Thanksgiving on Orizaba

[newyorktank]

Planning trip to Orizaba at the end of the rainy season. I have climbed Rainier, Whitney, Elbert, Nevado de Colima. Hablo espanol. Will be flying to Mexico DF, and renting car on Tuesday 10/23. Planning on acclimatizing on La Malinche. Will heir Guide on Orizaba. You need experience on glaciated peaks. It is possible to rent, but easier to bring. Approximate budget per person US$400 not including airfare.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Hello- the glacier on the north side or Orizaba is casual. I think the only crevasse I saw was one inch thick. But this might not apply to other parts of the mountain..

 

If you have done said climbs without guides above then I would suggest to forego the guide considering you hablo...

[ashw_justin]

The nice thing about not hiring a guide is that you can make your own schedule. I hired a guide for Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and it was either climb in a snowstorm, or not climb at all and forfeit the fee. Me hice una berga! And of course, the following five days were perfect.

 

 

(also notice highly technical mountaineering apparel)

[dknox]

That is an awesome mountain. I would definitely recommend in Tlachichuca staying with Senor Reyes, his place always has a bunch of climbers, he is the head of the SAR team for the mountain and can answer any question that you may have about routes. Well worth the cost.

[Cpt.Caveman]

We went to Reyes' place. Then he started talking about reading all the rules on some board. And we saw that we would have a sharing space with others. Noisy noisy noisy.

 

We up and left and stayed with Limon. We don't like rules. Then we got our own room - quiet secluded as well and cooked meals.

[Off_White]

I dunno about it being an awesome mountain, but I think it's the easiest and cheapest way to get over 18,000 feet. We skipped staying in town at all, and promptly got a jeep run to the hut, which we share with some mysterious mexican climbers who never left their plastic shrouded bunk. Thankfully, they did share the output of their cheap transistor radio tuned to some relentless pop station, and hearing "My Charona" seven times in one night made for a memorable Christmas Eve. I must say though that my favorite moment was digging some snow halfway up the route for a morning brew and finding toilet paper in the water.

[ryland_moore]

Agree with Cavey on forgoing a guide. If you have done S. Side of Adams or S. Side of Hood and have crevasse "slogging" experience, you should be fine. I only saw one crevasse and it was fairly low and off to the side of our route. Senor Reyes is a good guy, will allow you to park your rental off the streets and in the "compound." Plus, will handle the jeep trip up to the mountain hut. He also has a bouldering wall and good climbing films. We hung out with Barry Blanchard and his gal there before they took two clients up from NY. Acclimating on La Malinche is also a good idea. Take your time and have fun. We finished off the trip by going down from the summit and to the Gulf to Veracruz where we were sipping on margaritas, riding wave runners, and oggling chicas in thongs within less than 24 hrs after standing on the summit. My climbing partners and I have concluded that there is nowhere else in the world where this can be done. Maybe in Ecuador or Peru, but getting out from your approach and driving would kill it. Since there is no approach on Orizaba, it works. Storms and altitude will be your biggest deterents.

[tony_seattle]

I did Orizaba solo in May. I agree on coments made so far. You definitely don't need guides on Orizaba. The approch from Tlachachuca via Piedra Grande is so obvious if you have experience you claim, it will be a very pleasant walkup for you but don't forget climatization. There are hundreds of Mexicans and Gringos trodding up the mountain. The path is so obvious through the gully to the glacier and then you see the rim all the time. All you need to do is traverse the glacier west until you see the summit and then push for the summit. Graet glissade on the way back.

Don't bother with the car, unless you have driven in Mexico before. Public transport is excellent and reliable there and between Puebla and Mexico City luxuirious and cheap and frequent. You must have a truck to get to TH. The road from Villa Hildago to Piedra grande is 4WD, and unmarked, so don't even try to get there by sedan.

My advise is to fly to Puebla (Continental from Houston), stay in Puebla one night, catch the bus to La Malinche, climb the peak with 1000 people on a path to the top. Catch Bus back to Puebla and catch the bus to Tlachachuca. In Tlachchuca I recommend to stay in Hotel Gerard in clean and private room rather then in a stable of senior Rayes with many other people, especially if you speak Spanish. Senior Gerard charges $15 per room and gets you on the mountain and back for $100. His place and service is very cool, he has a climbers register and it is cool to read it. Bus from Puebla costs $5 (2hrs ride). Puebla to La Malinch $4. Hotel in Puebla $20-40. Food in Puebla excellent and cheap and in Tlachachuca cheap but very simple. I can e-mail you my trip report, if you want to, tolejnicki@hotmail.com, and anver you questions if you have any.

The gear: sun glasses and sunblock,iceax, crampons, stove to cook food in Piedra Grande in Refugo, you get fuel from the hotel, take food from USA, bottled water from Tlachchuca, sleeping bag, map is not required unless you one of those people, who need map to climb mt Si.

mexico is very nice. I recommend to see piramids near Mexico City or Choala pyramid near Puebla if you have time, it is a day trip from Puebla and you can get there all the way on the bus. Have a great trip