Izta in November

[garydenness]

I'm looking for as much info as possible about climbing Izta. I live in Mexico City, teaching English, and am arranging a trip for me, a few of my students and a few other English teachers. None of us have ever climbed a mountain before!

There will be 6+ of us, and we intend to do the trip over two days - set off from Mexico City early Sat morning and return Sun evening/night. We intend to camp overnight on the mountain. We're looking to do it as cheaply as possible, and would be happy to reach the knees and stop there. It would be great to cross the ice field and reach the true summit, but if this would mean a lot more expense for extra equipment, then we'd possibly forego that. It's not that we're broke, but this is probably a one off so it seems a shame to spend a lot of money on equipment we'll likely never use again.

We'd have plenty of warm clothing, hiking boots, tents and sleeping bags etc, but what other equipment would be essential?

Is the route up Izta (we'd be taking the easy route of the two) obviously marked and easy to follow, is there a map, or would hiring a guide be better? How much would a guide cost?

If we need extra equipment, where can we rent it, and what sort of cost are we looking at?

If anyone wants to join us, you're welcome to do so! There's a mix of English and Spanish speakers amongst us, so there is the opportunity to practice speaking one or the other! (Whilst we squeeze mountaineering info from you!)

Really appreciate any help anyone can offer!

[Haliku]

Info on a few points:

I climbed to the summit in hiking boots and trekking poles in Jan 04 so it is possible to reach the summit. Warm hiking gear is all that is needed unless there is a lot of snow.

The route is very clear for most of it but if you aren't that experienced and have a bunch of students a guide might be wise. One of the best is local to you--Oso.

Roberto Flores Rodriguez aka Oso
oso_expediciones@hotmail.com
www.orizabamountainguides.com.mx

Cheers!

[garydenness]

Thanks for the reply, thats very helpful. And encouraging. I should add that my 'students' are all adults. I guess a guide can help out with things like the permits to go up the mountain? Any idea how much he'd cost?

[Deleted User]

There are lots more than just two routes, but I think you mean you'll go up from La Joya. As I recall it, you don't need a permit to climb the mountain but you need a permit to enter the park. There is a ranger's station right there where you enter the park. I think it is still a few miles into La Joya. The cost of entering the park is almost nothing. It was a couple dollars. In principle you're supposed to send in some forms a head of time, but we didn't do that either of the two times I've been there.

The first time we used a guide because my buddy in Puebla insisted. I'm trying to remember his name. He was a linguistics professor in Puebla as I recall. He was pretty cheap.

We didn't cross the glacier and stand on her breasts (the true summit). THey said that would take about 4 more hours or something. As I recall, we left at 4AM, and reached our highpoint on her stomach at about noon and were back to La Joya at around 5PM. The stomach is very nearly the same elevation as the summit, maybe a few hundred feet lower.

You'll need to pay attention to altitude sickness if you're going to go up and camp somewhere high on the mountain. I think that, after La Joya, the first place you can camp is at about 14,000'. Coming from DF at 7,000' and then sleeping at 14,000' is a little risky. People do it, but someone might get AMS (acute mountain sickness) from that. You should read something about AMS and learn what the symptoms are and how to gauge their severity. You might be better off just camping at La Joya, and then breaking camp at say, 2AM and start walking at 3AM Sunday morning.