Orizaba

Orizaba

Mexico
8,880 feet/5,754 meters
Trip Report January 2008

I have never looked past a current climb toward the next one since I focus all my energy on the current task. However, Orizaba was the last climb in my Memories are Everything®: The Road Back to Mt. Everest journey before Everest, and the temptation was great!

My Colorado 14er climbing partners, Patrick and Robert, plus another friend, Scott, started planning the climb almost a year ago. It was to follow up on our successful Rainier 9 climb of 2004, be a training opportunity for me, and set a personal altitude record for the others.

We all arrived in Mexico City in late January 2008 and met Pete, a UK climber, and Dave Elmore from Mountain Professionals. Another team from Australia and South Africa was leveraging our logistics. Soon, our group of 15 climbers was on a large bus to the rural town of Tlachichuca.

The three-hour ride went quickly, and we had good views of Popocatepel (17,887’) and Iztaccihuatl (17,342’), two other Mexican volcanoes. We had a better view during the return, including the steam rising from the active Popo!

Senior Reyes is a local surgeon who runs a climber hostel in town. He was our host for several nights during the trip. His neat compound is an old soap factory run by his Father and Grandfathers. His staff served us tasty meals, and the bunkhouse was clean and comfortable.

The town of Tlachichuca is small. We were amazed at how noisy it was in the early morning hours. The local “Artisan’s Market” was disappointing at best. We also found the locals wary and not very open to foreigners. I guess I understand with all the tension between Mexico and the US these days (2008).

Reye’s friendly team transported climbers and gear to the Piedra Grande Hut at 13,972’. We took 1950 vintage Dodge 4x4s for several hours on incredibly dusty roads. Sharing the dirt roads with sheep and goats, we could see Orizaba for a long time.

I had read the hut was filthy and quite uncomfortable. However, I found it better than the RMI hut on Rainier. It was made of stone walls and had only plywood for the platform-style beds, but the hut was clean. It could sleep about 60 people on three levels. Like all huts, it’s noisy at night. The outside area was a problem, especially the toilet. It was placed on a raised platform with three sparse walls and no door. The issue was more sanitation than privacy.

We all settled in for two nights of acclimatization, which was important given that we had experienced an altitude gain of over 6,000’ in a few hours. Everyone felt good except for Patrick, who had a raging headache. This was not all that unusual given the altitude jump, and a member of the South African team also felt terrible and vomited throughout the night.

The next day we made a carry of tents and gear to the High camp at 15,200’. This was a 1,000’ gain from the hut and took about an hour. The trail was well-worn and obvious. We dodged a slight rock fall near the camp! The views were impressive from this camp. We took advantage of some tent spots already built within rock walls. But we still ensured the guy lines were firmly secured to large rocks in case of high winds. That night, the winds emerged after several calm days. We were back in the hut, but the night was long and nosy, with the strong winds buffeting the rock hut. I wondered what the climb would be like if this continued.

The following day, we moved to High Camp and planned to go to the summit early the following day. Now, three to a tent, we had an early dinner of Roman noodles and tried to get some rest at 7:00 PM.

Rising at 1:00 AM, we quickly got ready with our layers, crampons, ice axes, a little food and water. We hoped to reach the glacier about dawn and summit a few hours later. Thankfully, the strong winds had calmed down, but they were still blowing steadily around 10 m.p.h.

Patrick told me his headache had returned, and he had a fitful night, so he would not go higher. I was deeply disappointed for my best climbing friend. He was the driving force behind this climb, and I had hoped to celebrate the summit with him. I tried to talk him into trying, but his mind was made up. I have been in his situation before and had to pause to let it sink in that he would not go higher. While disappointed, I respected his decision and left him at High Camp.

The route rises from High Camp through a rocky section named the Labyrinth. This area is somewhat famous on Orizaba climbs for being challenging to navigate, with many trails, rocky sections and snow troughs. We experienced one short section of steep class four scrambling, but nothing serious. We had our crampons on at this altitude of 16,300’.

We arrived at the glacier’s edge and roped up. Given our team’s experience, this was good, but it was not necessary overall. I never saw any crevasses; however, climbers have been known to slip and fall to their deaths, so roping up was good insurance.

It was dark at 4:00 AM, entering hour three of our climb. We steadily climbed the ever-steeping slopes of Pico de Orizaba. As we approached the caldera rim, the angle went from a gentle 10 degrees to 45 to near 50. The winds also picked up as we got higher and sunrise approached. Finally, the air temperature hovered just below 20F; thus, the wind chill was below 0F.

After three hours on the Jampa Glacier and five since we left High Camp, we reached the crater edge just in time to see the sun peek above the eastern horizon. It was a spectacular site! We took some pictures and enjoyed watching the shadow of Orizaba develop on the western plains of the Mexican plains. It was also an amazing site!

The true summit was just a few minutes higher, so we made the short trek higher, only to be belted by high winds. The winds had crushed the summit metal cross in a heap. The volcano’s caldera was one of the most impressive sites I have ever seen on a mountain summit. It was deep with tall, jagged walls. There was a small emerald lake on the floor. With the soft light of the morning, it was an inspirational sight.

I posted an audio dispatch via the Iridium satellite phone for the website and called. It was cold. We left soon and made the descent quickly in the hard-packed snow. We arrived back at High Camp, packed up and arrived at the hut a few hours after the summit. Sr. Reyes’ drivers met us that afternoon, and we spent the night back in Tlachichuca. A quick end!

Orizaba was a nice climb. It was fun to see Scott and Robert reach the summit, and Patrick set a personal altitude record. I enjoyed the climb and used it to hone my skills for Everest.


Orizaba Dispatches

Share this post: