B737-300 CREW HAD AN EGPWS TERRAIN WARNING GO OFF OVER PEAVINE PEAK ON THE SPARKS VISUAL AT RNO.

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WE WERE 1 NM W OF PEAVINE PEAK DSNDING OUT OF 10000 FT FOR 9500 FT WHEN I ASKED RNO APCH IF THAT WAS PEAVINE PEAK AT OUR 12 O'CLOCK POS. THEY CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS AND CLRED US FOR THE SPARKS VISUAL RWY 16R APCH. WE CONTINUED THE DSCNT TO 9500 FT WHILE SLOWING TO 210 KTS; SELECTING FLAPS 5 DEGS; AND LOWERING THE GEAR. AS WE PASSED SLIGHTLY S AND CLR OF PEAVINE PEAK; WE GOT A MOMENTARY GND PROX CAUTION/ALERT OF 'TERRAIN; TERRAIN' IN WHICH WE FOLLOWED COMPANY PROCS AND STARTED THE RECOVERY PROC. JUST AS WE BEGAN OUR RECOVERY; THE GPWS STOPPED. IT ONLY SOUNDED THAT ONE TIME AND SINCE WE HAD BEEN OPERATING IN SOLID VFR CONDITIONS FOR THE LAST 10 MI OR SO AND CLRLY HAD THE ARPT; AND ALL TERRAIN IN CLR VIEW DURING THIS TIME; I ELECTED TO RE-ESTABLISH THE VISUAL APCH AND CONTINUE TO LNDG. MY FO AND I TALKED ABOUT THE EVENT AFTER LNDG AND WERE A LITTLE MYSTIFIED AS TO WHY THE GPWS HAD GIVEN US A WARNING. WE BOTH AGREED THAT WE WERE WELL CLR OF ANY OBSTRUCTIONS BUT IT SILL WENT OFF. MY ONLY THOUGHT IN THIS MATTER IS THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO BE TOO HIGH; SO I STARTED CONFIGURING THE ACFT JUST W OF PEAVINE PEAK WITH THE GEAR AND FLAPS 5 DEGS OUT AND DSNDING TO 9500 FT; IT MAY HAVE THOUGHT WE WERE NOT IN THE PROPER LNDG CONFIGN SINCE WE WERE PASSING OVER THE PEAK AT THAT TIME. NORMALLY; I HAVE FLAPS 5 DEGS OUT; BUT IN THIS CASE I WANTED TO HAVE THE GEAR OUT ALSO SINCE WE SHOWED A PRETTY GOOD WIND OUT OF THE N THAT WOULD HAVE GIVEN US A TAILWIND ON THE APCH UNTIL WE WOULD LOSE IT ON SHORT FINAL. THIS MAY HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WARNING; BUT IN ANY EVENT; WE HAD EVERYTHING IN CLR VIEW AND HAD ACTUALLY PASSED PEAVINE PEAK WHEN THIS TOOK PLACE. AS ALWAYS; I WILL STRIVE TO STAY HEADS UP WHILE FLYING IN AND OUT OF ARPTS WITH HIGH TERRAIN. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 637655: WE HAD CONFIGURED THE ACFT EARLIER IN THE DSCNT AND WERE ESTABLISHED ON A GOOD PROFILE FOR THE ARR WITH GEAR DOWN; FLAPS AT 5 DEGS AND VVI AROUND 1200-1400 FPM. WITH BOTH PF AND PLT MONITORING VISUAL WITH THE GND; AND THE HIGHEST TERRAIN BEHIND THE ACFT; THE WARNING WAS CERTAINLY A SURPRISE. OBVIOUSLY THOUGH A PARAMETER IN THE GPWS FOR DSCNT RATE AND HT ABOVE GND WAS MET; ALBEIT MOMENTARILY. ADDITIONALLY; TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE AND FURTHER ENHANCE SAFETY; WE PLAN TO INCLUDE IN OUR FUTURE RNO ARR BRIEFINGS A PLANNED MINIMUM ALT AND MAX DSCNT RATE TO FLY OVER PEAVINE PEAK. FINALLY; WE SUGGEST CONSIDERATION BE GIVEN TO MODIFYING THE PUBLISHED GND TRACK FOR THE SPARKS VISUAL ARR. RATHER THAN FLYING DIRECTLY OVER THE RAPIDLY RISING TERRAIN OF PEAVINE PEAK ITSELF; AN OFFSET TO THE N WOULD ALLOW SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER GND CLRNC.