Entries from Mexico

After an early morning and quick breakfast the team was off again. Our first stop, Amecameca, to grab food, water, and of course the street food.

When we get to the entrance of the national park, we generally like to walk the rest of the way. It’s a bumpy, unpleasant road to get to La Joyalita and it’s nice to stretch our legs after a long day of driving. Perfect weather once again with the only clouds being the ones in the valley below us.  The business starts here though as we prepare for our climb of Ixta with a thorough gear check, packing demo, and refresher on tent setup. We’ll eat a hearty dinner and try to sleep as best we can at 13,000 ft. We start our first big climb tomorrow and the team is excited and ready for the challenge.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Yesterday all members of the RMI Mexico team arrived  safely in Mexico City. With a quick team meeting to cap off the night, we were off to bed to sleep off the long day of travel.

La Malinche is the first objective of the trip, an acclimatization hike that takes us up to 14,501 ft. We couldn’t have picked a better day for it. Warm, nearly windless weather greeted us at the base and followed us all the way to the summit of the peak. For many of us it was our high point! We spent a good 30 minutes up high taking in the views, petting the dogs that would mosey our way, and eating our favorite snacks (maybe that’s why the dogs came over). Before long it was time to head down, we had carne asada to get to. A safe and uneventful descent followed, just the way we like it, and the team enjoyed some relaxation before our delicious dinner. Now it’s time to rest up for the next leg of the journey. We head to Ixta Basecamp tomorrow!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

We met yet another stray dog friend today- oh wait, that’s not what this blog about! We are incredibly happy and proud to say that every single team member stood on top of North America’s 3rd highest peak, Pico de Orizaba, today! What a day it was too! We awoke for our alpine start to find that the sky was clear, the wind light, and the temperatures still warm from the previous day. The route takes us up an old aqueduct, then up a rocky slope for a couple of hours until you reach a feature called the labyrinth, aptly named. That is when the weather started to turn from warm and windless to bitter and howling. Up we went, navigating the labyrinth with all its ice, mud, and rock and to the base of the of the Jamapa Glacier. A team member described the glacier as “walking up a descending escalator”, never ending and relentless. On we pushed, with perseverance stretched to its limit we crested the caldera ridge and on to the true summit where we met back up with our 2 other rope teams and embraced.

We are back down now, safe and sound, about to jump in our showers and wash up before dinner, our last one as a team. Seems surreal for it to be over so soon, but we look forward to seeing everyone in the mountains again. This is the Mexico climbing team signing off.

Except there is the picture of our dog friend walking us down to Base.

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Abby Westling and Team

Oh, what a difference 24 hours makes!

Last night the team was at dinner enjoying mole, drinking beer, and recalling our climb on Ixta.

Tonight, we find ourselves at the Refugio below Orizaba repacking our bags and preparing for an alpine start. Tomorrow looks promising for us. The weather is good, the team is strong and reports say that the route is in good condition.

With any luck we look forward to reporting in tomorrow morning from the summit!

RMI Guides Dominic, Abby, and Team

Today the team enjoyed a well deserved rest day in the beautiful city of Puebla. After enjoying breakfast together at the hotel, we all went our separate ways and wandered the city streets, taking in the views and enjoying everything from fresh squeezed juices to fried grasshoppers. At 7pm, we met up at one of our favorite restaurants for a team dinner, where we tasted some of Mexico's finest moles, a sauce unique to this area. We followed this up with a quick trip to the ice cream stand, just down the street, then headed to our hotel's rooftop patio to take in the evening views. We're headed off bright and early tomorrow morning to start our move to basecamp for our Orizaba climb. Everyone is excited and ready for the next leg of the trip. 

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

Patience was the name of the game for Ixta. The team awoke multiple times during the night to find various conditions. First snow, then total whiteout, then a menacing cloud cap over the upper mountain. Knowing the patterns of the local mountains we decided to take the cloud cap as our opportunity to climb and we’re rewarded. As we climbed, the cloud dissipated, and team was able to keep ascending under the full moon and cool temps. We reached the summit at 7:50 AM with views of the surrounding peaks and the route we had just ascended. No time to waste though, it was time to descend. We knew of the incoming weather and descended without incident to the parking lot.

Off to Puebla we went to enjoy our much-deserved showers, tacos, and real beds. Great effort by all the team members and we look forward to exploring Puebla tomorrow.

RMI Guides Dominic, Abby and Team

The team awoke early this morning to frost encasing the tents. As we broke the icey zippers and looked out we saw what the crisp morning had brought. Sprawling views of Ixtaccihuatl, a smoking Popocatepetl, and the valley below. To let the frost melt, we hit the pause button and enjoyed our delicious breakfast/coffee before we donned our heavy packs and hit the trail. Unfortunately, the weather decided to change its tune too. We battled the cold wind and whirling clouds as the team pushed on. With a quicker clip than usual, we were all business and made great time getting up to our high camp at 15,400 ft, many of the teams high points. Now we’re bundled up, eating quesadillas, and planning for the climb ahead. Hoping for good weather for tomorrow. Wish us luck!!!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

The team has arrived at La Joya, our Basecamp for our climb of Ixta. We had a busy day of traveling, leaving Malinche to do some last minute shopping in Amecameca. Enjoying the warm Mexican sun, we walked around the markets and ate delicious street food before shipping off to our destination. It was right back to work though as we tuned up, packed and sorted our gear for the coming days. It's cool, breezy and cloudy here at Basecamp, but no rain so we are thankful!

The team is in high spirits and we are excited for the climb.  Good night to everyone at home.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

The team awoke bright and early today to eat a quick breakfast and start heading to La Malinche, our first objective of the trip. We were treated with sprawling views of the Mexican countryside as well as our first main objective, Ixtaccihuatl. We were thankful to stretch our leg and lungs as we hiked through the forest of Malinche, a welcome change from the urban jungle of Mexico City. Unfortunately, that’s where our hike ended, just below 13,000 ft, due to incoming weather. Though we didn’t reach our objective, we did get to our highest elevation of the trip so far, hiked with stray dogs that we named Beavus, Butthead, and Hank and ate a delicious carne asada for dinner. Now we rest and get ready to head to Ixta basecamp tomorrow.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

We did it. The Team has arrived in Mexico City safe and with all of our gear. We just wrapped up our first official team meeting where we discussed logistics, gear, and our various experiences today. Some of us enjoyed sightseeing, some of us saw a sword fight in the park, and others got some much needed rest. The group is in high spirits and ready for the adventure ahead. 

Now we’re off to go eat tacos and enjoy a good nights rest.

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli, Abby Westling and Team