Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Hi everyone. This is JJ Justman and Mike King and Team Mexico. This morning we parted the beautiful colonial city of Puebla. We had a great rest day yesterday in Puebla enjoying a little bit of the good life. This morning we took off and headed to Orizaba, which is where we are right now. We set up camp. We are actually going expedition style, so the tents are up and the stoves are going for some hot drinks. The weather right now is a little little bit cloudy, little bit foggy and a light mist. The weather actually isn't too bad; nice and calm so that's good. Everyone's doing really, really well. We're looking forward to a great summit day tomorrow. Our plan is to have an early dinner, and then wake up and start climbing just after midnight, give or take. It should be a full day for us tomorrow, so stay tuned. We'll give a call, keep your fingers crossed, and hopefully will call you from the summit of the third highest mountain in North America, Orizaba. Thanks for following along. We'll touch base again tomorrow. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls in from Piedra Grande Hut in Mexico.
On The Map
The RMI Mexico team is in Puebla. While at their hotel, RMI Guide, JJ Justman, was able to send us photos and a video of his team's successful Ixta summit. Check it out below!
Hey, everyone, this is JJ and Mike and Team Mexico. I'm going to give everyone 3 seconds to guess, that's right, three seconds to guess where we are. You don't need that much time you guessed it, we are all 100%, the entire team, is on the summit of Ixta as we speak. I'll tell you what, it was a beautiful day climbing, actually probably my best day on Ixta of all my years, over a decade of coming here. Just a beautiful day climbing and a great strong team, we worked hard but everyone did well. We are taking a few summit photos, have a little bit of water and food and then we are going to throw the rucksacks back on and head down hill. Don't go too far away we are going to go all the way down to Puebla later this afternoon. And I'm going to hopefully make a summit video as well as post a few photos. Thanks for following along. We are really excited to be up here and we really appreciate your support. So stay tuned a little later and you'll see how beautiful today was climbing. Take care everyone, chao from the summit of Ixta.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl, 17,340', Mexico.
On The Map
Hello RMI Blog followers. Team Mexico is coming at you live from high camp on Ixta. It was a beautiful day. It was a tough day; however, the team did awesome getting to 15,400 feet.
We are busy setting up camp and the name of the game is recovering with a good meal and some hot drinks. We will depart tomorrow at 3 a.m. for the summit so wish us well!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
Great photos. Praying for all to have a safe climb. Enjoying the blog.
Posted by: Linda Manley on 11/11/2015 at 7:53 am
Today was a fantastic day for Team Mexico! We left our cabins at La Malinche and continued on our adventure. After a hearty buffet breakfast and a few team members saying "I can't believe I ate 3 breakfasts!" we hit the road and headed to our first objective, Ixta.
We made a quick pit stop to buy a few last items and we also acquired our park entrance permits. We are now settling in the Altzomoni Hut at 12,000'. The team went for another hike to get the blood flowing and everyone is feeling great.
We are now packing and sorting gear for our move to high camp tomorrow. Stay tuned, the team is getting pumped as we get closer to making our summit attempt!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
The team left the bustling Zona Rosa District in Mexico City and headed for the hills. We arrived in La Malinche at noon and we quickly settled into our private cabanas and dinned our trekking shoes.
The weather was less than ideal with steady rain; however, our team made the best of marginal conditions not to mention rain gear! The park police actually were not going to let us up because of the weather.
You see, the park sees a lot of tourists...locals from the city dressed in sandals and sweatpants. Which, is nice on a beautiful day. For us, the weather wasn't actually that bad so with my best Spanish I sweet-talked our way to trek up to 13,000 feet.
The team did great! We had a fun time and did our bodies good adjusting to higher altitudes. We are now settled back in our cabanas and we are getting ready for another great dinner here in Mexico.
Heh! After a wet day at altitude this team deserves a little pampering!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
The team is all here! We are in Mexico City on a beautiful evening and we are looking forward to beginning our expedition. Tomorrow we will head for the mountains to get some fresh air. The weather is nice and we are hoping it continues for us. Stay tuned to the RMI blog for updates.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
Posted by: Jake Beren
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
What great luck! After arriving at the hut on Pico de Orizaba, it soon began to rain. Our team remained optimistic and were rewarded to a starry night! While clouds and small storm cells circulated in the distance, our mountain stayed clear and the team did a wonderful job moving through the terrain. The sunrise was exceptional and a little wind didn't do much to slow us down. It was about as perfect of a day as one could hope for and we made the most of it! The climb was relatively smooth (for 18,700 ft above the sea) and we returned to Tlachichuca tired, but happy.
Now the team has gone their separate ways, off to different adventures. Thanks for a great adventure and best of luck in the future!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Hello, this is Jake and team on the top of Pico de Orizaba under an absolutely beautiful sky today. It's a little stormy around us, but it's blue above us. And we had just about perfect conditions today on the way. So we are super happy, everyone did very well and we're at the halfway mark. So we'll give you a shout when we get down, and let you know how everything went. For right now, I'm super proud of the team. Everyone did well and the halfway mark has been reached. So take care everybody. Talk to you later.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from the summit of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico.
On The Map
Buenas noches from our camp on Pico de Orizaba!
Today we traveled from Puebla well rested and ready for our next adventure. Arriving in Tlachichuca we rigged for the mountain in the familia Reyes compound, our base of operations. It is always a treat to come here and enjoy the hospitality (and lunch!) of old friends. What a way to start off the climb!
Now we are tucked away in our sleeping bags and off to the night land for a while before launching upward under the moonlight! Wish us suerte!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Previous Page
Next Page
Congrats to Rhonda and the rest of the team. Stay strong and be safe.
Posted by: Judy on 11/11/2015 at 10:13 am
Awesome!! Congratulations on summiting Ixta! We love the blog and hearing how the expedition is progressing. Can’t wait to see the photos and videos! Hello to our son, Nick:-)!! Good luck with the rest of the week.
Posted by: Julie Beres on 11/11/2015 at 7:35 am
View All Comments