His Story
The Long Way Underground
Much of it in Frank’s words, from his films and a 2021 livestream.
The Early Years
Before the Mines
Frank Schlichting was born in Canada to German parents. As a young man he rode a Harley up to Sandon, the old silver camp in the Kootenays, and the Noble Five mine there hooked him for good.
For a long time, work came first. He ranched thousands of acres in northern British Columbia and lived in Fort St. John, where he worked in the oil patch and trucked hay, cattle and oilfield loads into Grande Prairie. A ranch means animals to look after, and in all those years he could never get away in the summer.
“When I was working the oil patch, you had to be clean-shaven for the gas mask to fit on. So I figured I was getting paid to shave my beard off. Nobody’s paying me now, so I ain’t shaved it.”
He’s a pilot, too.
“Things happen pretty fast. When my dad was with me and we had to ditch in the ocean, he thought he was going to die. No, he was wrong. We didn’t die.”
2015
Phoenix
He moved to Grand Forks, in the Boundary Country, for the flying. From his plane he spotted Phoenix, a huge ghost town up in the hills with, by Frank’s count, about ten miles of tunnels.
That’s where he started exploring mines. In November 2015 he launched a YouTube channel to share what he found: Exploring Abandoned Mines.
“I like these big mines… Phoenix and Anyox, those ones. There’s so much cool stuff in there.”
2015–
Exploring Abandoned Mines
Over the next ten years Frank put out a new film nearly every week. He spent about five months in the mines of Arizona, and in Mexico he went into the centuries-old silver mines of Zacatecas, among the oldest he has been in. Comparing his channel with another explorer’s, he put it this way:
“Ours is more just about having fun and just getting into some real nasty places that nobody else would go into.”
He also took the crew of History’s Backroad Truckers underground, for an episode that aired in March 2021.
2021–2024
A Mine of His Own
Having a mine had always been Frank’s dream.
“I just love being underground so much. Wouldn’t it be cool to have your own mine?”
In 2021 he went back to the Yankee Boy, an old gold mine near Grand Forks. It was the fifth mine he ever explored, and one of the sketchiest: caved in, flooded, and passable for only about 400 feet. This time there were survey stakes on the land. The property was being divided up for sale, and Frank bought the piece with the mine on it.
“It was my dream to build a home here, and take people underground into my own mine in the backyard.”
There were no roads and no way into the mine. He put in roads, milled timber for new sets and hauled more than 3,500 ore-car loads out. On May 1, 2023, the Yankee Boy opened, with a museum at the portal and tours underground. About 2,000 people came through in each of its two seasons, from all over North America and as far away as Australia. The whole rebuild is told in The Yankee Boy Story →
One visitor had watched Frank’s films for years. He was very ill, and his last wish was to go into the mine. His friends lifted him into an ore car and pushed him all the way to the back.
“It was just such a privilege to… make some kind of a difference, or do something for someone like that.”
2025–
Down the Road
In May 2025, just before its third season, the mine was closed to everyone, Frank included. It hasn’t reopened, and the museum at the portal has closed too.
“It kind of breaks my heart, you know.”
For the first time in his life, his summers are his own. He has a new truck, a travel trailer and, in his words, his health.
“The one thing I’ve always looked forward to is getting in a travel trailer and going up the Arctic for a couple of weeks or a month, or going across Canada… and just getting away from all this.”
In 2026 he made it to a beach in Australia, and the films haven’t stopped. That September he released film #404, The Yankee Boy Story: the whole rebuild, told as it happened.
“So, maybe we’ll see you guys down the road.”
Frank, signing off in 2025