Orizaba acclimatization (from sea level)

[Yury]

Orizaba is of about the same altitude as Elbrus.
You can find a lot of information on acclimatization on websites of companies that offer Elbrus guided climbs.
Modern fad is 5 to 6 days tours.
They spend 2 nights at "Barrells" at ~3800 m.
First day they slowly hike to Pastukhov's Rocks ~4800 m and back.
Then next morning they are brought by snowvehicle to Pastukhov's Rocks, hike to the summit and back to Barrels.
Most people of a reasonable fitness can summit using such schedule.

P.S. I would not do this, because my acclimatization is slower than average.
YMMV.

[Eli Boardman]

Just finished the trip, and our acclimatization schedule worked great! No major altitude issues other than the occasional minor discomfort.

To repeat, it was:
D1: 7400 ft
D2: 9800 ft
D3: hike to 15000 ft and sleep at 9800 ft
D4: up to Piedra grande, hike to 15,000 ft and sleep at 13900 ft
D5: up through labyrinth (topped out at 16200 ft) and sleep at piedra grande again
D6: turned into rest day, was original planned summit day but weather forecast was bad
D7: summit

All of the group was from sea level. Those of us who took diamox felt marginally better the whole time, but nobody had any real altitude issues. Definitely strong tingling sensations from the medication.

Congratulations on the climb!

[CorduroyCalves]

Just finished the trip, and our acclimatization schedule worked great! No major altitude issues other than the occasional minor discomfort.

To repeat, it was:
D1: 7400 ft
D2: 9800 ft
D3: hike to 15000 ft and sleep at 9800 ft
D4: up to Piedra grande, hike to 15,000 ft and sleep at 13900 ft
D5: up through labyrinth (topped out at 16200 ft) and sleep at piedra grande again
D6: turned into rest day, was original planned summit day but weather forecast was bad
D7: summit

All of the group was from sea level. Those of us who took diamox felt marginally better the whole time, but nobody had any real altitude issues. Definitely strong tingling sensations from the medication.

Congrats! Was your D3 hike up Nevado de Toluca or Sierra Negra?

I reckon your success had more to do with your climbing schedule and not the diamox.

[spiderman]

Congrats on doing North America's highest volcano! Orizaba is a true gem IMHO. After doing 5000 and 6000+ meter peaks, the Colorado 14ers seem a bit low. We did Mexican volcanoes as a warm-up for a 6x6000m expedition to the Andes of Chile and Argentina. Having the physiological adjustments two weeks before heading to South America helped us be much more successful in going above 20,000'. I highly recommend getting to Ojos del Salado sometime. It is surprisingly not crowded and quite affordable in the scheme of big mountains.

[ChrisinAZ]

I just got back from a very successful trip to Mexico, with climbs of Nevado de Toluca, Iztaccihuatl, and Orizaba, in that order! I brought Diamox but never needed it, and only ever had mild altitude sickness...here's my schedule, with the caveat I adjust to altitude better than many:

Day 1: fly from Knoxville (1k) to Mexico City and sleep there (7.3k)
Day 2: butterfly reserve (11k) and then get lucky and be able to drive/sleep at end of road up Toluca (13.6k)
Day 3: Nevado de Toluca (15.3k), then afternoon at Desierto de los Leones (10k). Sleep in cabin on slopes of Izta (10.8k)
Day 4: stay at cabin, then sleep at Altzomoni hut (13.2)--original plan had been to pack in to Refugio Grupo de los Cien at 15.5k, but hut was full
Day 5: dayhike Iztaccihuatl (17.1k). This was brutal but almost certainly a critical part of the acclimatization process. Sleep in Tlachichuca (8k)
Day 6: drive to 15k, sleep at Refugio Fausto Gonzalez Gomez on south side of Orizaba (15.5k)
Day 7: summit Orizaba (18.5k), return to town, have cerveza

The other members of my team did make the summit of Orizaba, in spite of not climbing the other two mountains, but both required Diamox and were feeling it a lot more on summit day and we didn't set any speed records. Hope this helps!

[Conor]

I always find it interesting when people say "I had diamox, but never needed it." Diamox can help speed up the acclimatization process and if you read the directions you are instructed to start taking it a couple days before you get to altitude. This has been explained to me by my Dr here in Colorado and at the pharmacies in South America when bought over the counter. So the problem with the statement above is that it 1) lacks the understanding of what diamox does. It does not help alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness. And 2) the statement shows one does not understand how diamox should be applied, as in you should start taking it proactively, not reactively.

[bfrieden]

Not from sea level but I thought I'd throw in our schedule.

D1: 3 hours 12-13k on Pike's climbing the bowl in Glen cove (summit closed)
D2: Fly to Mexico City, bus to Tlachichuca
D3: Sleep in, Drive to hut, arrive at 2pm, short hike
D4: Summit day

We had about 10 or 11 hours at the hut before climbing (2ish pm to midnightish) It sucked a lot but we all summitted. Nausea and fatigue throughout climb, but mostly once on the glacier. Nothing severe, just feeling poorly. Another day of acclimatization would have been great, but we wanted to do other stuff as well.

Conditions: labyrinth is mostly ice, not much snow, glacier has a great bootpack and gets slightly icy at the top, but not bad.

[astrobassman]

Not from sea level but I thought I'd throw in our schedule.

D1: 3 hours 12-13k on Pike's climbing the bowl in Glen cove (summit closed)
D2: Fly to Mexico City, bus to Tlachichuca
D3: Sleep in, Drive to hut, arrive at 2pm, short hike
D4: Summit day

We had about 10 or 11 hours at the hut before climbing (2ish pm to midnightish) It sucked a lot but we all summitted. Nausea and fatigue throughout climb, but mostly once on the glacier. Nothing severe, just feeling poorly. Another day of acclimatization would have been great, but we wanted to do other stuff as well.

Conditions: labyrinth is mostly ice, not much snow, glacier has a great bootpack and gets slightly icy at the top, but not bad.

Just did the same schedule except D1 was spent camping right below summit of Bierstadt. It made for a pretty comfortable summit day on D4, no altitude issues.