Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Mark Tucker, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Mole Mole Mole!
Hey all! Our rest day in Puebla was a day of choosing your own adventure. For some it started with a nostalgic breakfast at McDonalds. The team spent their day exploring all that Puebla had to offer from the beautiful and impressive cathedrals to strolling the Mercado el Parian to buying some souvenirs to drooling over climbing gear at Origenes Puebla. Bellies were filled plump full with authentic cuisines, most notably the delicious mole poblano. The team even gave fried crickets a try, to which the consensus was it tasted like popcorn. It has been a fun filled day, but now we are ready and psyched to hop aboard the bus and head to Tlachichuca where we will pack up for Piedre Grande on Orizaba.
Buenos noche,
RMI Guides Mark Tucker, Hannah Smith, and team
Posted by: Mark Tucker, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Hola mis amigos!
El equipo esta todo marcado...oh sorry wrong language. Hey all! The team is all checked in to the Hotel Colonial Puebla. Today started with an early wake up at 2:30am in hopes to go to the summit of Ixta, but was thwarted by relentless clouds, snow, and wind. After numerous checks out the vestibule for a break in the weather, we settled in for a casual morning of hot drinks and breakfast, followed by a break down of camp. Our hike out was among the clouds but still very beautiful and enjoyable. With a reshuffle of gear and farewells to our local guide Carlos, our two porters Daniel and Jose, and our favorite driver Rogelio, we loaded the bus. One bathroom break, a movie, and many bumps later, we arrived in Puebla. Tonight we will meet for another delicious dinner and tomorrow we will spend our day exploring Puebla and relaxing.
Hasta luego,
RMI Guides Mark Tucker, Hannah Smith, and Team
Hey-
We are checking in from High Camp on Ixtaccihuatl. We had pretty good conditions coming up and getting our big loads up to camp. We have been here about four hours acclimatizing at 12,000'. As we pulled in, the weather came in we had a little bit of a lightning event that went over. It wasn't a big deal as we already had camp set up. Then the sun broke through for a little while and we were able to get in a little training to get us ready for tonight.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Nap time at 13,000+. Team is doing great! Said goodbye to La Malinche this morning and hello to the mountain Ixtaccihuatl (The Sleeping Woman ). A four-hour drive has brought us to a nice hut. Our local staff made us a fantastic dinner so we are well taken care of and fired up for an early morning ascent to our high camp. Loads are reasonable but not light. Weather has been a bit unsettled but not bad. Lots of gear shuffling and we are looking prepared. All is well.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Sunday, November 6, 2016 - 7:15 pm PT
Hola -
We are checking in from La Malinche, a beautiful park located a couple hours from Mexico City. After a beautiful hike thru the forest we broke out to amazing views and wild clouds in the start of the alpine environment. Our goal for the day was to stretch the legs, starting from our nice cabin at 10,000' we did just that. Some review of climbing technique, familiarizing ourselves with some new gear and dusting off some of the old made for a nice five hour jaunt in the hills. Great to see the team in good shape with no issues for the first foray of this expedition. A nice restaurant in the compound took good care of food needs and has us happy and fueled for a beautiful night in the mountains.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Hannah Smith
On The Map
Miss you all already! Loved meeting everyone - have fun! Pam
Posted by: Pam on 11/7/2016 at 11:28 am
Following the climb - have a great time and climb safely!
Posted by: George on 11/7/2016 at 10:14 am
Posted by: Mike King, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
This is the RMI Mexico team back safely in town. We had a good descent from the summit of Orizaba. Our shuttle picked us up just as the clouds and rain began to set in. Stormy weather played a huge part of this trip, we are glad that the weather cleared for our successful summit this morning. The team is getting cleaned up and sorted for their flights home tomorrow.
Thanks for following along.
RMI Guides Mike King & Steve Gately
Saturday, October 22, 2016 - 8:07 am PT
This is Mike with the RMI Mexico team. We are currently standing on top of Pico de Orizaba. We woke up around midnight and the weather was wet and rainy, we didn't think we were going to get it. When 2:30 am rolled around the clouds parted. Everyone is doing really well up on top. We are taking some photos and taking in the sights from the highest point in Mexico will give you guys a shout once we are down safe and sound. Talk to you later.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls from the summit of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico.
On The Map
The Mexico Team is resting comfortably at the Piedra Grande Hut on Orizaba. Yesterday we had a nice day off in Puebla, everyone took advantage of the good food, area surrounding the Zocalo and some visited a car museum.
Leaving Puebla this morning we took in more of the countryside and ended up at a century old soap factory turned climber's hostel run by Sr. Reyes. We met his 93 year old father and enjoyed a nice lunch after sorting our gear for the climb.
Our drive up here is on a fairly rough road through pine trees and the grassy lower slopes of Orizaba. We are currently at 14,000' sitting in a light cloud with views of the mountain from time to time.The team will wake around midnight and hopefully have good weather to climb.
Keep your fingers crossed that we get a chance to summit Orizaba!
RMI Guides Mike King & Steve Gately
On The Map
Good Luck ALEX S and team wishing you all the best in your summit attempt…
Jeff and the Gang from the TH53 Project in Northern MN
Posted by: Jeff Hall on 10/21/2016 at 3:12 pm
Posted by: Mike King, Steve Gately
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
This morning around 12:30 we woke for our Ixta summit day. We had a relatively clear sky above us with a bright moon, but out to the east was a small cloud bank with some lightening radiating through the clouds. We got ready to climb since the storm looked to be moving away from the mountain.
As we approached our first break the storm clouds began to creep our way with the lightening increasing in the distance. The guides turned the group around and made the call to pack up camp and head to lower elevations. The team responded and broke camp quickly, transitioning into downhill mode. Carrying heavy packs in rocky terrain at night isn't easy and we all arrived tired but thankful to not be up at Ixta's high camp.
Upon reaching the trail-head all signs of the storm had disappeared, clear above visibility unlimited. Some frustration and confusion pulsed through the team members and guides. When you're in the mountains it is important to take the information available to you and make a conservative decision. Sometimes the storm rolls in and sometimes the skies clear.
We spent the morning resting and sorting gear for the next few days. Like clockwork, the skies turned grey, hail fell and thunder rolled high on Ixta. Our shuttles arrived to take us to Puebla for the next 2 nights.
The Team will enjoy a day off in the historic district and then we are off for Orizaba, the 3rd highest peak in North America.
RMI Guide Mike King & Team
glad everyone returned safely, climbing acancagua with RMI in january and hope to summit, but hope to return home even more
Posted by: Dave Folsom on 11/12/2016 at 7:07 pm
Bummer…Disappointed for you…Enjoy the town…Next mtn please…Waltero
Posted by: Walter Glover on 10/20/2016 at 3:36 am
RMI Guide Mike King checked in from Mexico. Today the team made their summit attempt from High Camp but were forced to turn around at 16,000' on Ixta due to a major electrical storm on the horizon. The team descended and returned to the Altzomoni Hut where they packed up their gear, loaded vehicles and continued their descent. They will travel to Puebla today as scheduled and explore this beautiful colonial city.
We look forward hearing more from them soon.
RMI Office
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Sorry about that! Good luck dad!
Posted by: Kate on 11/11/2016 at 7:27 am
Sorry about that! Good luck dad!
Posted by: Kate on 11/11/2016 at 7:27 am
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