got, but I’m coming into my third season as an ice miner, and it’s going to be a great season because I learned so much the first two seasons, and that made it worthwhile.”

Riedel didn’t allow too many details about the new season, but he said there was a “near-death” during the winter. “I promoted self-rescue safety exercises with my crew this past winter,” Riedel said. “No one wants to see death in your profession, but we all have a number of reasons for not wanting it because it will bring state oversight we think. And that would be, I think, a burden for us. So, yes, it’s more dangerous. Yes, we’ve had near-death experiences, many of us. Some of us a little closer than others, and we want to improve it. We want to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

Riedel is not the only family member involved in this unique career. His daughter, Emily, also helps out on the crew, and this season she’s working with her father.

“Well, I think Emily’s high spirit is broadly distributed to anyone within her earshot. So a large percentage of her high energy isn’t because she’s related to me; it’s just because she is who she is. I get a little extra dose because I’m her father, a little extra feistiness because I’m Dad. I’m more of a target. I love working with her. She’s great, she’s straightforward. I like those kind of people. I like her high energy, her honesty. I like her work ethic. You know, yeah, I got sometimes more than I care to handle with her. I think she allows herself a little more feistiness because I’m Dad. That’s okay. It’s all good. I love working with her. She’s a great woman, and I’m really proud of her for everything, all the things she’s learned. And her attitude toward work is stellar. Her attitude toward challenges are incredible.”

Riedel doesn’t have glowing words for everyone on the Discovery series. The TV network bills Scott Meisterheim, a fellow dredger, as Riedel’s nemesis.

“I think he’s an a**,” Riedel said. “I don’t respect the attitude he has of arrogance and meanness, mean-spiritedness. I think that’s over the top, over the line of decency. So when people say … is he really that mean, I say yeah he is. He’s a horse’s a**, and he has tried to be a bully to me, and I’ve stood up to him. And I’ll continue to stand up to him. I don’t believe that bullies should be tolerated one dime, and I won’t.”

Although the reality series pits the teams against one another in a hard-fought competitive battle, Riedel said he’s more interested in beating his own expectations. However, he does find it difficult to stop looking over his shoulder to see what the other miners are accomplishing. “It helps you sort of keep your bearing,” he added.

This was not always the intended life for Riedel. He spent most of his career  as a surveyor, and then on June 1, 2011, he tried his hand at dredging. He said pulling “wealth” right out of the earth is satisfying, and he’s committed on this life for some time. “It’s exciting, challenging, far more mystery than having a job that you just go to and, you know, you deal with federal bank notes,” he said. “This is getting wealth directly out of the ocean. … You’re always digging right into your soul, and you’re bringing up the energy and the ideas and the emotion to get it done. And if you don’t, you will fail. So the transformation that happens when you get into the habit of always digging deep and always putting out full energy to do this makes you into a different person, makes you stronger, makes you able to do better things in other parts of your life.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel.