A friend and I are hoping to rendezvous in Mexico City and summit two of the volcanoes there. I am a teacher and he is a friend from the Peace Corps. We are putting together a tight schedule due to the restrictions of my job. Right now we are testing the water to see if our itinerary is ambitious, too ambitious or flat out crazy. We are hoping that some people more familiar with these peaks could give us some feedback and let us know if we can pull off this long weekend for the ages.
<b>
FEB 2008
14th - fly in to Mexico City early AM head straight to Iztaccihuatl (17,343 feet). Climb to high camp to spend the night.
15th - summit Iztaccihuatl early AM, descend, and the head to Orizaba base
16th - climb to high shelter on Orizaba
17th - summit in early AM, descend. Stay in big town near Orizaba?
18th - TO heads to Mexico City to fly out in the afternoon and BL heads East.</b>

Thanks for honest and helpful feedback!

Climb high,

TO

PS If you are interested in joining we are open to new members of the party so hit me up.

Do you and your friend always never need altitude acclimation when climbing high mountains?

Are you and your friend immune to mountain sickness?

Are you and your friend always lucky with ideal weather conditions when you travel?


I'd join you but I was just at Citlatepetl and Iztaccihuatl.

bird wrote:Even living at 7,000 feet, this is too ambitious IMO. If this is the only time you have, skip Izta and try something like this...
14 Mexico City go to Tlachichuca
15th Go to hut on Oriz
16th hike take it easy, scope the glacier approach.
17th summit Oriz
18 head home.
I did this a few years ago with a little Diamox and made it. It was pretty aggressive, but not too bad. You may get to the hut and feel like crap and never make it.
But I think coming from 7K you'll have an advantage. But still, going from 7K to 17K is asking for trouble.
Also, not sure what you mean by "climb to high shelter on Orizaba". Take a jeep to the hut. Skip high camp. lugging a tent, bag, etc to high camp is not worth IMO.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. You may be able to pull off your itinerary no problem. Or you may get HACE and die. Aren't mountains fun!

I agree with Bird. I've been down there a few times for both peaks and I think your attempt on both is too much for the few days you have in Mexico. Focus on either one and actually enjoy your brief visit. Then go back another time for the other peak if the compressed schedule works for you. With this timeline don't bother with a high camp. Cheers!

14th - fly in to Mexico City early AM head straight to Iztaccihuatl (17,343 feet). Climb to high camp to spend the night.
15th - summit Iztaccihuatl early AM, descend, and the head to Orizaba base
16th - climb to high shelter on Orizaba
17th - summit in early AM, descend. Stay in big town near Orizaba?
18th - TO heads to Mexico City to fly out in the afternoon and BL heads East.

Unless you are already acclimatized somehow, the above would be a bad idea, especially if you haven't been to high altitudes before. I can actually say this from experience too as the Mexican Volcanoes were my first taste of such altitudes and I did get sick from going up too fast and still didn't do it as fast as your above schedule.

Chances are even if you did do it, you would be miserable. If that's all the time you have I would focus on Malinche and/or Toluca or maybe one of those plus Izta. Rushed, but doable.

Shoot for the stars and go right to Orizaba. 3 days is normal on the mountain. First day drive to hut, 2nd day go up to glacier and then back down, its a great way to understand how to get up in the light because you will be leaving in darkness the next day.3rd day climb the peak and go backto hut then car to town. Use the small outfitter, use Sr Gerar. Enjoy Mexico.

I have to agree with what has been said...it is really ambitious. Altitude can kick your butt big time if you are not properly acclimatized.
If you are planning to travel by bus, you will have to go back to Mexico city between the 2 mountains....going from 1 mountain to the other will take 7 hours at best and you will need to take 3 buses...
Of course is not that bad is you hire a taxi or have your own rental car.

bighornmonkey wrote:I have to agree with what has been said...it is really ambitious. Altitude can kick your butt big time if you are not properly acclimatized.
If you are planning to travel by bus, you will have to go back to Mexico city between the 2 mountains....going from 1 mountain to the other will take 7 hours at best and you will need to take 3 buses...
Of course is not that bad is you hire a taxi or have your own rental car.

Not true. Puebla is the hub. In and out of mexico city once every trip is all I want to see. Actually Puebla is a ditch too. The farther south you travel the more nice it gets.

bird wrote:I second Sr. Gerar. He was very helpful and affordable.

The Limon's are just as nice and cost the same so you can't go wrong with eithe choice. Cheers!

bird wrote:

tobrien wrote:FEB 2008
14th - fly in to Mexico City early AM head straight to Iztaccihuatl (17,343 feet). Climb to high camp to spend the night.
15th - summit Iztaccihuatl early AM, descend, and the head to Orizaba base
16th - climb to high shelter on Orizaba
17th - summit in early AM, descend. Stay in big town near Orizaba?
18th - TO heads to Mexico City to fly out in the afternoon and BL heads East.</b>


PS If you are interested in joining we are open to new members of the party so hit me up.

Even living at 7,000 feet, this is too ambitious IMO. If this is the only time you have, skip Izta and try something like this...
14 Mexico City go to Tlachichuca
15th Go to hut on Oriz
16th hike take it easy, scope the glacier approach.
17th summit Oriz
18 head home.
I did this a few years ago with a little Diamox and made it. It was pretty aggressive, but not too bad. You may get to the hut and feel like crap and never make it.
But I think coming from 7K you'll have an advantage. But still, going from 7K to 17K is asking for trouble.
Also, not sure what you mean by "climb to high shelter on Orizaba". Take a jeep to the hut. Skip high camp. lugging a tent, bag, etc to high camp is not worth IMO.
Anyway, just my 2 cents. You may be able to pull off your itinerary no problem. Or you may get HACE and die. Aren't mountains fun!

I totally understand what you are saying and agree. My buddy put this itinerary together and wanted to see what people thought. I appreciate all the honest and informative responses. I think focusing on Orizaba is key and having a less ambitious agenda but more potential for success is how I would like to do things.