Hello this is Jake Beren with the RMI Mexico's Volcanoes Team. We are down in La Malintze which is just to the east of Mexico City where we did our first acclimatization hike on La Malinche today. Everyone did very well and we got up to just under 14,000' with good weather and came back down to a big meal and tomorrow we will head in the way of Ixta by way of Amecameca and a big breakfast.
So, all is well here and we will check in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in after the team's first acclimatization hike.
Off to a good start down here. Everyone is in, safe and sound and after a brief orientation we kept the good times rollin' with a solid meal at Cafe Tacuba and an early night of sleep. Tomorrow we start our acclimatization with our journey to La Malinche. More later from the mountains.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello from Tlachichuca,
Upon our arrival to the Piedra Grande Hut, we heard from fellow guides that they had been turned due to bad weather the night before on Orizaba. It appears as though Central Mexico has been getting hit hard these days by the weather demons, and not just on Ixta. When we woke last night a different story was being written. It was downright balmy! It did cool off as we climbed, but we enjoyed near perfect weather as we climbed through a little bit of new snow to the glacier where most fresh precipitation had been blown far away.
The team did a great job on a huge day and we all stood on top together, with great views of Mexico's volcanoes even Ixta came out for the first time all week.
Thanks to a great team, Mexico crew and fellow guides JJ and Fernando for an awesome trip!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello everybody. This is Jake, JJ, Fernando, Mike, Mav, Bob, Jim, Peter, April, Cyrus, Christopher and Matt. We are all on the summit of Orizaba! Everybody did super well. We got 100% of our team up. Everyone climbed super strong. Light winds, beautiful day. We can see all the mountains in Mexico that we've been around and everyone is doing super great. Wish us luck on the descent and we'll call in later. Nice job everybody. Thanks a lot!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Yesterday was a rest day in the colonial town of Puebla. This is a fun day for the team, one where everyone gets a chance to explore the town a get taste of this beautiful Mexican city. We reconvened at dinner to share the day's exploits. Trips to the city's fort, churches, shopping and general exploration were the missions recounted at dinner. Now it's off to Tlachichuca, where we will rig for our attempt on Orizaba. The weather looks more promising today, and we all hope it holds and improves for another few days. Wish us luck amigos.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Now our team is safely in Puebla, getting cleaned up and reorganized after a valiant effort on Ixta.
As we pulled into our high camp yesterday afternoon our fingers were crossed tightly for a break in the weather. By the time we sat up to fire stoves, a ferocious snow storm pelted the tents and kept us at bay. It came down hard for a few hours, then the wind started. Camp remained in a wet windy cloud and still we waited, hoping for a spell in the storm. It never came. After a mostly sleepless night, the sun finally turned our cloud light and we started packing up. The team handled the sub-ideal conditions like true climbers, realistic that safety trumps all and hunkering down in this case was by far the most prudent choice. Now we rest in Puebla and get ready to head to Orizaba for the next climb, just a little hungrier.
RMI Guides Jake Beren & J.J. Justman
Hello everyone,
This is RMI Guide JJ Justman checking in. We want to let everyone following our Mexico's Volcanoes Expedition know that we are at high camp on Ixta (14,750ft). The Team is doing fantastic. We are preparing for our summit bid tomorrow, so we are getting our water ready. We are planning on waking up around midnight and getting hot drinks going for our crew.
It is pretty unusual right now, there is a ton of snow that you don’t normally see here on Ixta, but it is actually making for some pretty nice climbing. Weather is calm there is no wind, so we will keep our fingers crossed. It’s looking like it is going to be a great day tomorrow, so stay tuned. We will check in again tomorrow and will hopefully have some great news. We are looking at a nice safe climb of Ixta.
Ciao from Mexico!
Hello from the Mexico's Volcanoes Team,
Today we left our high altitude training site ready to go higher. After a lovely brunch overlooking the Txacala waterfall we continued to the town of Amecameca to finish acquiring our provisions for Ixta. Loaded with plenty of food we drove to Paso de Cortez, the col between Ixta and Popo, to finish our approach to the Altzimoni hut. Here we rest, with full bellies, and finish our last preparations before hitting the trail to our high camp on Ixtaccihuatl.
The weather has been a bit unseasonable so far, with rare snow at these elevations. Folks from the surrounding towns have been driving up to check out the snow and we have passed more than a few cars with tiny snowmen perched on their hoods. Our fingers are crossed that the "White Woman" (as Ixtaccihuatl is known because it resembles a woman sleeping on her back, and is often covered with snow) will be without her blanket of clouds tomorrow.
Wish us luck,
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello this is the RMI Mexico's Volcanoes Team checking in from La Malintzi, which is at the base of La Malinche (14,636 feet) this is the mountain we went hiking on today. For the first time that I’ve ever seen there was a fair bit of snow to hike through up top to get to the ridge. The team did very well getting through some pretty good conditions; a little bit of snow, a little bit of wind, and a little bit of rain. A real mixed bag. It was a great day and everyone did very well. We are going to grab some dinner and get ready to head toward the Altzimoni hut tomorrow which is at the base of Ixta.
That’s all from here, everyone is doing great and we will keep you posted.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from Mexico after the team's acclimatization hike.
Hello from Mexico City,
Tonight the team arrived, all with the same number of bags they left the states with and ready to go. We had a great intro dinner at a classic Centro Historico restaurant and retired to our rooms to get a good night's sleep before leaving the city tomorrow. Off to a good start down here and we'll check in from La Malinche tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Jake, Dan! Grillin bacon wrapped filet practicing for the Ashford season. Have fun you guys!
Posted by: JJ on 3/4/2012 at 5:40 pm
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