Canadians’ Success in Alaska’s Revelation Mountains

Ian Welsted, Darren Vonk and Kris Irwin are back to Talkeetna, AK, after three weeks in the rarely-visited Revelation Mountains.

The John Lauchlan supported expedition to the Revelations which departed on April 1, returned successfully to Talkeetna on April 23.

The first recorded trip to the range was 1967 by David Roberts and party. The difficulty and expense of accessing the remote peaks have made climbers infrequent visitors, but a flurry of “recent” activity by Clint Helander and other Americans, international attention has grown.

Darren Vonk, Kris Irwin and Ian Welsted (the 2014 Piolets d’Or winner) have arrived on the Revelation Glacier for their three-week stay.

Mark Taylor, the fourth member of the team, could not go because of a recent broken back he suffered in the Ghost River Valley in Alberta, he is expected to make a full recovery.

Welsted, Vonk and Irwin climbed 65 pitches during their trip, including three first ascents. The granite is reported as granular with “interesting” protection.

The weather was relatively warm, one minus 35-degree snap kept things real. Ice was sparse but where there was ice it was “beautiful.” As more details become available, we will update the story.