Peeking Valley Recon

Ryan and I went on a reconaisance mission back to what is unoffically known as Peeking Valley. Everytime I go up Prudoe Bay road to find this trailhead I get lost, and Saturday morning proved no different. Eventually we found the pullout, put on our plastic boots, and followed a newly made road up into the valley.

Ryan Heading up the New Road to Ram Valley

We hiked up the road for about a mile and then we saw the opening to Peeking Valley and diverted left. Going straight at this point would take you up into Ram Valley.

Heading Up the Valley

The snowpack was hard and made traveling up the valley much easier than it could have been.

Walking Aroung Peak 5120

We were looking for a climb called Mongolian Barbeque that was rumored to be on the north side of peak 5120. I think that it may have been the thin smear stuck to this peak, but i could be wrong.

Two Potential Ice Lines

Hanging Dagger and Possible Mongolian Barbeque

A Closer View of Mongolian Barbeque?

This climb below was a much thicker flow of ice, but unfortunately came no where near touching the ground.

The Hanging Dagger

We stopped to enjoy a break in the sun before we headed into the shadow of the mountain and busted out the binoculars. Peeking mountain seemed to have a little somethings glistening in a couple of the couloirs so we decided to take a closer look.

Peeking Mountain

There seemed to be three seperate coulouirs with steps of ice anywhere from 30 feet maybe up to 200 feet long.

Mt. Raina

There was a super sweet looking couloir to ski coming down lookers left of the peak.

From our vantage point below Raina Peak we could see much better up the couloirs on Peeking and decided that we should probably go as close as we could to see how viable the ice was.

Just a Little Closer

Going up the Couloir

The Ice Line...Look Hard!

The air was dead calm and the dark rocks warm tucked up in the couloir. Ryan and I dug out a small ledge and had lunch. It must have been -20 in the shade down below, and I wanted to savor the sun before we went back down.

Our Sunny Ledge

Beautiful Views

View of Arctic Valley Mountain Base

Heading Down the Mountains

The snow pack in the couloir was like styrophome with a variable 2-3 inch wind slab. Kicking steps was a breeze. We were supposed to go back there today and climb it, but something else came up. But its up there for anyone who wants to get after it!