Prospectors Peak (5516′) is one of the few named (on USGS map) summits in the Valdez, Alaska area Central Chugach. The more striking peak to its left (west), when viewed from the road system in the Valdez area, is unnamed as far as I know. As are the two higher and more prominent peaks to its right (east). These four 500’+ prominence peaks comprise what I refer to as the “Prospectors Massif.” The highest and most prominent peak of the massif is the one just right (east) of Prospectors when viewed from the road system: Peak 5706′ (Sourdough Peak). The second highest is 5600’+ Cheechako Peak, which is east of Sourdough. It’s debatable which peak is the third highest: Prospectors or its neighbor to the west: 5500’+ Siltstone Peak. The names of these peaks, other than Prospectors, are my own. Thus named in keeping with the mining theme.

In the first half to mid 1900s miners would walk from Old Town Valdez up to the historic Ramsey-Rutherford mining area via the Valdez Glacier. Back then, there wasn’t really a Valdez Glacier Lake, the glacier itself was miles longer and several hundred feet higher, and there was much less brush (due to the glacier being higher and this being a century earlier than now in terms of anthropogenic climate change impacts which has significantly increased lower elevation vegetation growth in this part of the Chugach).

All of this made accessing the alpine of the Ramsey-Rutherford area significantly less involved than it is today. That being said, those old miners were stout folk. Walking from Old Town, with heavy mining gear and uncomfortable (by today’s standards) clothing and footwear, was still not an easy proposition despite much easier access to the alpine than there is today.

Today, reaching this area entails paddling across the iceberg laden Valdez Glacier Lake: a maze of which varies in difficulty. On our paddle in, it was straightforward. But, after a few hot summer days, our exit was considerably more challenging as the glacier had calved off many tons (literally) of new icebergs.

The next step in the journey is hiking up the Valdez Glacier, which is relatively straightforward until reaching the NW corner of the Prospectors Massif (below Abercrombie Mountain) where the transition from glacier to land begins. The glacier here is very cracked up and, although just a short distance to navigate, it’s a challenging maze to get off the glacier proper.

Once off the blue ice of the glacier, the transition starts with a difficult scramble up ice slopes covered with boulders, talus, and scree. Objective danger is high here considering the unstable ground (both for footing and precariously situated rock). The next challenge is navigating from these ice-rock slopes to the solid ground of the rock slabs that provide passage to the alpine. These rock slabs require class 3-4 scrambling which would be outright dangerous if wet. While a route to the alpine can be pieced together without much, if any, bushwhacking the thick brush is difficult to avoid and bear density in the area is typical of Valdez: very high. Once above brush line, the difficultly of the final approach to the Ramsey-Rutherford area eases significantly to class 2-3 hiking.

The Ramsey-Rutherford historic mining area itself is pleasantly mellow tundra with some of the best camping and scenery in all of Alaska, if not the world. While most that choose to visit this area in the future will fly-in via helicopter, it is accessible from the road system. It’s as or more spectacular than any area I’ve been to in AK, including areas that are fly-in only like the Arrigetch Peaks in Gates of the Arctic National Park and any place in Wrangell-St. Elias or Lake Clark national parks.

In July 2022 my partner, Jess, and I spent four days and three nights accessing the Ramsey-Rutherford area from the road system and then climbing three of the four prominent summits of the Prospectors Massif (Siltstone, Prospectors, and Sourdough). In March 2023, I climbed (and skied) Cheechako Peak in a six hour day trip from the road system via Camicia Creek. As this is the most distant peak of the Prospectors Massif, this day trip was a clear testament as to how much faster and more efficient snowpack and skis can make backcountry travel in AK.

The first day of our July 2022 trip was spent on the approach to the Ramsey Rutherford area and setting up our base camp for the next couple days of climbing. The second day Jess and I climbed Prospectors via its west ridge. The final bit, from the false summit to the true summit, required a rappel and low 5th class climbing. We then continued along the 3rd-4th class ridge line to Sourdough.

From Sourdough, we descended the glacier to the NW (which is significantly crevassed and much of it above firn line – I took one partial fall into a superficially snow-covered crevasse where the NW face of Sourdough becomes less steep). We then traversed steep, and sometimes exposed, north facing slopes between 3000-3500′ back to our camp in the the Ramsey-Rutherford mining area.

The next day Jess hung out around camp while I climbed Siltstone, a third class scramble, via its east ridge. On day four we exited.

I had hoped the exit would be straightforward, given I’d dialed in a line from the alpine back to the Valdez Glacier that avoided any bushwhacking. We also had already done the paddle across the lake. However, straightforward was not to be the case.

We exited the alpine and made it back to the toe of the Valdez glacier cleanly and quickly but, after three days of mid-summer sun and heat the Glacier Lake was riddled with new icebergs big and small. The toe of the Valdez Glacier is very unstable in such conditions, a chunk of which collapsed while I was positioning our packrafts for entry. Luckily I had my PFD on so only got soaked from the waist down, but the water of this lake is COLD even on the hottest days of summer. What took us only about an hour to paddle on the way in, took us a few hours on the way out given how constricted of a maze the lake had become with new icebergs freshly calved off of the Valdez Glacier.

Finally, we made it back to the parking lot. Having completed an absolutely full-value Alaskan multi-sport adventure.