Citlaltépetl (aka Pico de Orizaba), Mexico
Standard route from Piedra Grande.
Back in November 1999 or so, Ken and Kirk invited me to go with them to Mexico to attempt to climb the Mexican volcanos. At first, I wasn’t too excited. However, after I thought about the prospects of it, and realizing that just about anything would beat sitting at home waiting for the Colorado snow to melt, I decided to go along. We all got tickets for about $340. A few weeks later, Dan and Aaron decided to go along. At this time, I didn’t know Dan or Aaron but trusted Ken to vouch for them. A few weeks later, we got our sixth member, Eric, who was one of my BMS assistant instructors. It turned out also that he was Ken’s assistant instructor too about two years after I took BMS. A team of six was a good size we decided, so we refused to accept anyone else even though a few weeks after Eric joined, some others expressed interest in going along but we had to turn them down.
We had a couple of months before leaving for the trip on Saturday, February 19th, so we all planned on trying to get as many hikes in to train for the climb. We were planning on climbing Orizaba, the highest volcano, then heading back east a hundred miles to climb Ixtacihuatl, a 17,250 foot volcano situated next to the erupting Popocat閜etl.
Unfortunately, we never all got together to hike. We tried to climb Horseshoe Mountain one weekend but the weather was awful. The further we drove out, the worse it got. We got to the trailhead and everyone (the entire team minus Eric) unanimously decided to bail on the trip. Aaron and Dan went to hike around Kenosha Pass, and Ken, Kirk, and I were debating climbing Quandry but at the turnoff to Breckenridge, we decided to bail on the whole day. Anyway, Ken and I climbed Kelso, Parnassus and Bard, and Ptarmigan Mountain to train. After Ptarmigan Mountain, I caught a little flu bug that kept me out of commission until a few days before our departure. Unfortunately, the night before, I started getting sick again. I woke up Saturday morning to discover a sore throat and flu pains again. I couldn’t believe it. But I was determined to go to Mexico, sick or not. Besides, being the only one who spoke Spanish, I was our guide.
I arrived at the airport only a few minutes before departure and announced my sickness. Dan promptly stuffed some pills into my hand, various vitamins, etc. I swallowed them on the spot without any water and we were soon in the air. We got great views of the mountains as we headed due south along the Front Range and then the Sangre de Cristo mountains. I took a nice picture of Pikes Peak from the airplane. A couple of hours later, we landed in Dallas where we met Ken’s parents. We spent some time with them, hit the McDonalds for more breakfast, then said “Farewell” as we boarded the plane for Mexico City. Fortunately, I was starting to feel better.
After another two hours approximately, we landed in Mexico City. Viewing the city from the altitude of an airplane we could see the sprawling city and the smog surrounding it. The runway had a lot of weeds in it and looked quite run down. We got off the plane and stepped into the airport and I was surprised at how nice the airport was. It was very clean and looked brand new. It was much much nicer than the Buenos Aires airport. I tried out my first Spanish with some of the airport workers by asking where we went to pick up our luggage. That one short conversation caused me to drop any reservations I had about speaking and I was ready to start dealing with the locals. We went through customs with no problem and headed into the terminal where the voracious taxi drivers were waiting. We exchanged money here first (and got a very good rate – much better than we would have in Dallas). Then I negotiated with a taxi driver who had a Suburban. We threw all our stuff in and headed for the bus station to buy a ticket to Puebla. We got out of the Suburban and started hauling our luggage around reading the signs trying to figure out. It all suddenly felt very familiar…struggling with luggage in a foreign country not knowing exactly how you were going to get to the next place. It was a good feeling actually; I had missed it.
We arrived with out incident at the Puebla bus station. Ken and I ditched our stuff and had everyone else guard it while went and fetched the tickets. This was to be the pattern for the rest of the trip – but I didn’t mind it; In fact, I enjoyed it.
Anyway, we got tickets to Tlachichuca and hauled our stuff way down to the end of the line to the departing gate of the bus labeled “Valles” and waited only a few mintues for the bus to depart.
The bus ride to Tlachichuca was very interesting. We passed Ixta and Popo. They looked huge from the road. Then we passed an awful wreck involving a bus and a car that caused a small grassfire. Then a few members from a drunk mariachi band boarded and were causing all sorts of commotion. It was really funny.
We were met at the Tlachichuca bus station at about 8pm by some young kids who immediated recognized us as climbers and belonging to the Reyes group. The Reyes own a huge compound for climbers. It’s sort of a mix between a hostel and a bed-and-breakfast. The bedroom is just a large room of bunkbeds, but the food is bed-and-breakfast caliber. The kids guided us a couple of blocks to the Reyes compound where Luis Reyes met us and guided us into the dining area where the cooks were still waiting, thank goodness. The food they served us was so unbelievably good! We had broiled chicken, green beans, soup, potatoes, and a delicious cake dessert. The following morning, while we were waiting on for breakfast, we went exploring around the town. The famous church is right on the town square. Unfortunately, there were a lot of clouds so we couldn’t see the peak yet. We did find a neat cemetary at the edge of town.
We came back to the dining room around 9am for an outstanding breakfast. It was some sort of green tortilla casserole dish that tasted great. We also had freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh papaya. It was so good. At this point I was satisfied just to stay here and enjoy the food.
However, we had to begin packing up because we were heading for the mountain at around noon. After lunch, I snuck out and caught the first view of Citlalt閜etl. The volcano dominates the surroundings. It was the biggest looking mountain I’d ever seen, excluding Aconcagua.
We packed up and headed out on the power wagon. The drive to Piedra Grande was about two hours away on dirt roads. It was a really fun drive. We took one break at a good vista of the mountain. The treeline must have ended around 13,500, then we rounded a corner and saw the famous view of the mountain from basecamp.
We unpacked and staked out our territory in the large hut. The “bunks” are basically giant wooden shelves that you sleep on. There are 3 levels of shelves in the large hut. The small hut can sleep 6 people, 7 if someone sleeps on the floor, but the side top shelves are so narrow that you probably can’t turn over in them.
The rest of the day was really nice. Everyone went hiking up the peak for a short distance but I stayed back and read and relaxed. I went walking down the opposite direction taking nice pictures. We enjoyed a good meal and then witnessed an awesome sunset. We stayed up until about 9pm. We were planning on taking another rest/acclimitization day. There was a large European team in the rest of the hut that was attempting the peak that night.
We fell asleep…and then were rudely waken by those inconsiderate Europeans. At about 1 am, they started firing up their stoves, talking and laughing. It took them nearly 2 hours to get ready! (Consequently only a couple of them made the summit). Everyone was getting really irritated with them. But we restrained ourselves and they thankfully finally left.
Most everyone went for an even longer hike the next day. Ken and I ended up staying back. We spent the day adjusting our crampons, talking, planning, etc. It was so relaxing. In the afternoon, a bunch of Mexican workers working on the shoddy aqueduct up there arrived as did some other climbers. Wanting to avoid another night like the previous one, we quickly claimed the small hut, which was vacated that morning. Ken and I moved everyone’s stuff up to the hut. We spent the rest of the time talking to the other climbers and the locals (both workers, guides, and climbers). I really enjoyed talking to the Mexicans and practicing Spanish. Ken was really eager to learn and jumped right in without any fear too.
The weather was absolutely awesome up here at 14,000 feet. There was no wind and the sun really warmed us up. We took of our shirts and basked in the sun. I ended up getting kinda burned unfortunately.
I was feeling really good on this trip. I felt no effects from spending 24 hours at 14,000 feet. I was sleeping great and hardly breathing.
We went to bed really early. The small hut is very comfortable – if you get the right spot. Because Ken and I had hauled everyone’s stuff up to the hut, we picked the best locations – directly opposite the door. The upper shelves on the side are so thin that you can barely turn over. Eric ended up sleeping on the floor out of fear of falling but Aaron seemed to manage fine. We got up around 1 am. It took us about 45 minutes to get ready and we started up the mountain at around 2. An extra climber had decided to join us because his wife gotten altitude sick the day before camping at around 16,000 feet.
I felt really strong going up. The moon was full and headlamps weren’t even necessary. The first part of the trail is very much like Colorado. It’s very rocky and the trail twists around fairly steeply. Eric was moving very slowly and ended up getting sick. But he continued on. Then we came out at a ledge and the grade lessened a bit as we were hiking through a valley of sorts. Soon, we hit snow. Kirk and Eric put on their crampons right away but Ken, Aaron, Dan, and I kept going as long as we could.
We continued on for about a quarter of a mile, then the snow started getting harder and the slope much steeper. So, we put on our crampons and zipped up the slope. After another half a mile, it was about 4:30 am and we arrived at the base of the Jamapa Glacier at about 16,000 feet. New altitude records! We could see the summit outlined against the moonlit sky and it didn’t look very far away (boy were we wrong!). I was still feeling great at this point although I had all of my clothes on because it was so cold up here. Kirk arrived and informed us that Eric had turned around, so the five of us set out. The other climber that was with us had already gone on ahead and was way in front of us.
Climbing up the glacier was a pleasure. The snow was perfect and the crampons made it really easy. What seemed like 30 minutes was in reality about two hours. As we were on the main slope of the peak, the sun started coming up. Our plan was to aim for the crater rim just to the right of the “Ice Needle” and then traverse the rim to the summit.
As the sun moved higher, we could see the mammoth shadow of the mountain. This sunrise was probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The colors to the west started off sort of green, then pinkesh-red, then deep orange. Once the sun came out though, it started heating up a lot.
The glacier is so deceptively long. It took us nearly 4 hours to climb up the glacier. Our technique was basically traversing back and forth to minimize the slope. The slope at this point was probably around 30-45%. There’s nothing to it with crampons though.
We were all so excited that it took us longer than it probably should have because we were taking tons of pictures and stopping just to marvel at how high we were and the views that we had.
At around 17,000 feet, I finally started feeling the effects of altitude. My breath was becoming short and I had to rest every so often. As I approached the crater rim, I was working pretty hard and I started to feel that apathetic feeling that I always heard about. It’s a dangerous feeling because it causes you to not be as careful as you should. I felt that way, but fortunately, not much could go wrong on this mountain. Once I rested on the crater rim, though, I regained my senses. I had been pushing myself a bit too hard. It would have been much wiser to move more slowly, but I was excited to see the crater.
After our rest, I headed out with Kirk. Ken, Dan, and Aaron followed about five minutes behind us. Ahead of Kirk and I was what I consider the most scary part of the climb. You can see it in this picture to the right. It was the traverse of the steep ice slope. Even though we had crampons and they were biting in pretty good, a slip here would send you flying down the glacier and I remember thinking that there would be almost no way to stop yourself once you got started because the snow was really hard.
Everyone else didn’t seem as spooked as I was about that slope so that was good. One thing that was fortunate was that I no longer had the apathetic altitude feeling. I was very careful about every placement of my feet and ice axe. Everyone made it across without trouble.
If I would have known, I would have had us skipped the crater rim altogether, then the climb would have just been up the glacier the entire way. That was the way we descended and it was much less scary than the rim route.
Kirk and I somehow found some extra strength to motor on ahead of everyone. We traversed again above the crater rim. Then suddenly we were only a hundred feet or so from the summit. Then, we were there!
We lounged around on the summit for about an hour and took pictures. The summit was so awesome because there was virtually no wind and endless views. This was the most satisfying mountain I’d summitted.
We headed back down the easy route which bypasses the crater to the west. I could tell that, in spite of my sunblock, I was getting burned pretty bad. So we headed down pretty quickly. Our legs were getting really tired. We all could feel our thighs trembling on each step. We spotted several small crevasses along the way, but there was nothing dangerous about them. The looked pretty deep, but were only a few inches wide!
After a while, I got in front of everyone, then zoomed down the rest of the way so as not to become any more sunburned than I already was. I passed several other climbers coming up to camp who asked me about the climb. I arrived back down at base camp around 1:30 I think. The others arrived about an hour and a half later.
I spent that time talking again to Cerzo and Carlos. We had hired Carlos through the Reyes’s to watch our stuff while we were on the mountain. I had taken some slides with the two of them. Cerzo was one of the workers and was really fun to talk to. Carlos, el Oso, was also down there. He’s a Mexican guide and congratulated me on summitting.
At about 3 o’clock, we were packed up and we hopped in the power wagon and headed down. We were all so excited and relieved that we had climbed Citlalt閜etl and knew that we could now relax.
We got back to the Reyes’s and had showers and another outstanding dinner. Then we spent the rest of the time talking about our adventure and signing the guest book. Most of the guys went to bed fairly early but I stayed up to 10 or so reading. When I did finally climb into bed, I was out and I didn’t wake up until about 8 the following morning. We had been using ear-plugs on the mountain and I put them in again so I wasn’t awakened in the early morning from chickens or church bells!
After the climb, Eric and Kirk went on to Ixta and the rest of us went to the beach at Veracruz and lounged around for a couple of day. It was a great way to relax: good food, drinks, the ocean, salty air, etc. All-in-all, this was a rival for my all time best vacation. It was so satisfying in every single way. We had decided that if this trip went well, we would definitely begin planning a climb of Aconcagua the following year. It’s time to start planning!
