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I am looking for partners to climb Pico de Orizaba, Iztaccihuatl, La Malinche and Nevado de Toluca from November 15 to December 2, 2007.

Planned itenerary:
11/15 - Arrive Mexico City at 12:30 p.m. Catch bus from airport to Toluca and spend the night in a hotel.

11/16 - Take taxi to Nevado de Toluca. Spend day with easy acclimatization climbing on Nevado de Toluca. Return to hotel in Toluca.

11/17 - Take bus to resort at La Malinche. Spend night at resort hut.

11/18 - Climb La Malinche. Take bus to Amecameca. Spend night at hotel.

11/19 - Climb to hut on Normal route on Izta. Spend the rest of the day hiking and then camp at hut.

11/20 - Summit Izta via Normal route and descend to hut. Traverse to Ayoloco hut and spend the night.

11/21 - Summit Izta via the Ayoloco Glacier route, descend to La Joya, and then return to the hotel in Amecameca.

11/22 - Take bus to Puebla and then on to Tlachichuca. Stay at Senor Reyes' hostel.

11/23 - Take cab to the village of Hidalago, and then begin hiking through the park towards the Piedra Grande hut. Camp in the park.

11/24 - Hike to Pierdra Grande hut. Climb through the Labyrinth and return to the hut for the night.

11/25 - Climb to the base of the Jamapa Glacier and build camp. Spend night at camp.

11/26 - Summit Orizaba and return to Piedra Grande to catch a ride to Tlachichuca. Stay at Senor Reyes' hostel.

11/27 - 11/29 Travel to hut on south side of Pico de Orizaba and climb via Ruta Sul or Ruta Directa- Espinazo.

11/30 - 12/1 - Weather days - If not needed, travel to Teotihuacan to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.

12/2 - Fly Home at 5 PM

I have booked my flight, so the start and finish dates are firm (for myself) but the rest of the trip is still quite flexible. I would be open to folks joining for any part of the trip. I would prefer to do a "getting aquainted" climb in the US with anyone wanting to go up Izta or Orizaba.

I speak enough Spanish to travel and have fun in Mexico.

Dave

dswink wrote:I am looking for partners to climb Pico de Orizaba, Iztaccihuatl, La Malinche and Nevado de Toluca from November 15 to December 2, 2007.

Planned itenerary:
11/15 - Arrive Mexico City at 12:30 p.m. Catch bus from airport to Toluca and spend the night in a hotel.

11/16 - Take taxi to Nevado de Toluca. Spend day with easy acclimatization climbing on Nevado de Toluca. Return to hotel in Toluca.

11/17 - Take bus to resort at La Malinche. Spend night at resort hut.

11/18 - Climb La Malinche. Take bus to Amecameca. Spend night at hotel.

11/19 - Climb to hut on Normal route on Izta. Spend the rest of the day hiking and then camp at hut.

11/20 - Summit Izta via Normal route and descend to hut. Traverse to Ayoloco hut and spend the night.

11/21 - Summit Izta via the Ayoloco Glacier route, descend to La Joya, and then return to the hotel in Amecameca.

11/22 - Take bus to Puebla and then on to Tlachichuca. Stay at Senor Reyes' hostel.

11/23 - Take cab to the village of Hidalago, and then begin hiking through the park towards the Piedra Grande hut. Camp in the park.

11/24 - Hike to Pierdra Grande hut. Climb through the Labyrinth and return to the hut for the night.

11/25 - Climb to the base of the Jamapa Glacier and build camp. Spend night at camp.

11/26 - Summit Orizaba and return to Piedra Grande to catch a ride to Tlachichuca. Stay at Senor Reyes' hostel.

11/27 - 11/29 Travel to hut on south side of Pico de Orizaba and climb via Ruta Sul or Ruta Directa- Espinazo.

11/30 - 12/1 - Weather days - If not needed, travel to Teotihuacan to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon.

12/2 - Fly Home at 5 PM

I have booked my flight, so the start and finish dates are firm (for myself) but the rest of the trip is still quite flexible. I would be open to folks joining for any part of the trip. I would prefer to do a "getting aquainted" climb in the US with anyone wanting to go up Izta or Orizaba.

I speak enough Spanish to travel and have fun in Mexico.

Dave

Dave-

Myself, another SPer and another person are heading down there at the same time. Arriving Mexico City on 11/16 and departing 11/24. We are doing Orizaba first and then doing a quick ascent of Izta. Maybe we will see you up there. Good luck.

Andy

Sergio,

I have taken the ride up to Piedra Grande and you are right, it is a long, long way. On the other hand, it is very scenic and I have read trip reports of folks who have hiked it from Hidalgo, which is a bit less than half way(?) up to the hut. I have the luxury of just over two weeks on this trip so I was looking for ideas that will give me rest time between climbs and provide gradual increases in altitude. A 20 kilometer hike with 4K of elevation gain in two days may not actually be restful.....so I may re-think that part of the trip. Thanks.

Andy,

If you stop into one of the little Internet shops, please post a conditions report when you come off of Orizaba. Hope to see you during your trip.

Regards,

Dave[/img]

dswink wrote:Sergio,

I have taken the ride up to Piedra Grande and you are right, it is a long, long way. On the other hand, it is very scenic and I have read trip reports of folks who have hiked it from Hidalgo, which is a bit less than half way(?) up to the hut. I have the luxury of just over two weeks on this trip so I was looking for ideas that will give me rest time between climbs and provide gradual increases in altitude. A 20 kilometer hike with 4K of elevation gain in two days may not actually be restful.....so I may re-think that part of the trip. Thanks.

Andy,

If you stop into one of the little Internet shops, please post a conditions report when you come off of Orizaba. Hope to see you during your trip.

Regards,

Dave[/img]

Dave-

I will for sure do that. If everything goes as planned, we should be down in town on the 21st.

Thanks,

Andy

Ya, I'd definetely camp where Rob and Dan did rather than go above the Labrynth. Camping spots seemed scarce, the altitude will make sleeping harder, and its a lot of work to save an hour or two of climbing.

In anycase, good luck on this trip.

S

Hey dswink,

My friend Frank and I did this trip last January and also did Ixta first and then Orizaba - with a must do stay in Puebla first (before Orizaba). The Hotel Colonial http://www.colonial.com.mx/ is absolutely beautiful and not that bad a price (30 or so US per person) for the quality and food at the restaurant. Puebla is a beautiful city and worth the time.

As for doing two routes on Ixta - I would go up the Ayoloco glacier route and do a loop (dropping packs at the juncture with the standard route) and descending the standard before doing both routes - but that is your choice... I don't know how you would traverse down to the Ayoloco route from the standard - it looked pretty steep and loose (is there a route in place?)
It seems like a bit of overkill to go up to the peak twice - if I were to advise you on routes (we enjoyed the Ayoloco route even though the glacier has really receded) and that is supposedly the less traveled and more enjoyable of the two.

As for Pico - we climbed from the hut. If you have acclimated on Ixta it is also not necessary to lug all your stuff beyond the hut. Just get a early start and scope out the route ahead of time.
We did a day at the hut.
A day scoping and route finding up to and slightly through the labyrinth
A day climbing the peak and going back down to Tlachichuca.
Seemed to work fine - and the people that started from the camp at the base of the labyrinth were only a few hours before us on the summit - not much difference and as somebody else said - you will sleep much better lower on the mountain...

Hope this helps:) and have fun!

This is a great benefit to posting on this site; all of the thoughtful input you receive to help shape your plans. Thanks!

I should explain our approach to this trip. At 19 days long, this Mexico climbing trip is about twice the length of most trips to the area. Rather than looking for the fastest way to get up each mountain, we want to use the extra time to increase our chances of success at altitude and get in as much climbing/high altitude fun as possible. That is how activities like hiking to the Piedra Grande hut, climbing Izta and Orizaba twice by different routes, and camping high on Orizaba have been added. Some of these plans may not make sense for practical reasons like no place to camp, too cold and windy at night, or if our acclimatization is not keeping pace with our itenerary. Like most extended climbing trips, we will remain flexible and adjust to the situation.

Sheets, were there no flat areas that could be made into pads above the Labrynth? How about digging a platform near the bottom of the glacier? That would require carrying a shovel.... I have not forgotten how cold I got just standing about outside Dan's tent below the Labrynth. At this point in the trip we will have climbed to 17K twice and slept at 15K twice at the Izta huts, as well as sleeping at 13K and 14K on Orizaba. Hopefully, we will be acclimatized enough to be able to sleep at 16.5K by then. You must admit it would be an interesting experience. (What was the definition of adventure again?)

Sara, thanks for the tip on the Hotel Colonial. Our goal will be to have as much fun as possible while climbing on Izta for 3 days/ 2 nights. I really like your idea of traversing routes rather than going up and down on one route and then doing another. I am mulling over how that could play out. Any route/combo suggestions for the time allowed? I will make ascending the Ayoloco route a priority.

In answer to your question about traversing to the Ayoloco hut; I meant to descend to the Groupo de los Cien hut and then traverse to the Ayoloco hut. Secor's book shows a route descending from the Groupo de los Cien hut in a direction that should intersect the trail from La Joya to the Ayoloco hut, but that part of the diagram is cut off. The lack of guide info on the Mexican volcanoes is definitely a challenge.

Dave

I should explain our approach to this trip. At 19 days long, this Mexico climbing trip is about twice the length of most trips to the area. Rather than looking for the fastest way to get up each mountain, we want to use the extra time to increase our chances of success at altitude and get in as much climbing/high altitude fun as possible.

If so, I would skip the taxi ride to Nevado Toluca since Raices (Sultepec line) has good bus service and is right at the turnoff for Toluca. Taxi service all the way from Toluca sounds expensive. Also, there's a nice mountain refuge up there. Toluca (city) is a rather noisy and industrial city, so it may be preferable to stay on the mountain.

I have done a traverse from the cien hut over to the gulley where the ayoloco glacier used to be. You can follow a nice rib around and intercept the AG route above the McAllister hut. Loose scrambling but nothing dangerous if you are careful and the route finding is straight forward. You can then descend the arista del sol. This is an EXCELLENT route!

Scott, save money and have more fun? I will definitely take your suggestion.

Cjfbfd, thanks for the info. I suspected that should be possible, but it is great to hear from someone who has done it.

DAve

Sergio,

Wow, great information! I have PM'd you.

Thanks!

Dave

Heh. Well, count me wrong on the campsites. The trip sounds like a blast, hope you have fun and gain every summit, Dave.

You just flash up the mountains too quickly to notice this stuff, Sheets.

bump.....This trip is getting close and I wanted to query for interested climbers again. There are two of us with booked flights at this time and we would be open to a couple more climbers joining.