Rick Ness on His Big Gamble, Buzz Drama & What’s Next

It’s been a rollercoaster of a comeback story for Rick Ness this season on Gold Rush. The miner took a break from the business to get his life in order. Starting from the ground up, assembling a crew, living week-to-week wondering if he’ll get enough gold to pay the landlord, and working through equipment issues. All to keep his operation afloat.

He sold his mom’s home to make this run possible. It’s all come down to one go big or go home gamble, venturing back to Rally Valley. A place that brought him some of his best fortune and also his biggest challenges. As the season nears completion, we caught up with Ness about all he has been through and what’s to come.

Do you see Parker Schnabel often? 

Rick Ness: I think we are both pretty busy people. We don’t see each other very often even though we are in the same spot on the Yukon. I hadn’t seen Parker in a couple of years and saw him in the spring. It was nice to catch up and ease into something familiar.

You had a rough and slow start but had those little victories to carry you through the season so far. What do you make of your comeback story? 

I started less than when I had the first year on my own. It was tough, but also kind of nice because I had a plan when I left there. I didn’t go back for one year, but I had left myself in great shape if I did return. I started with a couple of people and built it up. It was nice and less stressful on things in a way. It was about just getting the wheels turning. That ultimately helped the whole transition of getting back into it. It was going to work or it wasn’t. I knew for a fact if it didn’t work, I wasn’t going back again. I can only bang my head against the wall so many times before I move along. It was get it done or get the hell gone this year.

Rick Ness pouring gold as Zee Zaremba watches on, gold weight. (Discovery Channel)

You assembled a unique and dedicated crew, which brings its own dynamic. There was a point where Buzz Legault was going through his issues. Talk about how you manage these situations where there may be a breakdown in these high-pressure situations.  

It’s a unique situation to be in when something like that happens. Most people go through things like that. Either they have a family or someone else to go through it. Where we’re at, we’re all each other’s has. For Buzz, there is no other outlet. I’ve been in that place myself. I like to think I’m pretty good in those situations, especially since I’ve been through a lot of them. With Buzz, it was about just letting him know if you need to talk, I’m here. Don’t keep it in.

How would you describe your relationship with Buzz as you weather through some conflict? 

Buzz was the big surprise for me this season. I really had my doubts. I really didn’t think I would hire him. I told him this. I didn’t know him and knew where he came from. He didn’t have a good track history, so I didn’t expect much. I needed help for a couple of weeks. I thought I would give him a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. He flat-out worked and kept working and knows what has to be done. I had someone I could count on and trust that if I wasn’t around, I would know it would be run the way I wanted it to.

I don’t know if he had been in a position like that before, so there are bound to be things he may do wrong, but it was more or less getting his confidence. He was doing things right that he thought were wrong a lot of times. We were arguing about where we would focus our attention. I don’t mind pushback. He has an opinion, which he should because he is out here and doing it. I welcome the opinion, but at the end of the fuckin day, I make that call.

What was your mindset as you went back into Rally Valley? 

The thing was I knew that was where we would end our season. I knew the gold would be in there. The problem is I knew when we left it I was pretty much sure of what we could do with our infrastructure around it. The drilling was 205 feet to bedrock. That is so much farther than I have ever done.

I did my best as far as plotting it out, knowing the deeper you go, you know you need to have roads there. I did my best, but we first fell short. I had never gone that deep. That was the big problem. I knew when we went back in there, we would have to start over and do a lot of digging and infrastructure work to get back in there. Even then, it wouldn’t be easy because there isn’t a whole lot of room there. I knew that ultimately it would get to what we needed, but I also knew it wasn’t going to be a fun time.

What can you say about what’s to come? 

For us, I don’t think we had the luxury of hitting our goal and having the last weeks as gravy. It always comes down to the wire for us. The weather is our biggest detractor. It leaves you wondering if we can hit our goal or not. There are days when it would be really nice to pack it up, but we couldn’t. We had to stick it out. When we went to Rally Valley the last time we had the weather coming in when it starts to freeze at night and thaws during the day. That doesn’t do well with high walls. It’s definitely dangerous. We’ve had a wall collapse before and chase us out of there. At the end of the season, it gets pretty dangerous. It always comes to the call of when to pull everyone out, and it’s not worth it anymore.

Gold Rush, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel