Revelation Mountains

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The Revelation Mountains are a small, rugged subrange of the Alaska Range in Alaska, United States. They mark the furthest western extent of the Alaska Range. They are little visited due to their great distance from any town and the poor weather conditions prevalent in the range. The highest peak in the range is Mount Hesperus (9,828 feet/2,996 m).

The Revelation Mountains are located approximately 140 miles (225 km) west-northwest of Anchorage, and approximately 130 miles (210 km) southwest of Mount McKinley. They are accessed by small plane; the closest airports to the range are near Anchorage and in Talkeetna, which is also approximately 130 miles (210 km) away. This makes access to the range very expensive; the weather also makes depending on plane transportation difficult.

The principal peaks of the Revelation Mountains are granite spires, rising out of relatively low-elevation glaciers, making for large vertical relief and challenging climbing despite the low absolute elevation of the peaks. Their names typically have some relationship to the Book of Revelations in the Bible. (See list below.)

The Revelations are drained on the northwest by the Big River, one branch of which flows from the Revelation Glacier, which is the main glacier of the core of the range. On the southwest they are drained by the Swift River, while the valleys of the southeast side feed the Stony River. The east and northeast slopes lead to the Hartman and South Fork Kuskokwim Rivers.

Much of the little climbing that has been done in the Revelations was done or inspired by the intrepid Fred Beckey. Author-mountaineer David Roberts was also an early visitor to the range.

[edit] Selected peaks in the Revelation Mountains

  • Mount Hesperus (9,828 feet/2,996 m)
  • The Apocalypse (9,345 feet/2,848 m)
  • The Angel (9,265 feet/2,824 m)
  • Mount Mausolus (9,170 feet/2,795 m)
  • The Four Horsemen (8,600 feet/2,621 m)
  • Golgotha
  • South Buttress
  • Babel Tower
  • P8351 (8,351 feet/2,545 m)

[edit] Sources

  • Michael Wood and Colby Coombs, Alaska: a climbing guide, The Mountaineers, 2001.
  • Revelation Mountains on Topozone
  • Stephen Spaulding, "Hesperus", American Alpine Journal 60 (Vol. 28), 1986.
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