Revealing the Angel

Alpine climbers Graham Zimmerman and Scott Bennett traveled to the Revelation Mountains of the Western Alaska Range seeking big rock routes of stunning peaks.

The Revelations are a small sub-range, farthest western extent of the Alaska Range. The highest peak in the range is Mount Hesperus, 2,996 m. The granite peaks rise dramatically from the low glaciers. The first recorded visit to the range occurred in July, 1967 by David Roberts, mountaineer and author of The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative, and others. Roberts and his party achieved a few first ascents, and subsequently named the range and many of its notable peaks. In his American Alpine Journal article, Roberts recounts bad weather, including high winds that frequented the range, and also of challenging climbing conditions. The Roberts party spent 57 days in the range. The mountain range is rarely visited because of their poor conditions.

One of the most recent new routes was climbed in 2013 by Zimmerman and Bennett, the East Buttress of The Angel. The Angel was first climbed in 1985 via the Southeast Buttress route and then in April 2012 by Clint Helander and Ben Trocki up the South Ridge.

Canadians Kris Irwin, Ian Welsted, Darren Vonk and Mark Taylor will be visiting the Revelations this spring.

Sources: American Alpine Journal