Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

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nomad_games
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by nomad_games »

jscully205 wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:40 am I'm in the camp that believes Orizaba can be done in 3 days from someone who lives and trains in Colorado with average fitness. With some training prior going to 13-14k relatively close to trip, you should be able to acclimate quickly. I base this off recent experience. Day 1: Fly in and travel all the way to Tlachichuca. Day 2: Drive up and do a short hike up 1k ft Day 3: Wake up at midnight summit and leave. My climbing partner (who had never been past 14k) and I followed this itinerary and had no problem doing the peak in 7.5 hours RT from the hut. The key we thought, was doing the acclimatizing hike up to 15k the day before.
interesting. I'll keep that in mind. I think I may just cancel the trip, as I'm a little tired of traveling and alot tired of traveling solo.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by jscully205 »

I did leave out that following that program takes some determination. If your head game is not in it, then it's a good call saving it for another time.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by Trotter »

I would not go for a 3 day attempt on those two, way too risky. Go enjoy mexico city, theres a lot to do there, pyramids of the suns is great day trip.

Or go tag La Malinche. A mexican 14er, and I hear its pretty.
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. -Nelson Mandela
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by 12ersRule »

Trotter wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:34 pm I would not go for a 3 day attempt on those two, way too risky. Go enjoy mexico city, theres a lot to do there, pyramids of the suns is great day trip.

Or go tag La Malinche. A mexican 14er, and I hear its pretty.
That's my game plan the next time I go to Mexico. Fly into Mexico City or Puebla. If it's Mexico City, then take the bus to Puebla (they're quite frequent and nice). Rent a car in Puebla, drive the 2+ hours and then hike La Malinche. Then, drive up to the saddle of Orizaba and Sierra Negra. (I was there last January but had a food borne illness and couldn't climb Orizaba at all.) Sleep at 13k. Spend a day hiking around there, maybe try Sierra Negra or some other peaks on the massif. Then, head to hut at 15k on Orizaba and bag the southern slopes the next day.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by curt86iroc »

i leave in 9 days to try both peaks over a period of 3 days. i'll let you know how it turns out.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by nyker »

12ersRule wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 8:25 am
Trotter wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:34 pm I would not go for a 3 day attempt on those two, way too risky. Go enjoy mexico city, theres a lot to do there, pyramids of the suns is great day trip.

Or go tag La Malinche. A mexican 14er, and I hear its pretty.
That's my game plan the next time I go to Mexico. Fly into Mexico City or Puebla. If it's Mexico City, then take the bus to Puebla (they're quite frequent and nice). Rent a car in Puebla, drive the 2+ hours and then hike La Malinche. Then, drive up to the saddle of Orizaba and Sierra Negra. (I was there last January but had a food borne illness and couldn't climb Orizaba at all.) Sleep at 13k. Spend a day hiking around there, maybe try Sierra Negra or some other peaks on the massif. Then, head to hut at 15k on Orizaba and bag the southern slopes the next day.

Sierra Negra is a great peak to acclimatize on and you can get close to the station with large millimeter telescope close to the summit and a cool view of Orizaba from its northern flank. Note though that the southern slopes of Orizaba is steeper than the "traditional" route on the North side and can be very loose without snow (think Bross-like scree but steeper)- Snow melts off this side quicker than the north side generally due to its southern exposure.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by jbealer »

curt86iroc wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 8:44 am i leave in 9 days to try both peaks over a period of 3 days. i'll let you know how it turns out.
good luck with that, I was just up Orizaba and no way would have fit Izta in (we were there 5 days, see my TR). day 1 was driving from MC to town, i guess you could go straight to the trail head that day if your flight gets in early enough. then climb the 2nd day and have to drive all the way back to Izta (long ass day after a big day of climbing) not really sleep and do it all over again on the 3rd day and somehow still manage to fly out.....
No Mountain too steep, No trail too long....
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by curt86iroc »

day 1: fly to mexico city, rent car and drive to la joya
day 2: summit izta, drive down and relax
day 3: drive to piedre grande hut
day 4: summit orizaba, drive back to mexico city
day 5: drive to airport and fly home

compressed, yes....possible...yup! we fully plan to abandon izta if the orizaba weather window looks small or if time becomes a factor.
Last edited by curt86iroc on Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by Scott P »

So why even go to a different country if you aren't even going to see anything but some average mountains?
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by yaktoleft13 »

Scott P wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:45 am So why even go to a different country if you aren't even going to see anything but some average mountains?
Because some people travel to experience other cultures, and that's fine. And some people travel to check mountains off a list, and that's fine too. Why does it matter?
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by jbealer »

curt86iroc wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:50 am day 1: fly to mexico city, rent car and drive to la joya
day 2: summit izta, drive down and relax
day 3: drive to piedre grande hut
day 4: summit orizaba, drive back to mexico city
day 5: drive to airport and fly home

compressed, yes....possible...yup! we fully plan to abandon izta if the orizaba weather window looks small or if time becomes a factor.
5 days yes, you said 3. we were gonna try and fit it in but summit day was to long.
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Re: Iztaccihuatl or Orizaba?

Post by mtn_nut »

I'm a little late to this, but trying to do 17 - 18,000 ft peaks a day after flying from 5kish is just asking for trouble. I did orzaba on my first Mexico trip, but only after consecutive nights of 7,000 ft, 10,000 ft, and a third night at 15k feet on the side of Orizaba. We also climbed Malanche on the second day.

I also climbed itza in rapid fashion, flying in to Mexico early on Friday, climbing aljusco Friday afternoon, and sleeping at 10,000 ft on Friday evening. Saturday we drove over to la Joya, and climbed to 14,500 ft and spent the night there. Sunday morning we climbed itza very early in the morning.

Both times I experienced some minor AMS. On my izta trip, I brought a friend who was living in Rochester New York, which is pretty much sea level. I had him fly in and spend Thursday night in Mexico City just to give him an extra day of acclimation. He also summited but also had some AMS issues.

Pressure change is what causes HACE. If your set on doing a rapid climb of either of those peaks, maybe bring a little dex just in case, and going on a small dosage diamox prior and during may help the AMS.
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