Deadhorse, Alaska: A Whole Different World
Some of the work I do is in Deadhorse, Alaska, also known as Purdue Bay, the start of the trans-Alaskan pipeline. The picture above is the building I work in, giving “back to the office” a whole new meaning.
Deadhorse is a whole different world than anything most people ever see. It’s primarily made up of outposts, called “camps” owned by large businesses, and the vast majority of the people there work at those camps. Because it takes a long time to travel there, workers stay for 2–3 weeks (called hitches) and then have 2–3 weeks off. Because the environment is fragile and the weather can be brutal, the camps are buildings, or series of buildings, where the workers live and work without needing to go outside.
For the typical worker, a hitch entails living in a dorm-style set-up and working 12–15 hour shifts 7 days/week. That sounds like a lot, and it is, however, the culture here is more laid back than most you’ll find elsewhere. Things take as long as they take. No one is encouraged to rush as rushing leads to accidents and accidents are expensive.
Another thing that makes Deadhorse different is the land. There are no trees and most of the land when thawed, is swampy. However, true to form, it’s not a normal type of swampy; it’s tundra. Put on your imaginary rubber boots and we’ll take a short walk in the tundra. To describe this accurately, we’ll also need a 6-sided die. Roll the die and multiply the result by 2, then subtract 6. The result is how high the land is above the water in inches. Now roll again for each step. You can go from 6 inches above the water line to being 6 inches below it, and then to 3 inches above it again in 2 steps. If this sounds awkward and exhausting to walk on, you’ve got the picture.
Another reason you can get in trouble for wandering off the road is that it’s easy to get lost. While the visibility in the picture above is good, the frequent winds can reduce that visibility to zero in no time at all. Add to that the large spaces between buildings (those dark rectangles on the horizon are warehouse-sized buildings) difficult walking, lack of landmarks, and low temperatures and you can be lost and dead in no time.
One thing I enjoy when I’m up in Deadhorse is the wildlife viewing. I’ve seen a lot of foxes, caribou, rabbits, geese, swans (!), and even a bear once. If everyone lives and works inside, how do I see these? My “office” is actually a magnetic observatory that is a 45 min –1-hour drive away from camp along the spine road.
The spine road is a privately owned road that runs the length of the operations up there. It’s elevated 5–10 feet above the tundra. You need a special badge to be allowed to drive on that road, and if you don’t work for one of the companies with contracts to use the road, you can forget about driving on it at all. This sounds kind of crazy to most people, however, the operations there are where the oil enters the trans-Alaskan pipeline and thus could be a terrorist target, so security is important.
In addition to needing a badge to drive on the road, there are rules that drivers have to follow. The top speed allowed is 35 mph with slower speeds when passing pipeline crossings (25 mph) and people working (5 mph). In addition, everyone needs to wear safety glasses to drive. The road is gravel and fast-moving trucks throw stones (part of the reason behind the speed limit). These stones can break car windows and injure other drivers. Whole, unmarked windshields are few and far between.
In addition, animals have right of way. If a goose walks onto the road, you stop and wait for it to wander back off the road. To do otherwise would result in being fired from your job. Walking out on the tundra can also result in job loss. That sounds extreme, however, it’s not really. As I mentioned before, the environment is fragile, and much of the wildlife up there is protected. In addition, harassing wildlife and wandering off on the tundra is dangerous. No company up there wants a worker who takes unnecessary risks. Unnecessary risks lead to accidents.
Everything in Deadhorse either needs to be trucked or flown up there. Every building, every piece of equipment, every gallon of gas, every bag of chips. That means quantities and varieties are limited, and everything is very expensive.
The 2 biggest expenses for most people, food, and lodging, are included in an employee’s contract. While the 2/room dorm-style living can be tough, the food is usually good. Having good food has a big effect on morale and morale has a big effect on the quality of work done. Thus, the cook is one of the more important people in the camp. (I always put on 5 pounds when I travel up there for a few days. Steady access to cheesecake will do that.) There are no restaurants or private kitchens, so when I go up and stay at a hotel, meals are included there as well.
Though camp kitchens have set serving hours, food is available any time in the spike room. This is a room off the dining area where shelf-stable food such as bags of chips, cookies, granola bars, etc… is available. They also usually have refrigerators with food such as sandwiches, cut veggies, and entrées than can be heated up in microwaves.
Living and working in Deadhorse is very different than any other job you’ll ever have. However, if you can handle it, it can also be very rewarding, in experiences, money, and time off.