I do a lot of winter hiking, but it's in the Adirondacks. I can practice a lot of skills here, such as climbing steep slopes in winter, self-arrest, etc. But of course we don't have glaciers. I'm wondering if it's necessary to have familiarity with crevasses and self-rescue techiques to climb Orizaba. In the accounts I've read, there seems to be little danger from crevasses. What technical skills do you need, assuming you have the ability to climb to such an altitude? What are the greatest dangers?

A related question: What technical gear do you need, in the way of crampons, boots, ropes, helmet, etc. I'd like to know what boots are recommended.

Finally, I wonder if anyone has done the Ruta Sur. I am thinking of trying this route, because, judging from Secor's book, it is a bit less dangerous and less traveled.

I have never hiked in the Adirondacks, but i'm guessing is pretty similar to the White mountains here in NH. Preparing for my trip to Orizaba I climbed one of the peaks in the Whites pretty much every weekend. So it is very feasible that you can learn a lot of the skills you will need in Mexico, while staying in the Adirondacks.

The "technical skills" you will need are not that intense.. The labarynth was not too bad, especially when It was snowed/iced in like it was for my group. The glacier is a beast that I can not comment on, as I turned around due to HAPE at about 16,500 feet. The greatest dangers that my guide spoke of was that of bad conditions on the glacier making self arrest very difficult. I have never heard of anyone having problems with crevasses on Orizaba.

Are you planning on going guided or un-guided? If you have a guide, they will arrange for most of the glacier gear, like ropes and things of that nature.

As for gear; I wore Koflach Arcits Expe's for my trip. Many will say they are overkill, but they fit my feet nice, and are extremely warm. The other gear I had was basic glacier gear, BD raven pro ice axe, a harness, two carabiners; one locking, one non, crampons, and my helmet. The rest was brought by my guide.

Hope this helped a bit.. Feel free to PM me any questions, and also if you want to read my TR it is linked in my profile.

Cheers,
Luke

I went with a guide (oso) and it was simply a walk up. The conditions were good. I wore my scapra's ZG65, a 70 cm axe and one hiking pole. It was not very cold so I guess I was lucky. I did not believe there are any crevasses at least not on the normal route.

There's nothing technical about climbing Orizaba apart from dealing sesnibly with the altitude. The labyrinth is just an icy or rocky scramble - depending which way up you choose to go, and the normal route on the glacier is usually a steep plod (I walked down backwards due to sore feet making this method of descent more comfy!!)
Clearly you'll need ice axe and crampons and some experience of using them. You'll need skill in judging what clothing and equipment to take or not to take, and most of all you'll need a schedule that allows you to acclimatise to altitude sensibly, rather than making some silly dash up and down like so many people seem keen to do.
If you do fancy something a bit more "technical" consider doing the circumnavigation of the crater rim in an anticlockwise direction from the summit. There's only one short bit of slightly technical ground right at the very end, and a length of rope (c25m), plus harness and and a few slings would not go amiss here, as well as the confidence to traverse steep ground as you're unlikely to be found if you slip!
Enjoy!

Thanks for the replies. Did those of you who made it to the summit rope up for either the ascent or descent? What is the common practice?

ADKeditor wrote:Thanks for the replies. Did those of you who made it to the summit rope up for either the ascent or descent? What is the common practice?

To rope up or not depends on your comfort level on steep ice, fitness and the current conditions. On my last trip down there I took a 30m rope and harness and never took them out of my pack as my partner was comfortable with the route conditions (it was his first high alt experience so we didn't know how he'd feel). The six of us all went unroped while other groups out that day roped up. Most guide services will want you roped up for safety etc. Cheers!

When we were there in Jan. the labyrinth was wanded making it very easy to get up and down. A big help when a bit of fog rolled in as we were descending. There was also a well trod path up to the summit.

To prepare we did a lot of hikes in the Dacks and the Whites. So we were very comfortable with crampons. We considered bringing a rope, but really didn't see the point. I was under the impression that roping up was frowned upon due to an accident several years back.
And when we were there self-arrest would be tough.

Depending on how well acclimatized you are, you also might want to consider hiking up to the camp sites below or just above the labyrinth and staying there rather than the hut. We hiked up and camped just below the labyrinth. It made for a shorter and more enjoyable summit day. It was also quieter and we felt more comfortable leaving gear behind while summiting.

I'm not a big believer in roping up if it isn't for crevasses or when using anchors. The thought of realistically reacting in time and digging in before I'm also plucked off the hill is too harrowing for me. If it is steep enough to make self arrest impossible, I would rather use anchors anyway.

Orizaba isn't a difficult mountain. We climbed in 1 March, with no rope and other technical staff just ice ax and crampons.The glacier is about 30-45' but the snow-ice was in really good condition. For a beter acclimatization we made a high camp, wheare the Tibetan flags are.
Just drink a lot (water) and eat weel and you will not have any problems.
Good luck.

Thanks for the latest round of replies. All good information. Your Dudeness, could you tell me more about the Ruta Sur? When did you do it? How long did it take? What were the conditions like? Did you see other people?

Thanks, Dudeness.

hmmm, this is a style question about whether to rope or not. When I was there it was steep, windblown hard pack glacial snow, which means a self arrest is pretty sketchy, so as Bird said, to rope up is pretty useless without pro (since if one falls all would go, a suicide pact) and to place pro might take you two days to get up..... I never see the point of three people roping for steep icy glaciers, except for cravasse danger, of which there was none when I was there. Just wear good boots and crampons, (recently I turned back on similiar icy snow due to light weight gear) and don't slip, that's the best approach I think.