Entries By pete van deventer
September 3, 2015
Posted by: Mike Walter, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by
RMI Guides Mike Walter and Pete Van Deventer turned at Disappointment Cleaver due to fresh snow on the route with high avalanche conditions. The teams have left Camp Muir and are en route to Paradise.
August 24, 2015
Posted by: Tyler Reid, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & Tyler Reid radioed from the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 7:04 am. Their
Four Day Summit Climb Teams were going to start their descent shortly after. Tyler reported nice weather with winds from the SW and a cloud deck at approximately 8,000'. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!
August 20, 2015
Posted by: Tyler Reid, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides
Tyler Reid and
Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Pete reported clear skies, a light breeze, and warm temps. The teams began their descent from the summit at 8:25 am. We look forward to welcoming them in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
August 15, 2015
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,800'
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer and
Zeb Blais guided their Four Day Summit Climb teams to Camp Comfort (12,800 ft) on Mt. Rainier before route conditions forced the teams to turn. The teams are descending to Camp Muir to rest and repack before continuing their descent to Paradise. We look forward to welcoming the teams back in Ashford later today.
August 10, 2015
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Pete Van Deventer and the
Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Zeb Blais reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at about 6:50 am this morning. The team climbed into a cap with some high winds and a bit of rime. They have started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's Teams!
At 7:10 a.m. RMI Guide
Brent Okita radioed from the top of Columbia Crest, the highest point in Washington! There were 30 – 35 mph winds this morning and nice weather. The cloud deck is below
Camp Muir. The teams will spend some time on the summit before starting their descent.
RMI Guide
Pete Van Deventer and his
Expeditions Skills Seminar - Emmons will be traveling back to Rainier Base Camp later today.
7:05 a.m. PT
Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, and Zeb Blais called in after their successful
Mount Rainier summit! The teams ascended the Disappointment Cleaver Route in chilly temperatures, winds about 30 mph, and clear skies. Their ascent took 5 ½ hours.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
Update 10:33 a.m. PT
Pete Van Deventer called from the Mount Rainier summit! At 10:20 a.m. the
Expedition Skills Seminar team reached the top via the Emmons Glacier Route. They will spend some time taking in the summit views before descending back to Camp Schurman. We look forward to congratulating them in person tomorrow when they descend off the mountain.
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by
Brent Okita and
Peter Van Deventer did not reach the summit this morning. The teams left Camp Muir at about 1:00 am in full hard shell layers, but it was not match for the weather. The team made the decision to turn at Ingraham Flats. They will be departing Camp Muir at around 8:30 this morning and be back in Ashford in the early afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer, Sid Pattison and the Moondance Adventures Team reached the summit of
Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team was walking off the Crater Rim at 8:35 am. Pete & Sid reported light winds and light snow as they moved through the cloud cap at the top of the mountain.
Congratulations to today's team!
There is no way around it: there are some days where fitting my planned workout into my schedule is impossible. On the days when chores and errands catch up with me and I don’t have much time to do a workout, I have a go-to workout that I know I can do in 45-50 minutes. On a day when life feels too busy and I’m tempted to blow my workout off, having a quick workout ready helps me to stay motivated and get out the door.
My workout involves a short, 10 minute running warm-up, 15 minutes of short intervals, a 5-10 minute cool-down, and a short series of core exercises. Depending on what
phase of training I am in and what my goals are, I may alter the pace, number, or duration of my intervals. During my
aerobic building phase, I might run at a tempo that is slightly slower than my 5k race pace for 2 minutes, recover at a light jog for 1 minute, and repeat 4 more times. This bump in pace helps to mix up my tempo and keeps my legs feeling a bit quicker, but the effort isn’t so hard that I’m building up large amounts of lactic acid. Later in the season during an intensity phase, I might push the pace of those intervals right to my threshold, or do shorter 1 minute, all out efforts, with a full minute of recovery in between. This helps to build my anaerobic threshold, and develop my ability to recover as well. The warm up and cool down are really important for preventing injuries, and I try to resist the temptation to skip or cut short either.
The light core session to close doesn’t necessarily build a lot more strength, like a dedicated strength session would be designed to do, but it gives me maintenance. I mix up the exercises, but an example workout might be:
- 3 sets of 50 crunches
- 3 sets of 20 pushups
- and 3 sets of 20 dips
I always end this workout with the same series, something that we used to call a “super set” on the college ski team. It consists of:
- 100 crunches (feet on the ground, curling my torso towards my knees, but not a full sit-up)
- 50 sit-ups to the side (alternating sides)
- 25 leg raises (some straight on, some to either side)
- and 100 more crunches to finish
Having one piece of my routine that is exactly the same each time lets me develop a benchmark for how my core strength is feeling.
While your go to workout doesn’t need to mirror this, try to develop a workout that has definitive goals. If your time is pressed, a short series of intervals will be more beneficial for your fitness than a 30 minute easy jog, most of the time. Having some goals allows you to be focused during the workout, even if it is just for a short period of time. Your go-to workout can be any genre: cycling, running, swimming, or spinning are all good options depending on where you live and can do readily. Remember to build up your strength over time; trying to jump right into a “super set” tomorrow if you haven’t been doing a lot of core strength is a recipe to get injured. Good luck with your training, and stay motivated: it will pay you back in enjoyment many times over on your next climb!
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Pete Van Deventer is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions, guiding climbs on Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley, and abroad. He calls Aspen, CO home, where he also teaches avalanche courses and is a fully-certified ski instructor.
Sorry for the bad luck. I was at same spot in 2012 and had to turn back due to snow danger. The mountain will be there tomorrow.
Posted by: john newland on 9/4/2015 at 7:35 am
Bummer…Happy Labor Day Wknd…Walter-o
90 F + Hot + Humid + Storms Indiana
As you have plenty - Fwd Snow + Ice
Posted by: Walter Glover on 9/4/2015 at 6:28 am
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