ASIAN ALPINE E-NEWSIssue No. 52 June 2019

Contents
The 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Chinese Taipei
Mountaineering Association (CTMA)
Page 2 ~ 11Slovenian ascents in Alaska 2018

1Page 12 ~29

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Thomas Kaehr, UIAA Vice President (left)
Hank Hwang, President, Chinese Taipei Mountaineering Association (right)

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2019 UAAA アジア山岳連盟 Council Meeting at Taroko 太魯閣 on June 2 ~34

Robert Pettigrew (left) and Sheila Baker (right) from British Mountaineering Council=BMC

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Breathtaking National Park-Taroko Gorge 国園―太魯閣ゴルュ

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To 3200m peaks-------- There are 268 peaks exceeding 3,000m above sea level9High mountain azalea in full bloom at 3,000m
10Five new routes and three first ascents
Slovenians Svoljsak and Zupin in Alaska
In March and April 2019 Slovenian alpinists Janez Svoljsak and Miha Zupin
established five new routes and made three first ascents above Revelation glacier,Alaska.

Author: Manca Čujež

Revelation glacier, Alaska
Members: Janez Svoljsak and Miha Zupin; both Slovenians
Dates: Expedition time: 13. 3.-14. 3. 2019; Base camp time: 19 days 19. 3.-7. 4. 2019First ascent of the unclimbed mountain Wailing Wall(photo credit Miha Zupin)

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REPORT (by Janez Svoljsak)
Our table football skills started to improve when we finally heard "weather is good forflying, get ready". Beautiful views of Alaska range with Denali, Kichatna spires andmany more. First stop was Fish glacier where Dutch team exited. There was almost ameter of powder on a glacier and on a flight to our glacier we were worried of conditions
there.
First step on the Revelation glacier was a surprise, because there was no powder. We
were happy and started to prepare a base camp. Put up the tent, made a wall around it,
dug a toilet and kitchen hole was the work we had done the first afternoon. Next day we
decided to climb Pyramid Peak. Alarm clock woke us up. We had mixed feelings aboutclimbing due to strong wind. We decided to stay in base camp. When we got out of tent
we found that our kitchen is filled with snow. Digging out the food and improving thewall around the tent was our main work during that day. Strong wind made work
"enjoyable".

Four Horsemen East - first ascent by Miha Zupin and Janez Svoljsak (photo creditJanez Svoljsak)2

Next morning was the same, but we decided to go. We failed in the first pitch of Pyramid
Peak because blown snow in a corner. I saw a nice ridge to Four Horsemen East. A gully
led us to a col and then we followed the ridge. First pitch was a bouldery M6, with someloose blocks. Next pitches were easier, climbing left and right to find the way to the top.
Ridge traverse on the top was demanding due to strong wind that occasionally forced us
to crawl on our knees. We did one short rappel from the ridge and then climb to the top.
We descended to couloir between East and the highest peak. We were happy with aclimb, thinking about the dinner. Base camp reality was not nice. Collapsed wall,different shape of tent, covered with some snow. We worked during the night, with thewind that blew us down once. Luckily our tent poles were just bent not broken.
After a rest day, we went to Golgotha. The chimney system in the east face offered a stepand consistent climbing. Pitch nine was fully blown with snow that covered thin ice.
Battle with snow went well, but the last part was to bad to continue. We started torappel, the weather got worse and spindrifts made the descent demanding. We rested forthree days and then we went back to Golgotha. Easier line on the right side of east faceattracted our attention when we first saw it. 900 meters of snow, first half is more
"walking" than climbing. The upper part is steeper, with perfect snow conditions. We
belayed for three pitches. Clear sky on the top offered us an endless view to all
directions.We down climbed the existing route.

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In the new route Secret leading to the top of Wailing Wall (photo by Janez Svoljsak)
Two rest days and then it was climbing time again. We went to unnamed peak above
cirque at start of Revelation glacier. 700m face looked smaller from base camp. We
followed a corner with perfect snow and ice conditions. We climbed unroped for the first350m. The crux was a corner filled with narrow and thin ice. Route follows ice smear
through the big chimney under chockstone with overhanging exit. We followed the ridgeand climbed the top boulder. The descent follows the ridge and drops to a gully, right ofour route. Some climbing and rappelling to reach the glacier.
The weather forecast was good, so after a rest day we went down the glacier to climb theline that we checked few days before. Route follows the gully on north-west face of
Apocalypse North. After 300m up to 80° we reached a vertical, dry and loose corner. We
climbed left of it. First pitch was thin ice, hard to protect. Next pitches had perfectconditions up to 85° and one pitch M6. We reached the gully and follow it for 300m. We
did not know the upper part because it was covered with clouds on the observation day.
Climbing above the gully was sketchy, with thin ice and unconsolidated snow covering
the rock. To reach the ridge there was still 200m of slope with rock band at the top. We
found an easy passage between the rocks and then followed the ridge to the top. We did
not want to descent by the route we climbed, because steep unconsolidated snow and4

rock was hard to protect. We tried to follow the ridge to the north-east, the cornices madeit impossible to pass and reach the col, where we could descent back to Revelation glacier.
We climb down the east face, made 2 rappels and reached the west fork of The Big River
Glacier. We did not know if it is possible to reach the col from east side, so we were very
happy when we saw a snow gully to the col. Next days were colder and windier so threerest days felt good.

First ascent - Apocalypse North (photo by Miha Zupin)
We started to plan our departure but we decided to climb one line on Seraph before wego. The gully is obvious, left of the French line from last year. First 300m were easierthan they looked. We reached a chockstone and steep chimney with blown snow. We
started to belay. It was not easy to clean the snow. climbing was enjoyable for the second
climber but an overhanging exit did not make it easy. Next pitch was easier with a steepbouldery problem. We found two anchors for rappels. We were standing below thechimney that was not seen from the ground, first part was narrow with ice and the exit
was, again, blown with snow. First part was really nice to climb, sometimes, there wasno space to swing an axe. The second part was worse then the first pitch. It took me awhile to remove all the snow. The crux was thin ice followed by an overhang and mycompetition experience were very useful. We coiled the rope after an easier pitch and5

followed easier terrain to the top. I discovered two crevasses on the ridge. Descent
followed to the east and then to the gully, which led us back to the base of the route.
Weather the next day did not allow a flight and on Sunday morning we packed up ourequipment and flew to Talkeetna.

Zupin and Svoljsak in the Slovenian Route in Apocalypse North (photo by Janez
Svoljsak and Miha Zupin)First ascents:
21. 3. Four Horsemen East (2600m): East ridge, M6/M4, 50°-70°, A1, 600m, 7h; FA ofunclimbed mountain27. 3. Golgotha: Father, Ai5, 50°-70°, 900m, 6h
30. 3. Wailing Wall (2450m): Secret, Ai6/Ai4+, 750m, 7.5h; FA of unclimbed mountain
1. 4. Apocalypse North (2750m): Slovenian route, Ai4+ R, M6, 50°-80°, 1300m, 8.5h; FAof unclimbed mountain
5. 4. Seraph (2650m): The Last Supper for snow strugglers, M7/M4-5, 50°-80°, 700m, 7h

6Attempts:
21. 3. Pyramid Peak: West face
23. 3. Golgotha: East face

Gallery

Janez Svoljšak

Base Camp7

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