[TR] Pico de Orizaba, Mexico - Jamapa Glacier 1/2/2013

[senior_cush]

Trip: Pico de Orizaba, Mexico - Jamapa Glacier

 

Date: 1/2/2013

 

Trip Report:

Sorry for the belated post but figured this might be useful for those looking into Pico de Orizaba (~18,500 ft) in Mexico.

 

On Dec 30th we traveled to the town below Orizaba, Tlachichuca, which surprisingly had a direct bus from Puebla. That was an interesting bus ride as I'm sure we had about 30 people on the bus beyond the seated capacity (cue Entrain's 'Mexican Bus'). But for a 90 minute bus ride that cost around $5, a nice bargain. We stayed with the Reyes family that runs Servimont. We nearly had the whole place to ourselves.

 

For New Years Eve we got an afternoon ride up to the Piedra Grande Hut at 14k and we wisely brought a tent since we had heard nothing but bad news about staying in the huts. The area around the hut smelled foul, probably from the high traffic and dry weather. It's frequented by families that drive up and explore the area around 14-15k. The fact that you can drive up this high gets a lot of people into trouble and in fact we no sooner arrived and were walking past the hut that we were treated to a close view of someone getting sick. There was a lot of that in the couple days we were up there. Also due to the complete lack of snow/water (Sr. Reyes told us it hadn't rained/snowed in Tlachichuca since early October) we were kind of stuck at 14k. The Jamapa Glacier didn't start until 16.5k, far too high for us to be able to camp at without a longer acclimatization period. So with our 30 L water reserve brought up to 14k we camped just by the little hut, knowing the 14-->18.5k summit day was going to hurt.

 

Arm brought up a small bottle of champagne to celebrate New Years but we both fell asleep by 10 pm. I awoke a little after midnight and enjoyed the fireworks going off some 6000 feet below us in the small villages around Orizaba. I felt pretty good the next day with a nearly normal resting heart rate at 14k. Arm had some stomach issues, probably stemming from a questionable breakfast in Amecameca 2 days before so I set out to scout out the route in daylight. The route follows an old aqueduct briefly before it disappears from getting obliterated by rockfall as you ascend a steep and loose 800 foot pile of rocks. At 14.8k the route mellows and climbs gently to the Labryinthe at 15.6k, a justifiably named maze of rock and ice. After one quick look at the boilerplate ice I figured climbing it once in the middle of the night would be enough for me and headed down after stashing my climbing gear at the entrance.

 

Arm and I overslept a bit but were the first ones heading up the route that night at about 2 am. After a little while Arm indicated he wasn't feeling 100% and was going to head down. 3 others were making an attempt that night so I continued on with them through the Labyrinth. We were able to weave through the ice staying on rock for most of the way.

 

I was pleasantly surprised with the Jamapa Glacier, it wasn't nearly as hard as we had prepared ourselves for based on beta from locals we ran into on Ixta--but a fall coupled with a dropped axe would have been bad news since the runout doesn't mellow until the scree fields at the edge of the glacier. The 2000 foot climb from the start of the glacier at 16.5k to the crater rim (18.5k) took nearly 3 hours. The sights were incredible with a solid undercast making for some great eye candy. I snapped a few pics and took a short video as I topped out on the glacier for the short walk on dirt to the summit. The climb down was uneventful, except having a bit of a tough time descending the Labryinthe where seemingly every turn was blind into a steep icy pitch. We spent the better part of an hour and a half getting way off route but once below the ice it was straightforward to sideslope back to the 'trail' at 15.6k.

 

We had a hearty dinner that night down in Tlachichuca with some cervezas, tequila, and red wine to celebrate with a trio of Americans that did an acclimatization hike up near the little hut on Orizaba. All in all it was a great trip! A new challenge for us was the dryness of Mexico. No water on the route until the edge of the glacier at 16.5k definitely limits your mobility.

 

Tlachichuca nativity scene

 

Orizaba

 

14k basecamp

 

Labyrinth scrambling

 

dawn on the Jamapa Glacier

 

high on the Jamapa Glacier. A pair of climbers about to reach the crater rim

 

hooray, headache!

 

mellow Jamapa Glacier

 

 

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Just crampons and axe. We didn't spot any cracks on the direct route to the summit so we could have left the pickets, rope, and harness at home.

[curtveld]

Thanks - have often wondered what those big Mexican volcanoes are like!

[senior_cush]

You're welcome. Here's a link to a more detailed post if you're interested: Mexico TR

 

We bailed on Izta due to AMS. We also did Malinche (14k) but it's so incredibly easy despite its high altitude that I didn't feel like it warranted a TR here.

[wfinley]

Great writeup & photos on the vftt.org site! Climbed Itza and Orizaba in 97 and really enjoyed it. That said... have to share this video from Orizaba since it always makes me laugh:

[senior_cush]

Thanks man! Also thanks for sharing that link, pretty effing awesome. I can't imagine the sufferfest of biking up from Tlachichuca to the 14k camp. OUCH.