Get to Know Discovery's Leading Women

International Women's Day is upon us, and here's a look into some of the leading women on Discovery's adventurous shows.

March 06, 2020

By: Ashley McNertney

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Photo By: E Gorsuch

Monica Beets of Gold Rush

Monica Beets of Gold Rush started gold mining at an early age, learning from her father Tony Beets, she always wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. Monica is a very skilled operator and has run her own plant with an all-girl crew, which helps her prove that women are just as good as men in gold-mining.

Ruby Mahoney of Gold Rush

Ruby Mahoney is one of the newest members of the Gold Rush series, she’s a younger miner who specializes in the equipment operation. She currently resides in Dawson City, Klondike, the same place where she was born and raised. She has a good friendship with Monica Beets and these women have stuck together through it all in a male-dominated industry.

Karla Ann of Gold Rush

Karla Ann of Gold Rush is a survival expert and wilderness guide, she’s presently the gold room operator and has been on Rick Ness' crew for the past 2 season of Gold Rush. Karla has helped the cast maneuver through the Yukon wilderness on Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail. She’s a native of Vernon, British Columbia, but she presently lives in White Horse, Yukon, Canada. Karla has gone out on expeditions along the Klondike Trail, Guyana, and Papau New Guinea accompanying Parker Schnabel, when she first started appearing on Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail. Karla is inspired by her great-grandfather, who arrived from Sweden to mine the Klondike, and once walked the Chilkoot trail to Dawson in burlap bags after his shoes burned in a fire. Karla also works as a snowboard back country guide in the winter time.

Mandy Hansen of Deadliest Catch

Mandy Hansen of the Deadliest Catch works in the male-dominated field of crab fishing. After graduating high school, Hansen started working full-time on deck of the F/V Northwestern alongside her father, Captain Sig Hansen. Mandy is currently a captain-in-training and is ready to take on the Bering Sea.

Jane Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier

Jane Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier spent years of her life working as a commercial fisherwoman, she left fishing and moved to the homestead once she got married to her husband Atz Lee Kilcher. Jane brings a wealth of knowledge and skills about fishing, and provides her family more than enough fish for the year. Jane is also into hunting, she took her first solo hunting trip for caribou in the Artic Circle on the latest season of Alaska: The Last Frontier.

Eve Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier

Eve Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier spends a majority of her time in the garden, and has the capability of generating massive amounts of vegetables in a very short growing season. Eve is known to be an amazing cook, and has even published her own cookbook with husband Eivin, from life on the homestead. Eve has joined her husband in many building projects and she has even taken partaken in a trip hunting for ptarmigans with Jane Kilcher which turned out successful, proving that women can pull their weight in the Alaskan homestead.

Charlotte Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier

Charlotte Kilcher of Alaska: The Last Frontier is originally from Northern California, she set out to move to Alaska in 1978 to work as a wildlife biologist where she met her husband of over 20 years, Otto Kilcher. She’s been a vegetarian since the age of 13, and had to quickly adapt to life on the homestead. Her focus is raising chickens and ducks for eggs, bee keeping and milking the cows to help out for her family. She has also been involved in heavy duty homestead projects with her husband Otto, and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.

Photo By: Joshua Krehbiel