Entries By pete van deventer

We saw the sun on day one and haven't really seen it since. The trend of southern flow pushing moisture our way continues, and it snowed off and on all day. While climbing on bright, bluebird days is nice, it really doesn't get much better than conditions today. While we couldn't see a lot, there was very little wind on a piece of the mountain that is known for wind, the clouds and snow kept the temps pleasantly cool, and the fresh snow has set up creating great cramponing conditions. We cruised out of camp a bit after the main rush, which kept us out of traffic all day. A few smooth stretches later, we rounded Windy Corner and reached our cache site. All told, the day was really smooth and pleasant, and we're feeling really good about getting a big chunk of weight uphill. On the docket for tomorrow is done hard chilling time, nap competitions, and general self care before we look to move to 14. RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jenny Konway, Jess Matthews and Team

May 19, 2017 Light snow overnight made everything quiet and still this morning. Camp was sleepy, as it seems everyone took the opportunity to sleep in. We munched our way through a big brunch of hash browns and eggs, and then trotted back downhill under empty packs to grab our cache. That short trip left plenty of time for naps and some chilling time this afternoon before a quick climbing skills refresher to get ready for tomorrow. We intend to trade sleds and snowshoes for crampons tomorrow and get our cache up to Windy Corner. We'll see if the weather let's us. RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

On The Map

May 17, 2017 We're done with the Kahiltna for now! It's been snowing lightly all day and for most of the day it was hard to tell where the ground ended and the sky began, but we had a good gps track to follow and we plugged our way along. The wind was moving snow around as we got close to Kahiltna Pass, making for some tough trail breaking. With all of that the team did great, hanging tough through a hard day and then rallying and buffing out a nice new abode at 11,000' Camp once we arrived. We've been going hard for three days now, and it's time to spend some time recovering from our big loads, sleds, blisters, etc, while we acclimate and get strong here. Our plan is to make the short jaunt back to our cache tomorrow to retrieve it. Some time in the tents chilling is in order too. RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Jenny and team

On The Map

We woke in the shadow of Denali, but the skies were clear and promised sun. Bagels and lox got everything started, and since the sun was shining we made hay. We grabbed 34 bags of food, 17 days worth, and a bunch of gas and moved it all uphill to 10,600 or so, just below 11,000' Camp. The loads were heavy and Ski Hill made us work for it, but compared to yesterday, the loads didn't even compare. Today's work set us up well to move to our 11,000' Camp with reasonable loads and establish our new home! 7,600' Camp has been fun, but we are ready to move on. Loaded quesadillas for dinner have us feeling the oncoming food coma, so for now, over and out from the Kahiltna glacier. RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Jenny, and the team

On The Map

May 15, 2017 This morning, the team arose bright and early with the sun to enjoy a nice, hot breakfast before packing up camp for the move to Camp two, at roughly 7,600 feet. After rigging our sleds and burying our cache, we started our long walk up the Kahiltna Glacier. The team did great and after only five short hours, we pulled into camp, tired but excited. Another hour or so later and camp was built. The team took a well deserved rest before joining the guides in the cook tent for dinner and dessert. Everyone's all tucked into their tents for the night now, resting up for tomorrow's carry to cache supplies up higher on the mountain. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy more sunshine tomorrow! Thanks for following along, RMI Guides Jenny, Jess, Pete and the team

On The Map

May 14, 2017 It took some patience, but we made it onto the glacier! The clouds hung low this morning and took their time lifting. In the meantime the webcam at Kahiltna Base Camp showed bluebird skies and a beautiful day. It's hard to wait patiently to start something that we've been building towards for so long, but it paid off. At 3:00 pm or so we got the green light to fly and we were off. The pilots at K2 Aviation are the best and we had a smooth ride into Base Camp with our noses pressed to the windows ogling the steep spires and knife ridges of the Alaska Range. With the late departure we decided to spend the night at Base Camp and get things sorted for the walk to Ski Hill tomorrow. So we're headed to bed, excited to finally start moving towards our objective tomorrow. We send our best from the land of the midnight sun, RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Jess Matthews, Jenny Konway, and team

On The Map

May 14, 2017 - 9:35 am PT The May 12th Denali Team is loaded and ready to climb. We spent yesterday in town packing, repacking, sorting food, and enjoying the Talkeetna restaurant scene. Our bags are weighed, sorted, and now we just need weather to fly. Rain moved in overnight, but the news this morning is that weather in the range is good, so once things clear out here, we should be ready to launch for base camp. Hopefully that's sooner than later. We'll give another shout this evening and let everyone know how it went. RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led Pete Van Deventer and Mike King, is back at Camp Muir after turning on the upper mountain due to route and avalanche conditions. They encountered snow up to waist deep, providing poor footing on exposed slopes. The weather reported from Camp Muir is clear, calm, and cold. The teams will depart for Paradise soon.

The Four Day Summit Climb August 20 - 23, 2016 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Pete Van Deventer were approaching the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 7 am. Pete reported that it is a gorgeous day with 10 mph winds and chilly temperatures. The teams will enjoy the views and take some photos before starting their descent. Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!

Our Elbrus Northside trip concluded in one of my favorite towns to visit in Europe, St. Petersburg. Finally sleeping in to a leisurely hour, we met our tour guide and bus at 10 am and departed on a circuitous path through the history filled city to see the sites. St. Petersburg is home to some of the more stunning cathedrals in Russia, and those were a primary focus of the tour, passing by the Church of our Savior on the Spilled Blood, St. Nicholas’ Cathedral (a cathedral dedicated to the Saint of travel and maritime navigation, which is of huge significance in a city founded to be the maritime capitol of Russia, and the home of it’s navy), and St. Issac’s Cathedral. The massive scale of St. Issac’s is something to behold, and on one side, its huge columns still bare the scars left from mortar and artillery shells fired at the city during its 600-day siege in World War II. We also passed the warship that fired the symbolic first shot that began the Bolshevik takeover of Russia’s government, and found ourselves finally at the Hermitage. The Hermitage is comprised of the former winter palace of the Romanov dynasty, as well as several buildings that were added on later by different emperors and empresses, and is home to an art collection in excess of 2.7 million pieces. Our guide spent an hour taking us through the buildings, pointing out some highlights, a Michelangelo, two paintings by DaVinci, and several by Rembrandt. After the hour, our tour guide released us to wander through the stunning rooms ourselves at our own pace. That evening we regrouped for a canal boat tour, beginning on the river Nevski, which runs through the heart of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the days of recent rain (many of which we had experienced!), had swollen the rivers and canals, so that the boat was unable to make its way through the usual circuit of canals that run through the heart of the city, as the passages under the bridges were too low, but we still were able to see the summer gardens and several more palaces from the unique perspective of the canal. That led us to our final dinner as a group. The Jerome presented the perfect destination, and when the chef came out to show us the special — a beautifully marbled cut of local prime rib weighing almost a kg, everyone was sold. Delicious local beef, and several bottles of Spanish Rioja provided the perfect ending celebration to a really special trip that everyone enjoyed. We were sad to part ways the following morning, some of us very early, for flights back to the US. This was a special group of climbers to work with, and JM and I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and incredible perseverance and positive attitudes. We look forward to running into everyone in the mountains again soon, and thanks to all who followed along on our adventure! Signing off, RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and JM Gorum