Entries By pete van deventer

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! _____ 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.

The Mount Rainier Four-Day and Five-Day Summit Climbs reached the summit early this morning. The teams reported winds and a small cap forming, as they started their descent the winds have calmed and it is a beautiful morning.

Our Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning under clear skies, with warm temperatures and a light breeze. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit before starting their descent from the crater rim just after 7 am PST. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens made a sunset climb last night and reached the crater with 100% of their team. All three teams will descend to Paradise today and return to Ashford to conclude their programs. Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Four Day Summit Climb team led by RMI Guide Brent Okita and the Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:45 am. Brent reported good weather with 25 mph winds. The teams spent about an hour on the summit before beginning their descent at 7:45 am.

Our Mount Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Walter Hailes and Pete Van Deventer, were just reaching the summit at 7:10 a.m. Walter reported winds of about 20mph, cool temperatures, and they were just below the clouds hanging right above the summit. Both teams began their descent at 8:15 a.m. Elias deAndres Martos and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz team checked in and were at 12,600’ working their way to the summit.

The Mount Rainier Summit Climb, led by Ty Reid and Pete Van Deventer, is currently on the summit. The weather report from the summit is sunny skies and moderate/steady winds. An update will be posted when the teams begin their descent. Congratulations summit climbers!

June 2, 2015 - 6:56 pm PT The last few days of a trip always fly by. The summit, descent, and celebration in town all came together over the course of three days. Our summit day was spectacular, with blue, sunny skies, little wind, and balmy (0 degrees F) temps. We got up with the sun the next morning, which felt considerably colder, and packed our bags to descend. We originally planned to go as far as 11,200' Camp, picking up our cache at 14,000' along the way, but when we walked into 11k at 4.30 in the afternoon, and with plenty of energy to spare, we decided to keep the momentum rolling, rig sleds, and head to 7,600’ camp. The few hours of fighting with our sleds downhill proved well worth it. We got to camp at 8:30, where RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and Eric Frank with their Upper West Rib team were super nice and had stoves boiling for us already. We set a hasty camp since we were only going to be there for a few hours, and went to bed. We had our only real alpine start of the trip, waking at 2.30 am. The walk out the lower Kahiltna was one of the highlights of the trip. High thin clouds reflected the light of a not yet risen sun, and the alpenglow on the surrounding peaks burned a brilliant red. A wind at our backs pushed us towards Base Camp. The scene kept our eyes drifting to the sky, and it was impossible not to enjoy the walk despite the heavy packs and sleds. By 7:30 we were at the airstrip, ready for the first flights of the day to Talkeetna. In no time the incredible pilots from K2 descended in two Otters, we loaded the planes, and we were in town, taking in the scents of grass, flowers, and trees for the first time in weeks. We showered off the smell of 18 days on the mountain, and set about filling our bellies with something that we hadn’t carried on our backs. We spent the afternoon drying gear and packing bags for our inevitable separation, and then had a final celebration dinner at the West Rib, a restaurant that is synonymous with Mt. McKinley climbers. Now, we are beginning to part ways. Some of our climbers have left for Anchorage and flights home, while others are staying in Alaska for a bit longer, albeit as tourists. Jet boat adventures, bicycle tours, and road trips to the North side of the park all lie in the future. The guides will amuse ourselves tomorrow with some time on a boat, dropping lines for Halibut, before we also head South to the Mt. Rainier climbing season. The group did a spectacular job on the mountain, climbing smoothly and safely, and we were rewarded with a truly fine summit and 100% of our group on the summit. The guides thank the whole team for their efforts, laughs, and incredible chemistry; it was a really memorable trip for us as well! Thanks to everyone for following along. Now its off to a boat, where someone else baits the hook for us and the fish can’t help but bite! RMI Guides Pete, Robby, Josh, and Team.