I am thinking of climbing Izta and would like to correspond with someone who has done it already. At this point, I am leaning toward the Ridge of the Sun route. Is this a nontechnical route? What specialized equipment/skills do you need?

I'd be happy to discuss.
We climbed the Ridge of the Sun (Arista del Sol) several weeks ago. PM me or visit my website and read the trip report (email address on the bottom of each page):
http://www.splattski.com/2008/mexico/index.html

I was also there last week. Water is a big issue right now as there are no running water sources on either of the main routes. One has to carry in all water or take long hikes to get to water from camps. I ascended the Ayoloco Glacer and descended the Arista Del Sol. The glacier is very icy and not much fun.

lefty wrote:I was also there last week. Water is a big issue right now as there are no running water sources on either of the main routes. One has to carry in all water or take long hikes to get to water from camps. I ascended the Ayoloco Glacer and descended the Arista Del Sol. The glacier is very icy and not much fun.

Lefty, I was looking at the Ayoloco Glacier as an alternative to Arista del Sol. How difficult was the ascent? How technical? Were there crevasses? Did you rope up? Was it not fun because of the icy conditions? Are those conditions the norm?