B-Grooms - Mar 23, 2013 11:55 pm Date Climbed: Feb 13, 2013
Success
This was my first summit on a trip climbing Ixtaccihuatl and El Pico de Orizaba in 9 days. Great climb, a lot different than Orizaba, nice approach to high camp at 15,000 ft. Beautiful country, got acclimated on a hike and sleep at 10,000 ft two nights before on La Malinche. Great climb. Popo was giving a show the entire time with rumbling and smoke throughout the days.
ncst - Dec 12, 2012 2:06 pm Date Climbed: Dec 9, 2012
Solo up Ayoloco glacier
Took the bus Saturday morning from Puebla to Cholula, from there the combi to Xalixintla. After walking for an hour with some pilgrims (they walk to Basilica Guadelupe in Mexico city) I got a ride to paso de cortés. Then walked to La Joyita (2h), from there to the refugio a the bottom of the glacier (5h). Next morning up the glacier on to the summit (3h), down the arista del sol. Lots of people on the mountain, great weather, great shots of Popos fumarolas.
I managed to the volcano after talking a few students from Cuenavaca to rent a car with me. Everyone hiked up to the hut and I went on to the summit the following morning. It was a great climb with a beautiful night skyline of DF's lights.
Fantastic last climb of the three big volcanoes including Popo and Orizaba. We had to fast head down to avoid lightning from an incoming storm.
Daria - Sep 22, 2012 2:36 pm Date Climbed: Dec 22, 2011
del Sol
Bad case of altitude sickness, but managed to pull through. Very pretty place. Climbed before Orizaba
Matt Lemke - Mar 21, 2012 12:52 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2012
La Arista del Sol
Took 3 days...packed into the Grupo de los Cien hut and camped. Climbed to the summit and camped again before heading out. After Pico de Orizaba this peak was easy lol!
cab - Mar 5, 2012 3:06 pm Date Climbed: Feb 29, 2012
La Arista del Sol
Left the Grupo de los Cien hut at 2am under cloudless and windless skies. The routefinding up to the knees was a little tricky in the dark, but not too bad - just look for paint marks and cairns. We used crampons and axes right from the hut.
From the knees the route was relatively straightforward although we were breaking trail since no one had been up since the last storm.
I really enjoyed this climb since it's so different than the standard volcano slog for thousands of feet up a snowfield or glacier. Great views of the city lights on the way up and the sunrise from the summit. This was our second climb of the trip after La Malinche and before Pico de Orizaba.
mreiter1 - Dec 11, 2011 2:00 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2008
Success
Standard Route
hunterslee - Oct 23, 2011 10:52 pm Date Climbed: Apr 1, 2010
Long Traverse
Great views of Popo and of Orizaba in the morning. We were a little ambitious with our aclimatization so by the time we completed the traverse we all had symptons of altitude sickness...good learning experience for all. We should have stayed at the hut but opted to do the longer trek from the parking lot, hence we had a 17 hour day.
just shy of summit.... popo was smoking away in the early dawn, just amazing
jck - Mar 23, 2011 7:28 pm Date Climbed: Mar 20, 2011
La Arista del Sol
After few days on Orizaba climbing Ixta was a kind of pleasure. Hiked from Paso de Cortez up to 4600 meters and camped in a tent below the hut. Next day climbed to the top as the first climbers that day: nice views, very strong wind (made my camera frozen).
Not knowing which one is the highest climbed all the three possible 'true' summits.
Got drunk in Amecameca that day.
Climbed with Radek (brade).
Deschamps - Feb 3, 2011 4:15 pm Date Climbed: Nov 14, 2010
First 5000er!
This Volcano is amazing, nothing like other volcanos or mountains! When you are approaching you can truly see the shape of the sleeping woman (the true meaning of Iztaccihuatl is "White Woman"). I got some AMS because of the change of altitude. We drove all night from Monterrey City which is at 500mts AMSL (and about 1000km away) and by 7pm of the next day we were camping at 4,700mts AMSL so I got the head ache of my life, had to drink a lot of water and relax with the beautiful sight of Puebla at night. By 5am we started walking to the summit and got there at 10:30am, there was barely no ice on the way, just a few meters on the "belly" glacier but it has almost no slope (our guide didn't even wore crampons...). It's a shame that this glacier it's almost gone, if I ever have sons I would love to take them there but I'm afraid there won't be any ice left.
logikal - Jan 11, 2011 9:23 am Date Climbed: Jan 7, 2011
A New Year
A beautiful day with great friends. This was part of a new years assault on the Mexican volcanoes from Dec. 30 - Jan 10. This was the last of the 4 volcanoes we targeted on the trip. It took us roughly 12.5 hours as we got lost above the Grupo los Cien hut during the night and winded up on some class 4 and lower class 5 terrain. Needless to say we were relieved once we found the regular route after some sketchy climbing on loose rock high up on the knees.
tb00957 - Nov 28, 2010 3:36 pm Date Climbed: Nov 23, 2010
Iztaccihuatl
Great view. Stayed overnight at the hut at 15k. Makes the summit easier. Still a long way on the ridge.
graham - Nov 17, 2010 5:23 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2010
Izta hike via Hut #19
Hiked up & down the standard route via Las Ciens hut 19 (between the feet and the 1st knee). Took us about 12 hours for the around trip from the radio/TV station hostel. Beautiful views!
bruno baschung - Nov 15, 2010 4:16 pm Date Climbed: Nov 10, 2010
arista del sol
Ascent of the normal route with my friends Herman de Backer and jerome Mison, following the arisat del sol from Las Ciens refuge in just 3Hrs, excellent conditions up there.
We went up to the summit (5222m according GPS with 543 hpa in barometric pressure) but also realized, there are in fact 3 different tops, which is not often mentionned. We climbed all of them in 30/35 minutes, and checked with GPS , they all quote the same height of 5222m.
This was part of a 8 days programs combining also Citlatepelt / Orizaba.
We were joined by our guides Roberto Flores and Javier, who perfectly managed and organized our trip with plenty of sightseeing besides ckimbing (Museum of Antropology, Guadalupe in mexico, Puebla, Cholula and of course Teotihuacan). I strongly recommend their service for such trips.
The glacier on izta is very limited in size and no crevasse at all was visible.
It seems likely glaciers there will further diminish.
Bruno Baschung
michellen - May 9, 2010 5:37 pm Date Climbed: Jan 6, 2010
Izta
Turned around at the knees, was feeling unusually cold, only way I can describe it is it felt like a knife cutting through my clothes and underneath my skin. I had been sick and was taking medicine I hadn't taken before, maybe it affected my circulation? Who knows. This was an acclimitization climb for Orizaba, but we got weathered in at the hut on Orizaba, so no luck for me on this trip. But the volcanoes will be there and I'll be back some day...
I had the mountain all to myself on Easter Sunday. I climbed as a dayhike without piolet / crampons after spending two nights acclimatizing at the pass. Cody The Dog made it to his first (and only?) 5000m summit. !!!Que Barbaro!!!
Garon Coriz - Feb 4, 2010 7:10 pm Date Climbed: Dec 27, 2009
Awesome Trip
Due to buddy's altitude sickness and high winds, our summit day was delayed one day. Met many nice people at the mountain--a wonderful place. I think I was the only one to summit that day because the people we were with went to the shorter one on the NE corner of the summit glacier. I went to both and thought the SE peak was higher. Close enough, I guess.
gimpilator - Nov 22, 2009 9:24 am Date Climbed: Nov 19, 2009
La Arista del Sol
For a number of reasons, we didn't make it to the summit. Mike Robbin and I attempted a one day ascent. I just barely passed 16,000 feet on the knees before turning around. This is a gorgeous mountain. I'll be back some day. Here is the Trip Report
B-Grooms - Mar 23, 2013 11:55 pm Date Climbed: Feb 13, 2013
SuccessThis was my first summit on a trip climbing Ixtaccihuatl and El Pico de Orizaba in 9 days. Great climb, a lot different than Orizaba, nice approach to high camp at 15,000 ft. Beautiful country, got acclimated on a hike and sleep at 10,000 ft two nights before on La Malinche. Great climb. Popo was giving a show the entire time with rumbling and smoke throughout the days.
ncst - Dec 12, 2012 2:06 pm Date Climbed: Dec 9, 2012
Solo up Ayoloco glacierTook the bus Saturday morning from Puebla to Cholula, from there the combi to Xalixintla. After walking for an hour with some pilgrims (they walk to Basilica Guadelupe in Mexico city) I got a ride to paso de cortés. Then walked to La Joyita (2h), from there to the refugio a the bottom of the glacier (5h). Next morning up the glacier on to the summit (3h), down the arista del sol. Lots of people on the mountain, great weather, great shots of Popos fumarolas.
donutslayer - Nov 14, 2012 2:55 pm
Great climbI managed to the volcano after talking a few students from Cuenavaca to rent a car with me. Everyone hiked up to the hut and I went on to the summit the following morning. It was a great climb with a beautiful night skyline of DF's lights.
jmarkham - Nov 14, 2012 2:22 pm
IztaccihuattlFantastic last climb of the three big volcanoes including Popo and Orizaba. We had to fast head down to avoid lightning from an incoming storm.
Daria - Sep 22, 2012 2:36 pm Date Climbed: Dec 22, 2011
del SolBad case of altitude sickness, but managed to pull through. Very pretty place. Climbed before Orizaba
Matt Lemke - Mar 21, 2012 12:52 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2012
La Arista del SolTook 3 days...packed into the Grupo de los Cien hut and camped. Climbed to the summit and camped again before heading out. After Pico de Orizaba this peak was easy lol!
cab - Mar 5, 2012 3:06 pm Date Climbed: Feb 29, 2012
La Arista del SolLeft the Grupo de los Cien hut at 2am under cloudless and windless skies. The routefinding up to the knees was a little tricky in the dark, but not too bad - just look for paint marks and cairns. We used crampons and axes right from the hut.
From the knees the route was relatively straightforward although we were breaking trail since no one had been up since the last storm.
I really enjoyed this climb since it's so different than the standard volcano slog for thousands of feet up a snowfield or glacier. Great views of the city lights on the way up and the sunrise from the summit. This was our second climb of the trip after La Malinche and before Pico de Orizaba.
mreiter1 - Dec 11, 2011 2:00 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2008
SuccessStandard Route
hunterslee - Oct 23, 2011 10:52 pm Date Climbed: Apr 1, 2010
Long TraverseGreat views of Popo and of Orizaba in the morning. We were a little ambitious with our aclimatization so by the time we completed the traverse we all had symptons of altitude sickness...good learning experience for all. We should have stayed at the hut but opted to do the longer trek from the parking lot, hence we had a 17 hour day.
BrianChase - Aug 22, 2011 4:56 pm
La Arista del Soljust shy of summit.... popo was smoking away in the early dawn, just amazing
jck - Mar 23, 2011 7:28 pm Date Climbed: Mar 20, 2011
La Arista del SolAfter few days on Orizaba climbing Ixta was a kind of pleasure. Hiked from Paso de Cortez up to 4600 meters and camped in a tent below the hut. Next day climbed to the top as the first climbers that day: nice views, very strong wind (made my camera frozen).
Not knowing which one is the highest climbed all the three possible 'true' summits.
Got drunk in Amecameca that day.
Climbed with Radek (brade).
Deschamps - Feb 3, 2011 4:15 pm Date Climbed: Nov 14, 2010
First 5000er!This Volcano is amazing, nothing like other volcanos or mountains! When you are approaching you can truly see the shape of the sleeping woman (the true meaning of Iztaccihuatl is "White Woman"). I got some AMS because of the change of altitude. We drove all night from Monterrey City which is at 500mts AMSL (and about 1000km away) and by 7pm of the next day we were camping at 4,700mts AMSL so I got the head ache of my life, had to drink a lot of water and relax with the beautiful sight of Puebla at night. By 5am we started walking to the summit and got there at 10:30am, there was barely no ice on the way, just a few meters on the "belly" glacier but it has almost no slope (our guide didn't even wore crampons...). It's a shame that this glacier it's almost gone, if I ever have sons I would love to take them there but I'm afraid there won't be any ice left.
logikal - Jan 11, 2011 9:23 am Date Climbed: Jan 7, 2011
A New YearA beautiful day with great friends. This was part of a new years assault on the Mexican volcanoes from Dec. 30 - Jan 10. This was the last of the 4 volcanoes we targeted on the trip. It took us roughly 12.5 hours as we got lost above the Grupo los Cien hut during the night and winded up on some class 4 and lower class 5 terrain. Needless to say we were relieved once we found the regular route after some sketchy climbing on loose rock high up on the knees.
tb00957 - Nov 28, 2010 3:36 pm Date Climbed: Nov 23, 2010
IztaccihuatlGreat view. Stayed overnight at the hut at 15k. Makes the summit easier. Still a long way on the ridge.
graham - Nov 17, 2010 5:23 pm Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2010
Izta hike via Hut #19Hiked up & down the standard route via Las Ciens hut 19 (between the feet and the 1st knee). Took us about 12 hours for the around trip from the radio/TV station hostel. Beautiful views!
bruno baschung - Nov 15, 2010 4:16 pm Date Climbed: Nov 10, 2010
arista del solAscent of the normal route with my friends Herman de Backer and jerome Mison, following the arisat del sol from Las Ciens refuge in just 3Hrs, excellent conditions up there.
We went up to the summit (5222m according GPS with 543 hpa in barometric pressure) but also realized, there are in fact 3 different tops, which is not often mentionned. We climbed all of them in 30/35 minutes, and checked with GPS , they all quote the same height of 5222m.
This was part of a 8 days programs combining also Citlatepelt / Orizaba.
We were joined by our guides Roberto Flores and Javier, who perfectly managed and organized our trip with plenty of sightseeing besides ckimbing (Museum of Antropology, Guadalupe in mexico, Puebla, Cholula and of course Teotihuacan). I strongly recommend their service for such trips.
The glacier on izta is very limited in size and no crevasse at all was visible.
It seems likely glaciers there will further diminish.
Bruno Baschung
michellen - May 9, 2010 5:37 pm Date Climbed: Jan 6, 2010
IztaTurned around at the knees, was feeling unusually cold, only way I can describe it is it felt like a knife cutting through my clothes and underneath my skin. I had been sick and was taking medicine I hadn't taken before, maybe it affected my circulation? Who knows. This was an acclimitization climb for Orizaba, but we got weathered in at the hut on Orizaba, so no luck for me on this trip. But the volcanoes will be there and I'll be back some day...
paisajeroamericano - May 2, 2010 6:22 pm Date Climbed: Apr 15, 2009
PascuaI had the mountain all to myself on Easter Sunday. I climbed as a dayhike without piolet / crampons after spending two nights acclimatizing at the pass. Cody The Dog made it to his first (and only?) 5000m summit. !!!Que Barbaro!!!
Garon Coriz - Feb 4, 2010 7:10 pm Date Climbed: Dec 27, 2009
Awesome TripDue to buddy's altitude sickness and high winds, our summit day was delayed one day. Met many nice people at the mountain--a wonderful place. I think I was the only one to summit that day because the people we were with went to the shorter one on the NE corner of the summit glacier. I went to both and thought the SE peak was higher. Close enough, I guess.
gimpilator - Nov 22, 2009 9:24 am Date Climbed: Nov 19, 2009
La Arista del SolFor a number of reasons, we didn't make it to the summit. Mike Robbin and I attempted a one day ascent. I just barely passed 16,000 feet on the knees before turning around. This is a gorgeous mountain. I'll be back some day. Here is the Trip Report
UPDATE:
I returned January 12, 2017 and was successful.
Trip Report with photos