How many barrels of crude does it take to climb to the top?

Curious ARCO employee discovers how many barrels of crude oil are needed to outfit an expedition to summit Mount McKinley

Judy Patrick

Special to PNA

How many barrels of crude oil does it take to outfit five men to summit Mount McKinley? The answer, 50 barrels, says something about the number of things in use today that come from refinery products and, ultimately, from crude oil.

The question was recently posed by Bob Hempstead, an electronics technician for ARCO Alaska Inc. and veteran mountain climber, to Rick Stanley, plant engineer at ARCO Products in Anaheim, Calif.

Just how many barrels of oil, Hempstead asked Stanley, did it take to outfit Hempsteads five-man teams ascent of Mount McKinley in 1992?

Stanley’s answer was 50.05 barrels of crude oil.

Below are sample items from the list of equipment required for the climb, and the amount of crude oil required to produce each:

Partial list of Number of

gear required: barrels of oil to produce:

5 sleds 2.95 barrels

5 duffels 1.97 barrels

5 packs 5.66 barrels

5 stuff sacks 4.55 barrels

5 bivy bags 1.23 barrels

5 Therm-a-Rest pads 1.71 barrels

5 pairs boots AFS expedition

6.89 barrels

5 pairs overboots 1.72 barrels

5 sets of gaiters 0.86 barrels

5 mugs 0.31 barrels

5 water bottles (Poly) 0.49 barrels

5 tents (Moss) 2.36 barrels

5 ropes (9mm thick, 50 meters long) 2.35 barrels

5 Gore-Tex jackets 1.91 barrels

5 Gore-Tex bibs 1.91 barrels

5 fleece jackets 1.23 barrels

5 Capilene expedition-weight insulated underwear bottoms 0.68 barrels

5 Marmot down jackets 0.66 barrels

5 pairs socks (liners) 0.25 barrels

5 pairs ski goggles 0.31 barrels

In addition to climbing North Americas tallest peak, Hempstead says he has reached the summits of the highest peaks on several continents, including Africa and South America. His other pursuits include team-roping and mushing.

Eight years ago, I set a goal to climb the tallest mountain on each continent and perform a rope trick at the summit, Hempstead said. To date, I have successfully climbed and performed a rope trick on the summit of Mount Everest in Asia the highest mountain in the world; Mount McKinley in Alaska; Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, and Mount Aconcagua in South America.

Currently he is training a team of 12 dogs leased from Dean Osmar in Kasilof to run the Iditarod in 2000.

Hempstead has asked Stanley just how many barrels of crude it will take to drive that dog team to Nome.

Stay tuned!