Revelation Mountains
Carl R. Battreall
Written for The Summit Journal

My heart sank as we approached the lake, it was frozen, in the back of my mind I knew it would be. It had been a cold spring and the snow and ice in the mountains lingered, but it was June 1st, so I was entertaining some hopes. We flew over alternative lakes that might have possibilities for landing. One lake had a long skinny stretch of open water that reached to the shore. Our pilot, Glen Alsworth Jr., third generation of legendary Alaskan bush pilots, did circles around the lake. It looked too shallow to me; I could see the bottom through the delicate blue water. But Glen reminded me as we descended to the lake that we only needed twenty four inches of water to land.
 
I have always dreamt of a trip to the Revelation Mountains.  They are one of those places that few have heard of and even fewer have seen.  Remote and isolated, they are an elusive group of granite spires that conjure up great visions of adventure.  Once discovered on a map, their draw becomes too powerful for an explorer to resist.

Some of the biggest names of exploratory climbing have been attracted by these mysterious mountains which boast 34 peaks over 8,000 feet and 12 over 9,000 feet.  In July, 1967, the first climbing expedition, led by famed climber/writer David Roberts, landed on a long skinny glacier, in the heart of the large peaks. The this group of exploratory climbers, consisting of  David Roberts, Matt Hale, Ned Fletcher, Art Davidson and George and Rick Millikan, spent over a month getting hammered by the weather, making numerous, failed summit attempts and hanging out in their tents. They were successful in summiting many of the smaller mountains but were only successful in summiting one of the larger peaks, the South Buttress, 9350 feet, its only known ascent.
 
The majority of the higher peaks have only had one documented ascent. Mount Hesperus, 9828 feet, the highest peak in the area, was finally summited in 1985 by Karl Swanson, Justin Lesuer and Stephen Spalding, it has seen only one other ascent since. Many of the named peaks have no recorded ascents. The Babel Tower and Golgotha both remain virgins along with hundreds of unnamed peaks.

In 1956, the first reference to the Book of Revelations was made when Babel Creek and Babel Tower were named. The creek was named Babel because of the “confusion of tongues” between the state authorities who couldn’t agree on where the creek exactly was. Roberts and crew continued the Revelation theme when they named the Range and many of the peaks. Other expeditions into the Range have also continued the biblical theme.

We spent eleven days exploring the southern most side of the Revelations. Here the mighty peaks blast from the tundra into the sky, offering some of the largest vertical gain of any granite peaks in Alaska. None of the large peaks that create the enormous south-west wall of rock and ice have been climbed from the south. All attempts on these peaks have been made from the more gradual north side, with most parties landing on the Revelation Glacier. Though no recorded climbing expeditions have attempted the peaks from the southern side, the area has been visited by a handful of explorers and backpackers, along with big game hunters.

At one time the Revelation Mountains was the secret paradise for the trophy hunter. The largest moose, sheep, caribou and bears were reported to come from here. But those glory days have past as many of the large game animals have been killed off. In order to combat the decline, many of the local hunting guides have formed an alliance, vowing to not lead caribou trips in to the area do to lack of large males. We saw no signs of sheep and no large male caribou. We were out of moose terrain most of the time, though rumors say that there are still big moose in the lower plains of bogs and lakes and in the adjacent Lime Hills.

The mountains attempted to live up to their notorious reputation for bad weather. The wind was relentless for the entire eleven days. The temperatures often dipped below freezing at night and new snow was frequently spotted on the summits. This weather was fine for us, since we were not attempting any significant summits, but I witnessed few opportunities for climbing on the big mountains which seemed to be constantly getting punished by wind, snow and rain.

If you are planning a trip into the southern section of the Revelations, either to climb or explore, be wary of the available maps. It appears the Babel Tower’s powers of confusion affected the creation of the USGS topographical maps of the area. Many of the peaks are mislabeled and there are some unmistakable geological features that are missing or are on the wrong peaks! The most obvious is the beautiful hanging glacier that descends from the summit of the South Buttress all the way down the South Face to the bottom. You can see this undeniable feature from miles away and yet, it’s not on the map. There is a similar feature on a nearby peak that doesn’t have such a feature, so either that glacier has melted away (possible) or it should be on the South Buttress instead. The only other explanation for the hanging glacier not being on the map is if the glacier just formed in the last fifty years, yeah right.

The Revelation Mountains are not the only mountains in the southern Alaska Range. The mighty Tordrillos, Hidden Mountains, Neacolas and numerous other small, nameless chains of peaks make up the southern end of the Alaska Range where it collides with northern end of the Aleutian Range. My sojourns in the Revelations and other sections of the southern Alaska Range have been great experiences. I don’t set rigid goals when I explore, I let the weather, terrain and being a photographer, the light, dictate where I go. If the right combination encourages a bid on a virgin summit, I’ll climb. But if the combination means following a nameless creek to its source, then I will oblige.
 
As the ego motivated climbers crowd the flanks of Denali and the other famous peaks in the central Alaska Range, the southern Alaska Range remains a quiet place for a mountaineer to truly test his skills and to learn about himself. We must do what we can to insure that places like the Revelations, remain a mystery, a drawl for those in search for the lessons that only the remote, uncrowded wilderness can teach.