Entries from Mexico
After a great rest day in scenic Puebla, our team traveled to Tlachichuca to get ready for our attempt of Pico de Orizaba. We exploded our gear in the 200-year old courtyard of our host and outfitter, Dr. Reyes. Once a soap factory, now climber's hostel, his lovely compound is now the launching pad for most climbers trying Orizaba.
After repacking our climbing gear, we sat down to a great lunch, then boarded our truck with full bellies and drove to Piedra Grande. At Piedra Grande, we set up camp and had another big meal before turning in to catch a few zzz's. We'll wake up in a few hours and give this "mountain of stars" a shot under a full moon. If all goes well, we'll send a shout from the top. Buenas noches and cross your fingers for us!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
It is amazing to think that this morning our team watched the sun rise from the summit ridge of Ixta. We climbed strong today, up the moraines and rock leading up to the Ayoloco Glacier that is the "White Woman's" last major snow veil. There we gained the ridge as the the waxing gibbous moon set to our left and we waited for the sun to warm us from the right. It was a great climb and everyone should be proud of a job well (and safely) done.
Back at camp we enjoyed an early morning nap and packed up for the walk out. Pretty solid amount of activity before 11 am. We made it out over rock fields and steep grassy slopes, crossing pastureland before hopping in the vans and heading to Puebla. On our drive through the back roads of Paso Cortes, Cholula and Puebla gave us great views of smoking Popo (Ixta's warrior Romeo) and many angles of the lady herself. Quite a treat to drive through the lights we looked down on a few hours before on our way to hot showers and a triumphant meal in our new home for a day.
Tomorrow we will recuperate and relax in the historic colonial town of Puebla, and reconvene for dinner to recount our day's adventures to the team. Then it's off to get in position for our chance on Pico de Orizaba, rested and ready.
Wish us luck amigos,
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Rest up for tomorrow’s big climb. Miss you lots!
Posted by: Deb on 2/17/2011 at 6:04 am
Have fun today, best of luck on Friday! I’ll be praying y’all up the mountain!
Posted by: Patsy Judy on 2/17/2011 at 5:35 am
Hello everybody this is Jake with RMI’s Mexico Volcanoes Trip. Our team is standing on the top of Ixtaccihuatl right now about to catch the sunrise. Beautiful day, light winds, really strong team. Everybody is doing great. Really couldn’t ask for a better day. Thanks to everybody back home.
We will be touching base when we get a little bit lower.
Have a good one. It’s pretty good up here.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Sweet Sucess!! You have acomplished your goal. congratulations to all!!!
Posted by: mary doyle on 2/16/2011 at 8:26 pm
Hopefully you took tons of pictures of the sunrise. Glad to hear all made it up with ease. Be safe on the next adventure.
Posted by: Teresa on 2/16/2011 at 2:35 pm
Greetings from our high camp on Ixta at 14,700 feet above sea level. Today we hiked from our hut to this high camp below the Ayoloco Glacier, known here as the Stomach of Ixta, the 'White Woman.' Everyone did very well today and seems to be handling our new high point very well.
This afternoon we are reviewing crampons, ice axes and rope travel around camp before an early dinner. For dinner's entertainment we will go over the plan for tomorrow's attempt on Ixta, looking at our route and discussing our strategies for the day. Then it's off to bed for an early start for summit day. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hope it’s going well ... sounds like a great team.
Posted by: Jon McHenry on 2/16/2011 at 7:39 am
Thinking of y’all constantly! Enjoy and be safe!
Posted by: Patsy Judy on 2/16/2011 at 5:59 am
Travel day to Altzimoni hut.
The roads were great as we drove from La Malinche to Amecameca to do a little final food shopping and check out the colorful local market.
Then we finalized our approach to the Altzimoni hut and spent the afternoon sorting our gear, setting up tents and taking a walk to scope our route on Ixtaccihuatl.
Tomorrow we will move to our high camp and prepare for our summit attempt.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Today we left the hustle of Mexico City and drove to the high altitude training facility of La Malintzi for our first taste of the thin air. We hiked through the forest, climbing until we broke above treeline and gained our high point on the ridge of La Malinche at around 13,000 feet. We were strong today and after a little siesta and dinner are bedding down to rest up for tomorrows journey to the Altzimoni hut, our jump off for Ixta.
Buenas Noches and happy birthday to Christian and a big Valentine's Day hug to all the sweeties up North.
Happy Valentines Day Christian and hope your birthday was fun - miss you!
Posted by: Deb on 2/14/2011 at 1:14 pm
Last night our entire crew met in the lobby of our Colonial-era hotel in the heart of Mexico City, right on the Zocalo or main square. We all introduced ourselves and began the process of turning into a team by all going out to a local restaurant where we ate great authentic food and were serenaded by a squad of Mariachis.
This morning we had a quick breakfast before finishing up our packing and heading down to meet Rogelio, our long-time transportation guru here in Mexico. He will help us travel to La Malintzi where we will begin our acclimatization process by hiking up to 13,000 feet on the old volcano of La Malinche.
Here we go!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Happy Valentine’s Day. Be safe and have fun.
Posted by: Teresa on 2/14/2011 at 5:31 am
Have a great time… and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted by: Gena on 2/13/2011 at 9:39 pm
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
After a big day on the mountain, we stood on the top of Mexico's highest peak. Everyone did a great job and really earned the magnificent views of Ixta, Popo and La Malinche. It was a great night for climbing, shooting stars above, lit villages below, light winds on route and a great team. Excellent work. Back in Tlachichuca we all slept well for some reason and had our last meal together as a team. In our courtyard we could see Pico de Orizaba and the heights we reached yesterday at the same time of day. Now it's off to Mexico City to catch flights back home and watch the thousands of pilgrims riding bikes and trucks as well as walking to celebrate Mexico's favorite Lady of Guadalupe. Glad we get to drive. Thanks for a great trip everyone and safe travels back home.
Hello, this is RMI Guide Jake Beren calling to check in from our Mexico's Volcanoes program. We are happy to report that we reached the summit of Orizaba today at 9:00 a.m. local time. Our team did a great job on the climb.
We are headed back to Tlachichuca to celebrate and enjoy our last night in Mexico. Tomorrow we will return to Mexico City for our outbound flights.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
After an excellent rest day in Puebla where we explored the cobblestone streets, museums and pyramids we packed up and hit the road. In Tlachichuca we finalized our mountain equipment and enjoyed a great lunch at the climbers' compound run by our friend Dr. Reyes. Loading the truck and piling in saved us a long approach to the mountain. Once at the hut we had a big dinner and hit the sack. Tonight we will try our luck on Pico de Orizaba.
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Best of luck everyone! Thinking of you and looking forward to hearing from you from the top!
Posted by: Missy on 2/18/2011 at 6:02 pm
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