Entries By pete van deventer

It was still pretty clear that we were going to sit today, the winds were ripping around up high like a school of minnows, darting in all directions. Camp, however, had finally calmed, the snow had stopped, and it was shaping up to be a sunny day. The sun eventually evaded the clouds up high and broke free thawing our tents and bodies. The rest of the day we stored up heat in our body batteries, basked in that orange orb, and rested. The forecast is looking better going forward, so we hope to be taking the next steps in the next few days. Until then, we'll continue basking in our high altitude solarium.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 - 6:55 pm PT

It's been a stormy rest day at 14,000' Camp. Early this morning, things were calm in camp and relatively clear. We could hear the wind above at 17,000', and large cloud banks seemed to hang all around. There was a large wall of white to the south of us, and by the middle of brunch, that had overtaken camp. We had little visibility and snow fell lightly. As the day went on, the wind direction moved just enough to subject us to it's gusts. The tents shake, spindrift is invading through any opening it can find, and snow continues to fall, harder now, drumming on the tents when the wind isn't shaking them. It has been a perfect day to stay deep in the sleeping bags, napping reading, snacking, playing cards, and venturing out occasionally to fortify our compound with walls cut from snow blocks. We are snug and riding it out. More tomorrow.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Monday, May 20, 2024 - 11:30 pm PT

At 6am, 14,000' Camp is a cold, quiet place as everyone tries to stay deep in their sleeping bags. It was also gorgeous this morning, so we rallied everybody and headed uphill towards the mythical fixed lines well before sun hit camp. It was a chilly start, but gave us the advantage of being among the first teams headed up. We clipped in and started up and that walk made us work today. Much of the ascent was steep, blue ice with little in the way of texture or foot holds in it. But we not only persevered, we cruised up quite smoothly. We then traversed the West Buttress, admiring the views and seeing 14,000' Camp well below. It was a perfect day for climbing and we took it all the way to 17,000' Camp, where we dug a hole to hide our goodies, and then headed back for our cozy home. The fixed lines were quite blue on the way down too, burning calves and feet, but soon we were past and stepped back into the sunlight of camp. It was a great effort from everybody, and tomorrow we plan to rest.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Sunday, May 19, 2024 - 10:59 pm PT

This morning every peak around us, including Denali, was wearing a funny cloud hat - lenticular clouds and a sign of high winds. It made the decision pretty clear: we would rest at 14,000' Camp today. We did all of our usual rest day things and watched as camp was engulfed by a calm, white cloud, before it started to snow lightly. Despite all that, the tents were catching quite a bit of solar radiation and it was quite warm and comfy inside. We made a decent start at building snow walls to protect camp should the weather turn worse. The forecast sounds decent tomorrow, so we are hoping for weather in the morning that let's us carry to 17,000'.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Saturday, May 18, 2024 - 10:35 pm PT

Everyone seemed to agree that last night was one of the best nights of sleep they've had. Something about a big day, hard work building camp, and the impetus to climb deep inside your bag to hide from the cold at 14,000' made for a good night. We let sun hit the tents and warm things before rousing for breakfast, then strolled back to our cache at 13,500' to retreive the rest of our food and belongings. It was a good active rest mission, stretch the legs but not work too hard. An afternoon of naps and snacks led to a quick fixed line refresher before dinner. We're happily settled in at 14,000' now with all of our stuff and looking for the next opportunity to head up for a trip along the West Buttress to 17,000' camp. That day will be another carry and cache, but we are getting closer to the goal. Everyone is psyched to be up at 14,000' where the living is good and the views endless. We'll touch base tomorrow.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

May 17, 2024 11:54PM PT

Today was super successful. Things were quite warm at camp and looked enticing enough to rouse everyone and start making preparations to leave.
Excitement was in the air as everyone in camp had similar thoughts - whether they were carrying or moving. Teams filtered out of camp uphill, and we made final adjustments, and then shouldered packs and headed up Motorcycle Hill. 
We moved really well - caught a little breeze over the top of squirrel, then kept swinging along the polo field. It was a bit chilly again around Windy Corner, but the wind died on the other side and the oven turned on and we started pulling off layers. 
We cruised into camp and set about building our home for the next several days tough work at 14,200’. Everybody is now recovering horizontally. 
Tomorrow should be a much easier day, dropping back down to grab our cache and returning to camp with all our treasures. 

Pete

Thursday, May 16, 2024

The moment we got out of the tents, it was pretty clear we were going to rest in camp today. Gusts of wind were rolling through camp at irregular intervals, shaking the tents in waves across camp. It wasn't particularly strong, just really noisy. Above, however, it was clear that the wind was much stronger, clouds flew by, and a lenticular hovered over the West Buttress. Below, clouds were thick on the Kahiltna as well. So, we lingered over breakfast, then retreated to the tents for reading, napping, and movie time. It was good timing for a rest day for us anyways.

We'll take a look at it tomorrow and see how we go.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer & Team

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - 11:01 pm PT

We'd like to start today's blog with a special hello from Jackson to Grandma Carol.

Things looked perfect when we first got out of the tents this morning to carry up towards 14,000'. As we exited the cooktent though the winds had started to crank up high, sending lines of snow skyward. We slowly packed, staring uphill trying to make up our minds. After an hour or two the plumes got smaller, and winds seemed to be calming, so we went for it. Turned out well for us. We had at most light breezes all day, and cruised around Windy Corner to the cache spot, deposited our loads of food and accessories, and cruised back to camp, light as a feather. It was a good days work. We're going to look for our best opportunity to move to 14,000' Camp, weather permitting and that will be the next big step. Maybe tomorrow, maybe after. As with all things, we'll see.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 7:47 pm PT

We had a stellar day of rest and recovery today at 11,000' Camp. The skies were blue as could be and camp was calm and warm. We waited to leave tents until the sun hit, and lingered over blueberry pancakes and coffee. The midday was time for naps, movies, wet wipe baths, fresh clothes, etc. Then we did a quick hour long practice session of cramponing, arrest, and rope travel practice, before a couple more hours of lounging. We're now properly setup for a carry around Windy Corner tomorrow. Ever higher we go!

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

With today's move to 11,000' complete, we are done pulling sleds uphill, and are retiring the snowshoes until we come down! There was much celebrating. It was sunny in camp this morning and we let that dry tents and sleeping bags for a bit, then pulled it all down, packed it all up, and started walking back up Ski Hill. It was an incredibly pleasant day and we trundled along to 11,000' in good time. The team is clicking at getting stuff done, and tents were up in no time. Good thing to, as a big black wall approached from the west and enveloped us in fat snow flakes. It's incredibly calm, but we are building an inch or so of snow an hour, falling quietly, straight down. At another time of year it would evoke holidays, wood stoves, and cozy winter vibes, but right now it's making summer feel quite far away. Our intention is to take a rest day tomorrow at 11, refresh some climbing skills for the terrain above, and get ready to cache higher the next day.

RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer