Planning to do a climb of Orizaba in November this year and trying to decide whether or not I need to hire a guide.
I have what I believe to be some pretty decent route-finding skills and most recently I self-guided up the SE Couloir route on Gannett so I have some experience route finding on mixed routes with glacier, rock and snow- though admittedly I am looking to gain more experience on larger glaciers.
How difficult is the route finding in the so-called "labyrinth" on Orizaba? From what I gather this is the main challenge for this mountain and everything else is pretty straight-forward. It seems that the route finding on Gannett is more challenging. If that's the case is it still worth hiring a guide simply for the added safety and convenience of having a local in our party?
Also anything else I'm not considering? I gather the main crevasses danger is the bergshrund and most other crevasses are not an issue. That would leave just the altitude for me to be concerned with as I've not climbed higher than about 14.5k ft being in the lower 48, but I haven't had any issues up to that level so I'm looking forward to getting a good test at higher altitudes.
Gear considerations- Rope needed (was thinking at most a 40m half)? Ice screws? pickets? I thought at minimum a crevasses rescue kit, but not sure how much of that should be for ice VS snow?
Thanks!
Edit: to a mod- I meant to post this to the Mexico regional board rather than climbing partners (though I'm always up for climbing with new people!) so a move would be great! Thanks!