Entries from Mexico
Posted by: Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Last night some of our team arrived in Mexico City and were welcomed by the beautiful, lit up statues in the city center.
Today, folks had the opportunity to explore and rest for the rest of the trip ahead. Some enjoyed a walk through Chapultepec park, where tree lined sidewalks provide a nice reprieve from the bustling city. Others explored the city streets and food while also taking the day to rest.
This evening our team finally gathered to meet and discuss our adventure ahead.
Welcome to our Mexico's Volcanoes blog!
RMI Guide Abby Westling and Team
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 18,491'
With bellies full of cheese from last night’s dinner, we powered our way through a midnight wakeup. The first few hours of the route take us through “The Labyrinth”, which would be an easy place to take a wrong turn. Fortunately, we have Allen (our local guide) with us to help us efficiently navigate. Through the Labyrinth and at the base of the glacier we donned crampons and make our way up the ever-steepening slopes of the Jamapa Glacier until finally topping out on the third highest peak in North America!
Congrats to all the climbers who summitted La Malinche, Iztaccíhuatl and Pico de Orizaba! We now just spend the night at Dr. Reyes’ soap factory museum before most of us head home tomorrow.
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,000'
This morning we head towards Pico de Orizaba, one of our main climbing objectives of the trip, relaxed and rested after two nights and a full day in Puebla.
Rest day activities were varied, as usual. Some intrepid folks made their way to Cholula, where you can view and hike up ancient Aztec pyramids. Others explored art exhibits in Puebla and while others just fully relaxed. RMI Guide Lauren Macklin and I found our way to a brand-new bouldering gym before enjoying afternoon lattes at my favorite coffee roaster in town.
The evening was capped with a nice dinner at El Mural de los Poblanos where we sampled some local mezcals, ate delicious traditional foods and shared our rest day stories with the group.
Puebla feels to me like the world's biggest little city and is the place to stay when in this region. There is a ton of history, great outdoor activities and it’s more laidback than Mexico City. We could easily spend the duration of this trip having a spa day in Puebla and drinking fancy wines at rooftop bars. But alas, we have a mountain to climb. On to Pico de Orizaba!
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and team
All the Best on Orizaba Dustin and Team!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/17/2023 at 10:00 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,000'
With dust in our eyes (it hasn’t snowed here since early January) and a dream in our hearts (no matter how dirty and tired we are, we all continue wanting it), we awoke at 12:45am this morning to climb Iztaccíhuatl (Ixta). Actually, we were all awake around 10:45pm to overhear the saga of two of our climbers trying to get a mouse out of their tent. Either way, these alpine starts always seem to come a touch too early.
Our day started with a sleepy ascent of “The Knees” section of the route. Once atop “The Knees”, there was a moderate wind that stuck around all day. Most of us wore parkas for nearly the entire climb; it was chilly but beautifully clear. Once the sun came up, we could clearly pick out skyscrapers in downtown Mexico City, which is unassumingly, the fifth largest city in the world.
The group powered through cold, wind and dust and everyone who made the attempt today also reached the summit! Congrats to this bus full of climbers who will enjoy their well-deserved Tacos Arabe in Puebla this evening.
BEAUTIFUL sky, those clouds omg! hope yall are enjoying some of the most well-earned tacos on the planet right now :D may all your future rests be mouse-free and your summits be as gorgeous as this one!
Posted by: Corey on 2/16/2023 at 7:54 am
Hey Dustin! Thank you for all the updates! Brings back such cool memories! All the Best to yopu and your team for your next climb !!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/16/2023 at 3:48 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 17,340'
Feliz Día de San Valentin :)
We are now settled in at high camp on Ixta after a day of good Mexican eating and a four hour hike with heavy packs.
Everyone is in good spirits as we enjoy another nice sunset and prepare for our first big summit attempt of the trip.
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 10,000'
Today we are headed to Ixtaccihuatl via a several hour bus ride from the La Malintzi resort. It was a restful evening feasting on a parrillada and watching the Superbowl on a Spanish telecast. A well-deserved restful evening after successfully summitting La Malinche, which is hit or miss and dependent on how much argument (in Spanish) you’re willing to engage in with a heavily armed police officer. This time they left us alone, perhaps because it was such a nice day with no threat of lightning or rain.
Now we are in transit to Amecameca for some last-minute supplies. Today is mostly a travel and organization day, not quite a real rest day yet. We will update via InReach from the mountain so you can follow our progress!
perfect weather and summit dogs?! what a great start!! congrats Anne and Lauren (and the rest of the crew!) wishing you more successful summits both this trip AND alaska when we get there! :)
cheers, Corey
Posted by: Corey on 2/14/2023 at 6:09 am
All who attempted had a successful summit of Pico de Orizaba today!
Starting at the alpine hour of 1AM, the stars let us know we had a clear morning to climb. Everything went seamlessly as we ascended through steep rocks to the start of the Jamapa glacier. We roped up with our ice axes in hand and climbed to the summit, enjoying the sunrise and shadow of the mountain stretching far across the landscape from 18,491’.
Although this mountain takes a lot out of us climbers, everyone was in high spirits afterwards, knowing our trip was successful and complete.
Tonight, we celebrate our trip and our last night as a team!
We are in the final days of our trip as we traveled from Puebla to Tlachichuca today. We packed our climbing packs one final time for Pico de Orizaba, preparing our gear for the last climb of our trip. Once loaded up in the 4x4s for our journey, we drove the dusty and bumpy road to Piedra Grande; our high camp, looking at Orizaba getting closer to us throughout the drive. After reaching our destination we set up our camp for the night and walked around the camp, stretching our legs and familiarizing ourselves with what 14,000 feet feels like once again. After our rest day, everyone feels prepared for the climb ahead! Tonight we tuck in early as we have an early start for our climb tomorrow.
Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 7:24 pm PT
After a successful climb, the team enjoyed a well-deserved rest day in the colorful city of Puebla.
Taking to the streets for a walking tour, we explored the rich history of the city, learning about Cinco de Mayo and the folklore of the mountains we climb. We also discovered local markets full of art, produce and local specialty food like the Cemitas, a sandwich- these ones larger than your head, named after the sesame seeds on the bread.
It wouldn't have been a complete trip to Puebla without trying all different types of mole. Some of the team enjoyed a flight of five types of mole at dinner tonight! Each tasting much different than the last.
Overall, everyone took advantage of the day to rest and explore. Our sights are set on Pico de Orizaba as we leave Puebla tomorrow morning.
100% of our team reached the summit of Ixtaccihuatl this morning!
Everyone’s training and perseverance paid off. Not everyday do the mountains provide us with the right conditions but today the mountain granted us safe passage to the summit and back.
Not only were we able to climb, our early start was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise and clear views of a magnificent Popocatépetl erupting just across from us.
After a long day of climbing we travel to Puebla for showers, a comfortable bed, and of course, mole.
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WOOOO congrats Anne and crew!! 3/3 summits, that’s amazing!
Posted by: Corey on 2/20/2023 at 3:55 am
Congratulations Dustin, Lindsay, Steve and Team! That is So Cool!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/20/2023 at 3:26 am
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