Pro on Orizaba
Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:13 pmDoes anyone suggest any pro (pickets or screws) for the glacier on Orizaba?
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Pro on Orizaba
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:13 pmPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:17 pmNo.
get off your horse!
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:38 pmno? that´s laughable, with such limited experience most people (besides senor reyes and locals) cannot judge average conditions on the glacier and judge others experience and climbing attitudes? climbed two days ago, the senor said the last snowfall was in late november and then a rain freeze the glacier is plenty iced and if you are planning a roped ascent bring a screw or two, pickets are useless.
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:43 pmDepends on your experience. IMHO I travel w/o technical pro: with good cramponing and ice axe skills you can travel safely. You NEED to be sure about your skills as stopping the slide with the current conditions is almost impossible. The advise is to travel later in the day, so that you find yourself on the glacier around 9 am. When the sun softens the upper snow layer, it is easier to climb and it is certainly safer to downclimb on the softer snow.
We have been there Dec 23 and made it to the Ice Needle with the traverse of the crater rim.
We have been there Dec 23 and made it to the Ice Needle with the traverse of the crater rim.
Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:54 pmA friend borrowed my ax and went up. The only protection he talked about was Immodium vs Montezuma's revenge. 
Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:31 amsee your PMs
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:14 amAnyone recently been up Orizaba? I'm going in a couple weeks....
I saw this blog entry on a climber in Mexico right now:
"At the trailhead, we ran into a couple guys who had just come from Orizaba, our next destination. They said that no one was able to summit when they were there because of extreme winds and bullet ice on the glacier. So that seems unlikely. Oh well."
From http://mouser.org
So if conditions are like this it seems to me one ought to take some pro? I mean, the wind can't be helped but one can prepare for the ice conditions.
I saw this blog entry on a climber in Mexico right now:
"At the trailhead, we ran into a couple guys who had just come from Orizaba, our next destination. They said that no one was able to summit when they were there because of extreme winds and bullet ice on the glacier. So that seems unlikely. Oh well."
From http://mouser.org
So if conditions are like this it seems to me one ought to take some pro? I mean, the wind can't be helped but one can prepare for the ice conditions.
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:46 pmCame back from Orizaba yesterday. Unless you are really comfortable on steep icy terrain, I would suggest pro.
The ice is incredibly hard, allowing no penetration by an ice axe shaft and self arrest is next to impossible. We were on Orizaba for 4 days. We saw approximately 10 teams go for the summit and only 2 were successful. Most people including one guided client turned around due to the hard ice. According to a some locals who have been up there a few times over the last few weeks, this last week was much icier than the previous weeks.
As far as I know, there were 4 falls while we were there. 1 was in the labyrinth because the guy felt comfortable going through it without crampons. He fell and hit his head (no helmet). He was okay, but bloody and bruised.
The other 3 falls were on the glacier, 2 of them were stopped by the same guy, a guide training people for mountain rescue. I couldn't get exact details due to the language barrier.
The other fall was by a guy on a 2-man Russian team. They were roped and the one who stopped the fall was using a technical ice tool. They mentioned a standard mountaineering axe would have been useless.
We were unable to summit due to weather. Pretty dissapointing. We had beautiful weather during our acclimitization days and we felt great at 5000 meters, then the weather turned to $#!t for the rest of our trip. We tried to wait it out but it just kept getting worse. When we made it back to Tlachichuca, we could see the giant lenticular cloud engulfing the summit.
A few RMI guides are still up there and they brought technical ice tools. I would feel comfortable not using pro with the tools, but would consider using a few screws without them.
The ice is incredibly hard, allowing no penetration by an ice axe shaft and self arrest is next to impossible. We were on Orizaba for 4 days. We saw approximately 10 teams go for the summit and only 2 were successful. Most people including one guided client turned around due to the hard ice. According to a some locals who have been up there a few times over the last few weeks, this last week was much icier than the previous weeks.
As far as I know, there were 4 falls while we were there. 1 was in the labyrinth because the guy felt comfortable going through it without crampons. He fell and hit his head (no helmet). He was okay, but bloody and bruised.
The other 3 falls were on the glacier, 2 of them were stopped by the same guy, a guide training people for mountain rescue. I couldn't get exact details due to the language barrier.
The other fall was by a guy on a 2-man Russian team. They were roped and the one who stopped the fall was using a technical ice tool. They mentioned a standard mountaineering axe would have been useless.
We were unable to summit due to weather. Pretty dissapointing. We had beautiful weather during our acclimitization days and we felt great at 5000 meters, then the weather turned to $#!t for the rest of our trip. We tried to wait it out but it just kept getting worse. When we made it back to Tlachichuca, we could see the giant lenticular cloud engulfing the summit.
A few RMI guides are still up there and they brought technical ice tools. I would feel comfortable not using pro with the tools, but would consider using a few screws without them.
Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:35 pmI climbed orizaba this morning and returned to Sr Reyes´Servimont an hour ago. Conditions are very good right now. We roped up upon reaching the glacier, but another member of our party decided the conditions were very good and no rope was needed. Ít´s very solid and everything on the mtn is in good shape. The climbing was great and the glacier does not seem to ever end, but eventually it did and we saw a wonderful sunrise from the summit!
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:24 amOur group was at the hut from December 29 through January 1. Due to high winds and low clouds, no one summitted on December 30 or 31. The weather finally improved on January 1, and we reached the summit at around 10:00 a.m. Another group made it up before us. Seemed like the lower glacier was much icier than the upper glacier.