Michael Barker / @cfbcampustour
Powerhouse Barrow High School in Alaska plays a high school football game on its famed blue field.
The early weeks of the high school football season across the U.S. is notorious for players cramping as they deal with extreme heat, particularly in the south.
Meanwhile, the Barrow Whalers, an Alaska powerhouse that has reached the state finals four times since being founded in 2006, are dealing with far different conditions as they look to build on a 2-0 start to the season.
The Whalers, who play in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, were made famous on the show Football Town: Barrow, Alaska on NFL Network and were recently featured by Michael Barker on his social media accounts.
Drone shots of Cathy Parker Field 📸
📍 Utqiagvik, Alaska pic.twitter.com/cLDCBnIi7M
— College Football Campus Tour (@cfbcampustour) August 15, 2025
The Barrow High School Whalers Are Already Practicing In The Snow
While a Sept. 1 practice for most schools, particularly those in powerhouse states like Florida and Texas, may mean fighting with 90- and even 100-degree temperatures, things are just a little different up in Utqiaġvik.
Coach Chris Battle took to social media earlier this week to post a video from Barrow’s practice, which took place in the middle of a snow squall with the wind whipping!
Barrow whalers practice in crazy weather. Grind til ya shine! pic.twitter.com/6slNw3mgM4
— Chris Battle (@CoachCBattle) September 2, 2026
Talk about building toughness.
But the Whalers have to get their practices (and games) in now! Come November, the town will enter what’s called a Polar Night, which means a period of around two months when residents will not see the sun. In fact, Utqiagvik sits 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Clearly, the difficult practices are working. Barrow is 2-0 on the young season with a 40-22 win over Homer and a 48-12 blowout victory over Houston.
The Whalers are ranked No. 9 in Alaska according to MaxPreps and are hoping to win a second state title to add to the one they won in 2017.