Prudhoe Bay

Ice Road Trucking on Alaska's North Slope
Ask any Alaskan trucker: There's not a tougher, riskier drive out there than the one you must make to reach North America's biggest oil field. In order to reach the oil-rich region around Prudhoe Bay in the North Slope of Alaska, truckers hauling heavy loads for Carlile Transportation (among other companies) must first travel north from Fairbanks along the treacherous Dalton Highway for more than 400 miles. And that's just the beginning--once the truckers reach the end of the highway in Deadhorse, they must then embark on one of a network of ice roads that connect Deadhorse with the far-flung oil fields west and east of Prudhoe Bay.

North Slope ice roads are built during the winter months, when temperatures drop to 20 degrees below zero or less. They crisscross the tundra, following river systems such as the Colville and crossing frozen expanses of the Beaufort Sea. Trucks loaded with various supplies--from construction materials to steel pipes to drilling rigs--begin leaving Deadhorse in the early morning at a rate of nearly one per hour. Drivers and workers loading the trucks dress in layers of heavily padded clothing and safety gear, including facemasks, helmets and glasses; they spend as little time as possible outside.

For up to two months of the winter--from late November to mid-January--much of the region above the Arctic Circle is in darkness or dusk 24 hours a day. In March (generally conceded to be the worst month for weather in the region), temperatures of minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit and below can combine with 15-mile-per-hour winds, thick fog and blowing snow, drastically reducing visibility on the frozen roads. Aside from the weather, inexperienced drivers can prove the biggest threat to safety: One stalled truck can back up traffic for miles, a delay that can prove to be deadly in the frigid temperatures. Despite the risks, the ice roads serve as a critical winter lifeline for the oil fields and camps of Prudhoe Bay, linking them to Fairbanks and the world beyond.

North America's Biggest Oil Field
Sitting 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, 400 miles north of Fairbanks and 650 miles north of Anchorage, the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska is home to the largest oil field in North America. ARCO and Exxon first discovered oil in the region in March 1968, drilling the Prudhoe Bay State No. 1 well; BP Exploration drilled a confirmation well in 1969. Over the next eight years, the three companies worked to delineate the region and set up an infrastructure, and Prudhoe Bay came "on stream" in June 1977. In 1979, production at the field reached a maximum rate of 1.5 million barrels per day. By 2006, more than 10 billion barrels of oil had been produced at Prudhoe Bay.

The Northernmost Truck Stop in America
Located at Mile 175 of the James B. Dalton Highway (also known as the North Slope Haul Road), Coldfoot began as the Slate Creek settlement around 1898. When a group of gold prospectors changed their minds about spending the winter in the region, the settlement was renamed for their "cold feet." By 1912, most of the gold miners had moved north to Wiseman, and Coldfoot was little more than a ghost town. It came back to life somewhat in the early 1970s, during the construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. In 1981, Dick Mackey (winner of the 1978 Iditarod sled dog race) started selling hamburgers out of an old school bus to the truckers who passed through Coldfoot along the Dalton Highway. As a near-halfway point between the highway's starting point north of Fairbanks and its end in Deadhorse, Coldfoot (pop.13) is now many truckers' preferred spot for rest and refueling.