Day One: Upon your arrival in Mexico City (7,300 feet), a taxi ride takes you to our hotel.  Our hotel is near the heart of the city in the lively El Zócalo (Constitution Square) with its many museums, shops, outdoor cafes, pubs and restaurants.  We have an evening orientation meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the hotel lobby.

Day Two: We get an early start, leaving the hotel at 7:00 a.m. and drive in private vehicles to the Cabaña Resort, located at 10,000’ at the base of La Malinche (14,636 feet). This facility is used by Mexico’s Olympic Team for training and provides an important role in our team’s acclimatization.  We take an acclimatization hike on La Malinche and return to the cabanas for overnight.

Day Three: At 8:00 a.m. we depart La Malinche and travel to Tlachichuca, located at the base of El Pico de Orizaba. After lunch, four-wheel drive trucks take us to Piedra Grande, our first camp at 14,000 feet. We spend the night in tents near the hut.

Day Four: Following breakfast, we spend time reviewing ice axe arrest, cramponing and rope travel practices. We will spend the remainder of the day making preparations for our early alpine start.

Day Five: Summit Day on Pico de Orizaba! With an early alpine start we make our way through a maze of rock and scree.  Upon reaching the Jamapa Glacier, we don crampons and ice axes, and rope up for the remainder of the ascent. The glaciers on Orizaba are relatively non-technical, with very few crevasses, and the ascent to 18,701 feet is fairly straight-forward. After our summit celebration and photo session, we begin our descent. Upon reaching Piedra Grande, we load our trucks and descend for a hot shower and a home cooked meal. We spend the night in a climbers’ hostel in Tlachichuca.

Day Six: At 8:00 a.m. we depart Tlachichuca for Mexico City. Our vehicles should arrive in Mexico City around noon, and we recommend booking your flight for 3 p.m. or later.