Climbing Mexico's Volcanoes

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January 3rd-January 11th,2008

The Plan

The itinerary for the trip was as follows:

  • Day 1- Arrive in Mexico City
  • Day 2- Transfer to Amecameca. Day hike above Paso de Cortes to 13,000
  • Day 3- Transfer to Altzomoni Hut on Izta at 13,000. Carry water and tents to high camp at 15,000. Descend back to Altzomoni and sleep at 13,000 feet
  • Day 4- Move to high camp on Izta near Grupo de Cien Refugio at 15,000
  • Day 5- Climb Izta to summit at 17,100 feet and return to La Joya trailhead. Transfer to Puebla
  • Day 6- Transfer to Piedra Grande Hut on Orizaba at 14,000
  • Day 7- Climb Orizaba to summit at 18,400 feet from Piedra Grande. Transfer to Tlachichuca
  • Day 8- Explore Teotihuacan Aztec ruins near Mexico City. Transfer to Mexico City
  • Day 9- Depart for USA

The Team

The team consisted of 7 participants and 2 trip leaders. In attendance was:

The Experience

In short, the trip to Mexico was amazing (says the guy who organized it!). This was the first ever international expedition for Wilderness Pursuits and we put a lot of time and energy into assuring that it would go as smoothly as possible. A big part of the success of the trip was the excellent student participants who were all ready to function as a strong and functional team.

Also, WP contracted Servimont, a local Mexican mountain service provider for all of our transportation needs. Servimont has been in the business for longer than anyone in Mexico and their services did not fall short of expectations. If you've ever been a passenger in Mexico City you would certainly never aspire to drive there. Furthermore, Servimont provided an assistant to guard our equipment in the huts while we were climbing. Unfortunately, theft is fairly common and the assistant allowed us the peace of mind to focus on the task of climbing big mountains.

The team comprised of two trip leaders and seven student participants. Most of the participants had extensive leadership experience and it was a very easy group to "guide" for the trip leaders. It was more like traveling with friends than clients. After a couple fitful days where one of the participants did not yet have her luggage, we got rolling smoothly toward both summits. Everyone was able to summit both peaks minus one person who only summitted Orizaba. Overall, the group was incredibly strong, supportive and competent.

Both Ixtaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba are very different climbing experiences. Ixta was a very long climb and we placed a high camp at 15,000 feet, but the overall summit height is lower than Orizaba. Ixta has a little bit of everything from dusty trail hiking to 3rd class scrambing as well as a glacier traverse. Overall, the climbing on Ixta is varied and interesting. Orizaba on the other hand is more straight forward but its summit sits more than 1000 feet higher than Ixta. Climbing on Orizaba included many hours of travel over snow and glacier as we were blessed with recent snowfall that made some of the travel more pleasant over terrrain that is usually loose scree in the dry season.

The ascents of both peaks was followed by a day at the ancient Aztec city of Teotihuacan located an hour north of Mexico City. The pyramids and ruins of Teotihuacan inspired awe amongst the group and it was a great way to transition back into the urban jungle of Mexico City and finally to our flights home the following day.

The trip was a huge success and is an inspiration for future international WP trips.

Keep on climbing.....Jake

For more photos of the trip go HERE

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