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Peak(s):  Pico de Orizaba - 18434
Date Posted:  01/07/2015
Date Climbed:   12/19/2014
Author:  feldyinstilly
 A Climb to the Roof of Mexico- A physical, spiritual, and emotional journey   

Just a little background info prior to my trip to Mexico to preface this report: I got very interested in climbing mountains through my uncle this past summer. He is a doctor in Seattle and has been an expert mountaineer and outdoorsman for the better part of 40 years. For my 32nd birthday he promised to take me up Mt. Hood, which would be my first 'real' mountaineering experience. I have always been climbing up things and hiking since I have been a kid, but never had any technical mountaineering experience. I flew out to Hood in June and completed the climb after training for a week with my uncle. I was pretty spooked during some moments of the climb, but absolutely blown away and enthralled by the experience. I got hooked and spent the rest of summer doing various climbs. This all led me to Orizaba. I watched a video on Youtube that showed a group of Mexican climbers' experience on the mountain and I just became absolutely obsessed about it. For the past 6 months, I made it my mission to gather every bit of information I could on climbing Orizaba and getting prepared to make it to the top...albeit with not a ton of 'real world' mountaineering miles under my belt.

Fast forward to catching a plane by myself on December 13th. I couldn't convince anyone to go with me, so I took the plunge and decided to go by myself into the unknown. I got into Puebla at night at caught a cab to the city center from the airport. It was about a 30 minute ride and cost around 200+ MX pesos (the conversion rate now for the American dollar is excellent...almost 14-1). I figure most of this information has already been posted here, but I will put it down anyway for anyone who may find it helpful. They have a secure taxi booth that sets a fixed price to your destination in the city. The money exchange was also closed down at night, so I withdrew pesos from an ATM, which included a 40 peso fee (plus all the awful US bank transaction fees, ugh!). I stayed at the Hostel Casona Poblana, about 2 blocks from the Zocalo. It cost about 400MX and the room was quiet and clean. I would request a room on the second floor if possible. The owner was nice and they also served a free, light breakfast in the morning. I had dinner at the Hotel Royalty in the square at night. The mole poblano was so good I wanted to lick the plate clean! There were a ton of people out for the holidays and things were all lit up. It was a really nice scene. The next morning I wasted a lot of time looking for Jet Boil fuel. A lot of nice people directed me to many different places. But, in the end I couldn't find anything. Walmart and all the local sport shops have Coleman camping gas. The Cancholas DO have Jetboil fuel though, so not to worry. Anyhow, it was a good way to walk the city and adjust to some altitude coming from sea level.

The next morning I went to the ADO station and went to the AU/Valles counter. I think the bus to Tlachichuca cost about 62MX. The gate for the bus was all the way at the very right-end of the terminal. I brought a lot of gear, so it was a good workout hauling it all down that way. The buses run pretty much every hour. Someone on here already posted the schedule, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. It was a quick and comfortable bus ride and had some nice scenery. It took about 2hrs and made several stops along the way. I met a really nice guy on the bus who was curious about all my climbing equipment. He ended up walking me to the Canchola's compound. This was just one example of all the kind people I met on my journey.

I chose to stay with Canchola's based on all the information on the internet and recommendation of several 14er members. Best choice I could have made. They are just awesome people. I have lived in South America and Spain with my dad, so speaking Spanish with Maribel and the family was a big plus. The meals were great and I felt very comfortable and looked after there. My transportation was probably more expensive, since I was by myself. But, I am happy to support a great business and good, honest people. I also met a wonderful couple there named Manu and Caterine (sorry if am spelling wrong!). They were on a bike trip that started with climbing Denali and coming all the way by pedal power from Alaska. They were really lovely people. I gave Caterine a hat from work, so I hope if she is reading that she is still supporting my team ;)

I spent two nights overall at the Canchola's. I got a ride up to Hidalgo at 11,200ft the second day and hung out there for a while. Then, I walked down about 20km back to Tlachichuca. It was a very dusty, but beautiful and peaceful walk back down. The next morning, I got a ride from Maribel's brother to the Refuge at 14,010. I took about 30L of water and 2.5 canisters of Jetboil fuel, which I bought from Maribel. Since I was by myself, my plan was to meet someone at the Canchola's or to meet someone in the hut to go up with. Both of these plans didn't quite go so well! The only other people in the hut were a Slovak climber and his Mexican guide. Maribel gave me a two-way radio to call down in case of emergency or if I truly thought I needed someone to come up to meet me to guide me. I held out hope and just went about my business for the next two days.

Sleeping at the hut the first night was pretty awful. I felt like I had the flu, but just drank a ton of water and tried my best to stay positive. I decided to go for a hike the second day and made it to the base of the labyrinth. I went up in about 1:45 minutes and was quite surprised at how I felt. I was breathing heavily, but moving at a good clip. There is a lot of loose rock, scree, and sandy terrain, so it is definitely a challenge though. I would probably recommend to wear/bring a helmet. I saw A LOT of rock fall! It was mostly confined to the ravine area in the middle, but it was still presenting some objective danger. During the time I was out of the hut, thieves unfortunately came in and took a lot of stuff. It was the one low-point of the trip. It's hard to believe people can be so shi*ty to each other. I actually cached a lot of stuff and left 'less valuable' stuff. But, they still stole stuff I left out. Overall, they made off with a cheap back-up tent of mine, a pair of worn North Face hikers, my eyeglasses (no clue why), and a large bag of important powergels/protein bars and drink mixes. The saddest part was that they stole the Mexican guide's backpack with his house keys and the Slovak climber's MHW Of bag. Really, really shi*tty!! Please DO NOT leave your stuff without any watching it. Either pay someone or cache it. It really sucked caching things. I burned a lot of energy in the altitude, but it was necessary.

During the third day, a local Mexican climber and part-time guide named Ricardo Blanco came up by himself. He has summited Orizaba on numerous occasions, lives in the town of Orizaba, and has intimate knowledge of the mountain. Well, my prayers were answered, as he agreed to accompany me up for summit day. The guy is my absolute hero and I am proud to call him my friend. He is an amazingly strong climber and well acclimated to the height of Orizaba. After the climb, I ended up giving him a good tip, even though he just said I could go with him for nothing. I really owe everything to him and would wholeheartedly recommend him as a guide for anyone considering going with one. I actually learned a lot about the mountain and general mountaineering from him and he was awesome to hang out with. Anyone who wants his email, please PM me!

Ricardo was planning to set up high camp by himself and then try to catch the sunrise on the summit. So, I basically was at his clip and schedule as his side-kick. Thus, we went through the tedious task of hauling all our gear up to the base of the glacier at a little over 16,000ft. It took about 4hrs and was quite taxing with all the heavy gear. The Labyrinth is COMPLETELY devoid of snow. It is all rock...a lot of it loose and dangerous. I can't quite tell you which way we went, since Ricardo did all the route finding. There are an infinite number of routes you could take and a lot of cairns everywhere. I think it would be a decent idea to scout it out during the day if you are going up in one push and can make it that far with the altitude. I could see how this section would be very dangerous with ice and snow. Even with just the loose rock, if you don't watch your footing, you could definitely break and ankle or take a bad spill. I do know that you need to traverse left at some point to get beyond the ravine and onto the sand before the glacier. I used one trekking pole and one hand for balance.

Well, were planning on getting more water from the glacier, but it has really receded so much!! I guess global warming and environmental damage is showing on our world's peaks. Very sad. By the time we made camp and got set up, we were both pretty spent. In retrospect, I should have gone the extra distance, but the altitude was too much. I was taking a lot of water every night because I wasn't sleeping a lot (roughly 5L per day), so going the summit night without water was awful. Sleeping above 5000m was also really tough. But, I always try to be positive and have mental toughness that I learned from playing Division I and semi-pro sports. The campsite next to the glacier is so beautiful though and you feel like you are on the moon. We planned on getting up around 3am to go for the summit, but the forecast didn't look as good as it did on the internet. The wind got pretty nasty in the morning and it was cold. Ricardo was an absolute beast, since his sleeping bag was really light. I gave him some of my hand warmers to stick down for his feet.

After waiting over 1:15, we got geared up and ready to go. I was really dragging and still very dehydrated. I also didn't have any energy gel or bars left because they all were stolen. Bummer! I made it on to the snowfield and was really uncoordinated. Ricardo was questioning whether or not I should go down. I think when he said this, it was like reverse psychology. I just snapped inside and yelled at myself and said I am not quitting. I told Ricardo I needed to boil water and drink, but the weather was really bad and he knew it would be tough to stop. We ended up stopping and somehow by a miracle, my Jetboil lit up after about 15 tries and produced a little under half a liter, which I chugged. He said to follow at his pace for 30min. He was going so fast that I thought I was about to pass out, but I was grinding hard and was not stopping for anything. I finally got a second wind and was in a groove. It was brutally windy and cold, but we just kept plugging away. It was a really weird feeling climbing so high and steep in darkness. As the sun was attempting to come up, my feet started freezing. I had one very heavy wool sock and Nepal Evo's, but it was just darn cold on my toes. I tried to block it out and just keep moving. My toes on my left foot are still tingling on and off after 2.5 weeks. If anybody has any advice about this, I am all ears! If you get on the glacier at a reasonable hour, I think the weather has been quite good though.

The conditions of the glacier were very good, so we did not rope up. Many people on here say it is not steep or mellow, which I felt was definitely true for the first part. But, there are definitely different paths up, each with different degrees of steepness. The one common denominator of the few people I saw on the mountain is that they all remarked how 'damn steep' the last section of the glacier was. I was on Hood in the Chute with an inclinometer reading over 50 degrees and the last section was EVERY bit as steep in my humble opinion. I did see several miniature crevasses, but nothing that presented any danger. Ricardo did all the route finding in the dark and I just followed his pace. At about 7:30am, we topped out on the ridge after one final section of some mixed terrain and ice (I would take extra caution on this section). I screamed in joy when we made it to the top, then instantly felt really nauseous like I was going to puke. I didn't care though. It was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in my life. We spent 20 minutes on the top because of the wind and my deteriorating condition. We quickly descended, packed up our high camp (so exhausting just packing up!) and then headed down the refugio for a ride out.

Overall, this was one of the best experiences of my life. I was so happy to reach the top and I will keep exploring and trying to improve my mountaineering skills and learn as much as I can. The people I met during my trip were absolutely amazing and I cannot thank them enough. If you have any questions at all regarding the climb, please feel free to email me, as I would be more than happy to answer anything. I am no expert, but I have a big heart, good legs, and a good attitude. I trained just like I would when I was playing in college and I think this helped immensely. I have so much respect for people who complete things like this, especially people who are older. I think that people probably underestimate this peak since it is not in the realm of 'technical climbs,' but dammit it was HARD! I think one thing I took away, is that you cannot rush big mountains like this. Take your time and enjoy the experience. Altitude can do funky things to even the fittest people and it's best to get adjusted well...even some won't be able to. I also think staying at altitude in a place like Colorado and getting 'real world miles' climbing before would pay huge dividends. It is flat as a pancake where I live, so I spent a heck of a lot of time in our football stadium with a heavy pack, which really sucked. That is about all I have. This is the first trip report I have ever done, so I hope it's ok! Please check out my Youtube video as well 'The Roof of Mexico.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKgPWqXMFk Cheers.

Gear List:

TOP
MHW Phantom Hooded Down Jacket
TNF Thunder Micro lightweight 800 down jacket
TNF RDT Rain Jacket Shell
MHW Microchill fleece
Outdoor Research radiant hybrid hoody
Smartwool 250 baselayer ¼ zip
Nike Pro lightweight longsleeve drifit
(I used the Nike Pro, Smartwool, Radiant Hoody, and TNF shell for summit climb in cold, then put on my lightweight jacket and puffy for the summit and part of way down. Most hiking days I just put on pants and a light baselayer with a baseball hat and some cold backup clothing)


BOTTOM
OR Cirque Pants (loved 'em)
MHW Integral Pro Tight
Cheap pair of loose Starter tights from Walmart for sleeping and for extra warmth on summit day


FEET
La Sportiva Nepal Evo boots
BD Sabertooth Pro Crampon
TNF Storm Hiker to kick around in (stolen )
Smartwool mountaineering sock x2 +2 lighter Smartwool trekking socks
OR Crocodile Gaiters

TECH.
BD Couloir Harness
BD Raven Pro Ice Axe 70cm
William Petzl Triact screw lock biner, plus 3 wire gate biners

COOKING/PACKS/SLEEP
Marmot 0f Never Summer 650 down bag- was pretty warm up at 5000m. Not amazing, but solid.
10L compression sack/dry bag- not big enough, they said it would be, but was fighting hard to fit it
3 OR stuff sacks
Jetboil Flash- was awesome
Folding Spork from MSR
2 Nalgenes and one water bottle parka that I didn't use. Water did freeze, but not all the way
Osprey Kestrel 48. Love this pack. Wish it was a shade bigger, but it is awesome.
Suunto altimeter watch

HEAD
MHW Microdome Beanie
Nike synthetic winter hat from my college (used on summit day. Worked just fine)
Thin Buff (actually like this better than something heavier. I feel constricted with something over my mouth in thin air that is too heavy)
Julbo Explorer Glasses
Smith goggles (did not use)
Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet
Generic headlamp from Walmart with extra batteries
1 glowstick/emergency light

HANDS
MHW Torsion Glove (used this in conjunction with liner. Was pretty good. Sometimes had slightly cold hands, but overall was effective and had good grip with axe)
BD Liner glove
BD Mercury Mitt (did not use at all
Handwarmers

Food I won't go into since lots got stolen A lot of Mountain House meals, soups, and teas. I absolutely swear by the Stinger energy gels



Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
1


Comments or Questions
Rainier_Wolfcastle
User
Congratulations
1/8/2015 6:13pm
Congratulations on getting a hard earned summit!

Yeah, probably should point out that on some days a lot of day trippers come up to the refuge...if no one is around, they will walk off with stuff that is just sitting out.


timf
User
Congrats!
1/8/2015 11:41pm
That video looked to me like you aced it pretty well. Is the glacier recession a permanent condition or is it just very dry this season?


esagas
User
Well done!
1/9/2015 3:24am
Great video. The Cancholas are simply amazing people. I’m glad to see that you had a good experience and made new friends (one of the big pluses of climbing, in my opinion). Now you have to go back and climb Iztaccihuatl––it’s my favorite peak in Mexico.


CorduroyCalves
Good report
1/9/2015 4:00am
AND video! I couldn’t access it via the link but I did a search and was able to find it. I’m really hoping to get there in the next year or two and your report has definitely inspired me to do so!


feldyinstilly
User
Thanks guys
1/9/2015 7:56pm
Thanks guys! Glad people enjoyed the video. The link is not working for some reason, so you just have to copy and paste it. This was my first TR, so I didn’t have a ton of time to figure out formatting and picture uploading. Timf– It is my understanding that the glacier HAS receded some in general. But, that it is still not uncommon for snow to come all the way down to the hut, depending on the season. Esagas– Thanks for the comment and all your info before!! I think I will try for Ecuador after, but would love to come back to MX.


cbrobin
User
Great Video
1/9/2015 8:57pm
I really enjoyed your trip report! Running into Ricardo Blanco really sounds fortuitous. My tears happened when i was at 17,500 and just looked around and realized where i was and that I was going to summit.Congratulations.



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