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Penguin Peak
by Jim Pommert, Scree 5/85
April 20, 1985. With a light snow falling, six members of the MCA started up toward the avalanche gully on the west side of Penguin Peak. This winter's avalanches had not deposited nearly as much snow as last year's had. That left most of us with a longer slog through snow which had almost enough crust to support us.
Five of us post holed through the snow while Mike Reese thought light thoughts as he walked on the crust up ahead. With dieting firmly in mind we reached the avalanche debris and solid footing. The clouds overhead obscured the mountain ahead of us but the route simply follows the gully.
We headed up thru the lower bowl and then the upper bowl below the false summit. Snow in the bowls was soft so, with an eye out for avalanches, we headed up to the ridge overlooking the Seward Highway. Jim Hill and I stopped for a break here to enjoy the view down to the highway. Mike, Don Hanson, Keith Diehl and Tom Macchia continued on to a break near the large reflector, where we joined them. After kicking steps up and over the false summit, we traversed the last quarter mile along the corniced ridge to the summit. Despite wind and blowing snow we spent well over a minute on top before reluctantly turning around to head back down. Additional interest on the trip down was provided just below the summit.
Although the wind and snow had reduced visibility, everyone heard the "whoomp" and then watched as the whole slope starting only 30 feet below us fractured into a slab avalanche. As we all quickly tried to think stationary thoughts, the slab broke up and disappeared down into the clouds with increasing speed toward the Seward Highway.
Plans to glissade the lower slope were generally abandoned. The trip up had taken 4.5 hours, but we arrived back at the road 2 hours after leaving the 4305 foot summit.
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