Climbing Mexican Volcanoes – Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl), Ixta (Iztaccihuatl) and La Malinche

I climbed with Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI). An American company out of Ashford WA. I climbed Rainier using their service as well and was impressed. This time it was their “Orizaba and Ixtaccihuatl - Mexico” climbing trip. A trip like this would be a real pain in the butt, not to mention the time it would take, to coordinate. So a trip like this is great for those reasons, plus you get to climb with professional guides and other like-minded clients.

RMI’s itinerary for this 9-day trip is as follows:
Day 1 -ORIENTATION
Upon your arrival in Mexico City (7,300 feet), a taxi ride takes you to our hotel. Our hotel is near the heart of the city and the lively Zona Rosa with its many museums, shops, outdoor cafes, pubs, and restaurants. We have an evening orientation meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the hotel lobby.
Day 2 - LA MALINCHE
We meet for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and plan to leave the hotel at 8:00 a.m. We drive in private vehicles to the cabins at the La Malintzi Resort, a facility located at 10,000' at the base of La Malinche (14,636') and initially used by Mexico's Olympic Team for training. There we take an acclimatization hike on La Malinche to stretch our legs and lungs. While reaching the summit is optional, depending on our time and schedule, this beautiful hike provides an enjoyable opportunity to help our bodies adjust to the altitude.
Day 3 - ALTZOMONI HUT
We depart La Malinche and travel towards Ixtaccihuatl. We have some time to visit a local market in Amecameca and purchase any last-minute items for our climb of Ixtaccihuatl. We then drive to the Altzomoni hut (13,100') where we take a short acclimatization hike and overnight in the Altzomoni hut.
Day 4 - HIGH CAMP - Izta
We leave the Altzomoni hut and hike to our High Camp. We set up camp, reviewed our mountain skills, and prepared for an early alpine start.
Day 5 - SUMMIT DAY
Summit Day on Ixtaccihuatl! We depart High Camp for our summit attempt. We will climb the Knees Route to the Ridge of the Sun (La Arista del Sol). After enjoying the views and celebrating on the 17,340' summit, we descend to High Camp, pack up, and return to La Jolla. We transferred to the colonial city of Puebla and checked into our hotel.
Day 6 - PUEBLA
Our hotel in Puebla is located one block away from the Zocalo (main square) in the heart of the downtown historical district of Puebla and has been on the city map since 1668. The day is free for you to relax and explore the city and the many historic sites.
Day 7 - HIGH CAMP
Today we drive to Tlachichuca located at the base of Pico de Orizaba. After lunch, four-wheel drive trucks take us to Piedra Grande, our High Camp on Orizaba at 14,000'. We spent the night in tents near the hut.
Day 8 - SUMMIT DAY
Summit Day on Pico de Orizaba! With an early alpine start, we make our way through a maze of rock and scree. Upon reaching the Jamapa Glacier, we don crampons, ice axes, and rope up for the remainder of the climb. The glaciers on Orizaba are relatively non-technical, with very few crevasses, and the ascent to 18,491' is fairly straightforward. After celebrating on the summit, we begin our descent. Upon reaching Piedra Grande, we load our trucks and descend for a hot shower and a home-cooked meal. We spent the night in a climbers' hostel in Tlachichuca.
Day 9 - MEXICO CITY & TRAVEL DAY
After breakfast, we depart Tlachichuca and return to Mexico City. It is about a three-hour drive, and we arrive at the airport around 12:00 p.m. Your outbound flight should be booked for 3:00 p.m. or later.

Routes:
La Malinche Route: Centro Vacacional Route
Ixta Route: The knees route
Pico de Orizaba Route: South side, this route is undefined.

Links:
RMI: https://www.rmiguides.com
RMI Orizaba and Ixtaccihuatl – Mexico: https://www.rmiguides.com/mexico-volcanoes/itinerary

Connect With Me:
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Gear:
Trekking Poles: https://amzn.to/2JxcJ8t

Outro - "Corncob" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

SOME DREAM, SOME DO, FEW DO BOTH

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