PICO DE ORIZABA (18,491′ feet)
November (2012) – March (2013)
Pico De Orizaba or Citlaltépetl, Star Mountain, is the highest peak in Mexico and the third highest peak in North America. Orizaba is home to nine glaciers, of which, Gran Glaciar Norte is the largest glacier in Mexico.
Pico De Orizaba is best known for its classic features of a glaciated volcano and offers many beginners and novices the opportunity to enter the world of “high altitude mountains”. Orizaba is also a great training ground for those wishing to climb higher more technical mountains.
Orizaba is located just north of Cuidad Mendoza. Tlachichuca is a key town for climbers and is located west of Orizaba. Travel to this region is safe by international expedition standards despite many reports of travel in Mexico being unsafe. Our itinerary and services while in Mexico are carefully designed to minimize risk while traveling to the region and getting you to the top. This means that we may travel using local means versus traveling in convoy with newly rented vehicles that are easy to identify.
PRICE: $1700.00 (USD)
Land costs. Includes meals, lodging, guides and transportation to and from locations. Does not include airfare to/from Mexico.
Prices are based on at least four participants.
Deposit of $500 is required upon registration and full amount is due 30 days prior to scheduled trip.
ITINERARY:
Day 1: Arrive in Mexico City at your leisure. Contact and meet your guide(s) at the hotel inside the Airport Terminal. We will provide a Safety & Logistics briefing for our travels on Day 2. Additionally, we will begin to hydrate and take measures to assist the acclimatization process.
Day 2: We gather in the hotel lobby in the morning around 9am. We will do a quick review of the travel route, while the co-lead does a quick room check to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind. After this, we will load up and head to La Malinche National Park where we will begin our training for the Orizaba. Upon arrival, we will consolidate our equipment and do a thorough equipment check and inspection. In the evening, we will do a thorough mountain brief and obtain everyones personal goals and desires for the trip.
Day 3: We will do a 8am wake-up call, do breakfast around 8:30am. After breakfast, we don our light hiking gear and go for a leisure walk to the summit of La Malinche or Matlalcueitl (14,640′). During the hike, we will require you to take notes about your condition. This will helps us continue to design & assess your acclimatization process. We will spend some time at the summit. Upon return, we will discuss how we felt and continue to organize the climb. The rest of the day will be spent discussing various mountaineering skill-sets needed for the climb.
Day 4: We have an 8am wake-up, do breakfast at 8:30am. We will pack up all of our gear and drive to the town of Tlachichuca where we will drop-off our personal luggage and transition our equipment to a 4×4 vehicle. Once everything is loaded, we drive to the Piedra Hut (14,000′) located on the slopes of Orizaba. After our equipment is sorted out, we will continue to acclimate with a 15-20 minute short walk around the Hut. We’ll close the night with a briefing of the Day 5 events.
Day 5: This day is a true test of how well we are acclimated. We will start the day with a telescopic view of the route. Around mid-morning, we’ll don our hiking equipment, water, and lunch and begin a slow ascent up to roughly 16,000′. We’ll spend some time at this altitude taking pictures, scoping the upper part of Orizaba, eating lunch and drinking plenty of water. After our hike, we’ll configure our packs for the summit attempt and make final preparations. The rest of the day will be spent resting, hydrating, and eating.
Day 6: Finally, our summit day. All of our preparations will finally pay-off. We start the day early in the morning and under moonlight. We will work our way up the slope, through the labyrinth, and finally step onto the steep approach to the summit. As you continue to climb, you’ll notice the sun has risen and Orizaba will be casting a beautiful mountain shadow in the distance. Our final push places on the craters edge for a dramatic finish. After a few moments on the top of Orizaba, we will begin our descent and work our way back to camp. Once at camp, we will have warm fluids, and food ready to replenish those diminished calories. We’ll pack up what is left of our equipment and prepare to load our gear and descend to a more conducive altitude. We spend the night in Tlachichuca, eat great food, experience a warm shower, and reminisce about our climb.
Day 7: Reserved as a weather day or time spent sight-seeing one of the Mexican towns.
Day 8: Leisure wake-up. Consolidate equipment to the rightful owners and load our vehicles. Transit back to Mexico City with a lunch stop in Puebla. Check into the hotel and say our final goodbyes.
Day 9: Depart home.
We also have a three-day itinerary insert prior to Orizaba available for those interested in climbing Iztaccihuatl (Sleeping Lady) or “Izta” (17,159′). Please contact us if you are interested in climbing Izta prior to climbing to Orizaba.
