Entries By pete van deventer

Thursday, May 15, 2025 9:49 pm PDT

In the words of Thornjamin “when we awoke the weather was like nahhh, but then it was like jahhh”, and we carried to 13,500’.

It was windy when we woke but it quieted enough to convince us to go walking and turned out to be a quite smooth day. Tomorrow looks snowy and we intend to chill hard. These are times that lead us to say thanks to those in our life providing a multitude of remote weather advice, especially to Henry, whose whiteboard of weather models, maps, sharpies, and seemingly random red lines have yielded incredibly accurate results. Ask him how he does it?

But in all seriousness, we are psyched to have a cache up high and be looking at a rest day tomorrow. Things are going smoothly, the snow makes climbing quite forgiving for this time of year, and temps have been balmy (relatively) as well.

Best from 11,000’,

RMI Guides Thornjamin Bennycroft, Nick, Pete, and Team

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 - 7:34 pm PT

It’s been a quiet, calm day here at 11,000 ft Camp. We slept in as sun doesn’t reach camp until 9:20 AM, though it never gets dark either, and then cooked up some blueberry pancakes. That started the conversation of Canadian or Vermont maple syrup of which there is only one correct answer. But all agreed New York maple syrup loses to both. We set out just after noon for a quick and light mission to retrieve our cache from below. The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and resting after a big couple of days on the lower Kahiltna. We are now done for the time being with sleds and snowshoes - and there was much rejoicing. It’s snowing lightly in camp and there are snow showers in the forecast for the next several days, so we’ll look for the right moment to get our cache put in at 13,500'.

RMI Guides Pete, Ben, Nick, and team.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025  - 10:27 pm PT

11,200’ is our new home! We weren’t entirely psyched when we woke this morning as there was a thick cloud bank and ripping winds where we needed to go. We did a partial pack and stalled and waited. As the sun climbed and warmed our camp, the clouds began to rise, and the wind began to die. That was enough for us - we pulled the rest of the camp down, loaded up sleds (all have names, goose and Tinkerbell are a few) and started uphill.

We had as smooth and steady of a climb as we could wish for and rolled into 11k this evening after a 7-hour walk. We are happily dug in and working towards dinner. Tomorrow we’ll go back to retrieve our cache which is a short day, and then be set to keep looking uphill.

RMI Guides Pete, Ben, Nick, and Team

Monday, May 12, 2025 - 7:45 pm PT

Snow has been pattering on the tent walls most of last night and all day today. It was an easy decision to sit tight, in the white world that we woke up in. We lingered over breakfast burritos, then spent the day reading, watching movies, stretching, and chatting. Camp was calm and quiet as everyone else did the same. The forecast looks like snow tails off and things get clear tomorrow so we are hoping to make our move to 11,00' Camp in the morning. All in all, everyone appreciated the rest day.

RMI Guides Pete, Nick, Ben, and team

Monday, May 12, 2025 - 12:17 AM PDT

Today showed us the dichotomy of weather in Alaska. After a cold windy walk yesterday, today’s carry to 10,200' was calm and HOT. We had a pretty leisurely start this morning after getting to bed late last night. Folks enjoyed the sleep, and woke up surprisingly (to them) recovered and feeling well. We left around noon and made good time up to the cache site, dug a hole to hide some things in, and then turned back to our home, enjoying the lighter-weight, downhill walk as the light got long. We got back to camp a bit before it went into the shade and plowed through some burritos as a reward. Sounds like we may see snow tomorrow, so what we do tomorrow will be a gametime decision in the morning. We would like to say Happy Mother’s Day and so many thanks to all the incredible mothers in our lives who give us so much support as well and who let us be in this incredible place! 

RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Nick Sinapius, Ben Thorneycroft, and Team

Sunday, May 11, 2025 - 1:19 AM PT

The starting horn sounded! It was a beautiful morning in Talkeetna and the pilots at K2 were psyched to get going. We loaded the planes and were in the air a bit before 10 am. The flight in was one of the best I’ve ever had. As clear as could be, calm, and the pilots made a couple turns and loops to bring the big three (McKinley, Foraker, and Hunter) into profile. Once on the ground, we unloaded everything and watched as the planes climbed back into the sky. That turned out to be a small hiccup, as our cooktent hadn’t made it off the plane. We stalled for a bit as a result and it came back to us via a scenic flight. Reunited, we tossed on packs and left base camp, as heavy as we will ever be on this trip. As we got to the base of heartbreak hill, a decently strong wind greeted us head on   We ended up walking into that the whole way, a bit unpleasant but nothing more. It was a small taste of what Alaska can brew up for weather. Now we are tucked into camp at the base of Ski Hill, glad to finally be on the move.

RMI Guides Pete, Nick, Ben, and team

It was a pretty full day, prepping everything for a few weeks of glacier living and making sure we get it right. We started with an orientation from the Park Service this morning, before diving in to unpacking our kits, and repacking them for the flight to base camp, where we will unpack them again, to pack for climbing. It's a lot of shuffling but we're feeling confident that everything is set to go. And everyone was buoyed as the skies were clear as could be all day. These clear days are when Denali (McKinley) shows off, encased in white and gleaming brightly on the skyline. Weather continues to look good for tomorrow, so we are prepped to fly first thing and get this expedition truly underway!

RMI Guides, Pete, Ben, Nick, and Team

The team all made it without snags yesterday, and we hit the ground running, packing into the shuttle and heading for Talkeetna. After dinner, we ambled down to the river - the mountains were socked in but the icebergs floating by provided the ambience. The amble then magically led our feet to the doors of the Fairview, for a quick pint and an acoustic rendition of despacito. Then to bed in the arctic daylight. We’ll pack tomorrow and things look good for flights on on Saturday!

RMI Guides Pete, Nick, Ben and Team

The Five Day Climb August 23 - 27 led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer & George Hedreen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams enjoyed clear skies, a funky cloud and a light breeze for their climb and were able to enjoy some time this morning in the summit crater.  The team began their descent from the crater rim around 9:30 am.  They will return to Camp Muir and enjoy another night on the mountain.  Tomorrow the teams will pack their gear and descend the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise.

Congratulations team!

PC: George Hedreen

The Four Day Climb August 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Raymond Holt and Mac Nolde reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just before 7 am today. Pete reported winds 10-20 mph and a descending cloud cap.  The team spent a short time at the crater before starting their descent.  They are en route to Camp Muir and once there will take a quick break before continuing down to Paradise.  The group will end their adventure with a short celebration later this afternoon.

Nice work team!