Revelations With Petzl Staff

Last month Petzl Technical Director Rick Vance and his climbing partner Chris Thomas made the first ascent of an Alaskan peak, survived Chinook winds, and invented a new drink.

Seraph Peak. Mandarin Mounty follows the obvious weakness in on the sunlit peak. Photo: Rick Vance

Mandarin Mounty (5.10 WI5+ A2, 2,300') crosses the East Face of Seraph peak (via the obvious line of weakness middle right) in the Revelations and is also the name for an enervating beverage consisting of warm Tang and Canadian whiskey. Last year Vance and his partner Chris Thomas received a Mug Stump grant to do exploratory climbing in Alaska’s Revelation mountains. Located on the western edge of the Alaska range the Revelations are known for their remoteness and inconsistent weather. Even as the pair were boarding a flight from their home in Utah to Anchorage word reached that another party in the range had spent the two weeks pinned in their basecamp by strong winds. Unperturbed, Vance and Thomas continued to Anchorage where they purchased supplies and waited for the weather to allow them to fly in.

Finally, on April 10th, the pair landed on the Revelation Glacier and began setting up their camp. Wind and snow kept their activity limited for their first few days so they spent the time scouting potential routes. Dry conditions meant that many of the ice lines they had hoped to climb were non-existent, and the duo were forced to continually reevaluate their objectives. Still when the weather cleared the pair left basecamp intent on a line of weakness visible on Seraph. After breaking trail through a hanging glacier, they climbed alpine snow and rimed rock only to find looming weather converging upon them. They retreated. The weather relented. The next day, under clear skies, they were able to retrace the trail they’d broken previously and quickly break into the technical pitches of the route. The crux came low with rotten ice directly off the belay into an aid crack followed by a granite offwidth. The climbing passed through steep snow, rotten-ice, vertical talus and kitty-litter into pitches of jammable, Sierra-style granite. Fifteen roped pitches placed the pair on the virgin summit of a peak first attempted in 1963.

Rick Vance leading through variable terrain on Mandarin Mounty. Photo: Chris Thomas

Then the winds came.

After making a safe descent, they experienced 35-40 hours of continual Chinook winds in excess of 90mph. Chinook, or katabatic, winds occur when wind drops vertically onto the ground from a mountain pass. These winds are feared by climbers and sailors, since their downward trajectory makes them nearly impossible escape. For nearly two days Rick and Chris faced each other in their tent, holding the tent frame as the winds first destroyed their snow walls than sandblasted off the waterproof coating of the tent. Venturing outside invariably saw the climbers thrown across the ice. When the wind finally calmed they took stock of their remaining supplies and began a 20 mile cross-country trek to a closed hunting lodge. With bear spray at the ready, in case the wolves following their tracks came too close, the pair finally reached the safety of walls and awaited the flight out. Of the experience Vance says, “The remoteness of the Revelations and their unpredictable weather made every aspect of this trip a great adventure. There’s a wealth of potential new routes and peaks left to climb in Revs for those willing to take their chances in the Alaska wilderness. I definitely plan to return someday.”

Rick Vance enjoying a calm moment before the cook tent was destroyed. Photo: Chris Thomas