Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
After a delicious breakfast at Dr Reye's historic soap factory bed and breakfast, our team is on our way home.
A little more on the Orizaba climb:
We arrived at the Piedra Grande Hut on Friday afternoon. After a brief walk to help our bodies get used to the thin air, we settled into camp. Robby and I cooked the best chicken tacos Orizaba has ever seen. Fresh tortillas, guacamole, sautéed onions and peppers, rotisserie chicken and limes made for a great pre-climb feast. After the taco feed, we tucked into our tents for a few hours of sleep.
When we woke, the thick cloud that had engulfed camp before bed had cleared. It was a beautiful night without even a breath of wind.
We climbed through a maze of rock known as the Labrynth to the Jamapa Glacier. At over 16,000' we donned crampons and ice axes and roped together to work towards Orizaba's stunning summit crater.
Rest stepping, crampon technique and pressure breathing were the cornerstones of success as our team made switchbacks across the peaks northeast face. Our entire team climbed well until we were on the summit celebrating a hard fought ascent.
We enjoyed perfect, warm weather on top. After we had captured some photos and soaked in the amazing view, it was time to tackle the other half of the climb : the descent.
In keeping with the style they showed on the ascent, the team descended with great form and attention to footwork. Without a hitch, our team made it back to Piedra Grande.
A few hours of packing and 4x4 riding led us to a tasty meal and celebration at the Reyes soap factory. Sharing stories and jokes with the team was a terrific way to end a great climb and a rewarding trip.
Thanks to everyone on the team for their huge efforts and great attitudes!
Until the next climb ~
RMI Guides Zeb Blais & Robby Young
All members of our team made it to the highest point in Mexico this morning- el Pico de Orizaba! We lucked out with perfect weather and great snow conditions. Warm temperatures and great views coaxed us into spending a good chunk of time on the summit . We'll follow up soon.
RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Robby Young and team
On The Map
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Our team sorted our gear in Tlachichuca and is ready to tackle Orizaba tonight. We've loaded up the 4x4 and are on our way up to Piedra grande.
We'll check in upon return to Tlachichuca tomorrow.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Zeb Blais & Team
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Checking in after a nice breakfast at Hotel Colonial in downtown Puebla.
Last night we arrived in Puebla tuckered out from a long day of climbing. We celebrated the exciting climb with a nice meal at La Compania and a full night of sleep- Woot woot!
Today is a 'choose your own adventure' day for the team, with many people exploring the Great Pyramid of Cholula and historic Puebla.
Tomorrow we'll be back on the road headed for Pico de Orizaba.
Cheers from a well rested team~
RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Robby Young & company
Our team woke to less than ideal conditions at our high camp on Ixta this morning. Dense clouds, wind and light precipitation looked like it might thwart our summit bid. We waited as long as we could with the time we had for the summit, then it was decision time. The precipitation had stopped but wind and thick clouds remained.
The guide team made the call to begin the climb and see how the weather would pan out. The wind and cloud remained, but our team tougher it out and the weather didn't get worse .
After a hard fought summit, our team is on our way to a well deserved rest day in Puebla.
RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Robby Young and team
On The Map
Posted by: Zeb Blais, Robby Young
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
A sunny morning greeted us on our way to high camp on Ixta today. We have our fingers crossed that the weather holds for our summit bid tomorrow morning .
The team is packed up and fired up to climb - Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Zeb, Robby and team
Hi Tim and Jim!
Hope the weather held up, looking forward to hearing about your adventures. It is 11 degrees here in Minnesota, you aren’t missing much! Hope to talk to you soon, have a great climb!
Love, The Kerans
Posted by: Connie on 11/12/2014 at 2:59 pm
Hola, Janet and the team!
It looks like the “Weather Gods” are blessing you all this week.
Safe climbing!
Bill
Posted by: Bill Egger on 11/12/2014 at 7:10 am
Greetings all!
Following our massive breakfast buffet feast in Tlaxcala this morning, our team began the drive towards Ixta. After a quick food and water refuel in the town of Amecameca, followed by a National Park check in at Paseo de Cortez, we found ourselves at the 12,000' Altzimoni Hut, our home for the evening in preparation of our upcoming two-day climb of Ixta.
In order to continue our process of acclimatization, the team set out for an afternoon hike on the lower slopes of Ixta. After a quick climb to 14,000', we were rewarded with some amazing views of the sunset on Popocatépetl, an active volcano neighboring closely to the south.
The team is winding down for the evening and preparing for a high-altitude taco feast. We're looking forward to the coming climb and physical test on Ixta over the next two days. Thanks for following!!
RMI Guides Zebulon, Robby, and Team
On The Map
Our crew is on our way to a big buffet breakfast and Ixtaccihuatl after our first day in the mountains.
Yesterday's acclimatization hike on La Malinche was a tough introduction to altitude. Dark clouds had gathered at the top as we started and we watched them closely as we pushed up into thinner air. With a short summit window, our entire group pushed hard and worked together to make the top. The weather gods smiled on us and clouds cleared briefly as we scrambled up the last bit of rock to the top.
After a few photos, it was time to get ourselves down to thick air and a warm dinner. La Cabana restaurant set out a generous spread for us and we ended our day with great food and full bellies.
We'll be checking in soon from Ixta.
Cheers from RMI Guides Zeb Blais, Robby Young and the crew!
On The Map
Dose be my guidez! Love dose bros!
Posted by: BEELMUFFIN on 11/11/2014 at 9:44 am
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Hello RMI Blog Followers!! This is our last blog from Mexico and I am going to be a writer with no words. Instead...take a look at our summit video of Orizaba. Our team were absolute rock stars!!!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Posted by: JJ Justman, Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 18,701'
Hello everyone on the RMI Blog. I hope you're paying attention. We have a great news to report. Team Mexico is on the Orizaba summit right now. We had just a beautiful day climbing. It took us just under eight hours to get up here. Sun is all out. Clouds below. We've got a beautiful view. We actually can see Popo, La Malinche, as well as Ixta. We of course climbed La Malinche and Ixta, so we have just beautiful views of those mountains we were on just a couple of days ago. And now we capped it off, and it couldn't have been better, on a beautiful day on Orizaba, the third highest peak in North America. Everyone says hello to friends and family. They are all excited, all happy, gaining some strength for the way down. It was a tough climb but they all did really well. This is Elias and JJ here with Team Mexico. We'll check in with you when we get down to Senor Reyes' tomorrow.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
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RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Orizaba summit.
Looks cold and snowy! But glad you guys made it to the top and back down safely! Good luck on Orizaba.
Posted by: Danika on 11/13/2014 at 3:17 pm
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