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A month before leaving for Orizaba I bought tickets to Puebla and began to train, hard. I tried to walk at least two hours every day. I live at 6300 feet near Bear Creek Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado and went there frequently. Here is a list of some of the trails and Parks I trained on. I only got over 9000 feet a couple of times leading up to the hike.
Bear Creek Park
Stratton Open Space
Columbine Trail
Jones Downhill (Mountain Bike)
Buckhorn trail
Seven Bridges Trail
Gold Camp Trail
Section 16 Trail
Acclimating
Five days before I left for Mexico I went to Barr Camp (10,200 feet ) for three nights to acclimate. The first night Renee and Anthony ( they are the caretakers for Barr Camp) were involved in a rescue with search and rescue. It was amazing to see them in action. They monitored the radio for a while and once they made a decision to go they were out the door in five minutes. Later Anthony explained to me that a lot of people Summit the peak lightly clothed and one problem can spiral into a bad situation quickly. If I was in trouble I'd want Anthony and Renee helping me out.
Four days before leaving I topped out on Pikes Peak (14,115 feet) with WildernessJane and David at 9:00 AM. The summit house was not open yet and the winds were so strong we were getting knocked off our feet. We quickly descended until I found a spot out of the wind overlooking the Cirque. I spent a couple of hours there just hanging out and then descended back to Barr Camp for the night.
Three days before leaving I walked over to Mountain View and rode the first train to the Summit. I spent around seven hours on the summit. Everybody who worked up there spent time talking to me. The Pikes Peak Highway was closed due to winds so they only had the train for business and a couple of hikers. I got my oxygen saturation checked for fun and it was 92%. I returned to Barr camp for a third night.
Two days before leaving I descended from Barr Camp and drove home. I made sure all my gear was ready and left for Mejico.
Mexico
Getting to Tlachichuca
Chris Brobin Orizaba in Back
The first goal is to get to Tlachichuca, Puebla from wherever you live. All paths seem to go through Houston Texas. Phil Furiosi chose to go from Houston to Mexico City. He arrived in Mexico City at about 2 PM and walked to the Bus Station (in the same building) took a bus to Puebla (two hours, CAPU station) and then Tlachichuca. He traveled from the east coast of the US to Tlachichuca in one day. In the Mexico city Bus Station they took pictures of everyone on the Bus for security.
I did not not want to deal with Mexico City, so I flew from Houston to Puebla, Puebla. I arrived at 8:00 PM and took a taxi to the Hotel Poblana. Which is across from the Puebla Bus Station CAPU. The next morning I got up, had breakfast, shopped for food at the nearby Chedraui Supermarket then took a Bus to Tlachichuca arriving at noon. This option added around $100 to the trip. It worked very well for me since the Puebla Airport has only three gates. When I arrived and departed my plane was the only one around. Once through customs I found a bathroom, cash machine and taxi stand and was out the door in five minutes.
With the exception of a couple of climbers at the hut a total of five people spoke English to me on the entire trip. This is the "real' Mexico for sure. I got off the bus and the first people I saw said, Cancholas)? "Si". They told me to go a block and turn left. I missed the turn because the whole street was covered with stands for a fiesta. I had a 40 pound bag over one shoulder and two packs on my other. Had I made the turn I would have knocked a bunch of people over. I ran into a couple of teenage boys who showed me the route to the Cancholas, one even rang the door bell for me.
At the Cancholas I met Phil Furiosi my partner for the hike. He couldn't have been a better person to hike with.
I ate a quick bite and then we started up the mountain. It was a two hour drive on some pretty bad 4X4 roads. The hut is at 14,010 feet. We set up in the hut and mostly just hung around getting used to the altitude.
Acclimating Day
AMS
We both woke up with minor headaches and a bit nauseous. Phil knew I wanted to go up anyway, so we did. We climbed to about 15,500 feet and stashed his skis and boots and our crampons and ice axe. On the way down we decided to go for the summit the next day. Our hike up was great and we felt fine. A group from Monterrey, MX showed up and did a quick hike before dinner. They had seven climbers, three guides and a driver. Phil and I went to sleep at 7:00 and I slept really well.
Jamapa hut and sea of clouds
Summit Day
Dawn
The Monterrey Group was up and gone at 2:00 AM. We left at a more leisurely 4:00. The hike has three sections. The first was The Hut to the Labrynth. We made quick work of the first section. There are numerous trails. But we stayed generally right facing uphill and soon found our stashed gear.
Phil Furiosi entering labrynth
The second section was the Labrynth. This was really enjoyable. There are easily 100 different trails leading up. We followed some little flags that still kept us to the right. I did a brief class 4 section but the Labrynth can be kept at class 2. Around 16,000 feet two of the Monterrey group had turned around and were hiking back down. One description said this was the hardest route through the Labrynth but we had no problems.
Phil Furiosi in the Labrynth
We reached the edge of the Glacier at about 8:00. This is the crux of the route. It starts around 16,200 feet and extends to the summit.
Phil Furiosi and Jamapa Glacier
I don't know what happened but the moment I put on my crampons and held on to my Ice Axe I became a mountaineer. I practiced a few techniques from a course I took back in March but mostly walked pretty much normally. I'd walk and climb occasionally changing directions. I couldn't easily go straight up. So I criss crossed the slope. Phil tried skinning up but it didn't work. While he switched to crampon I continued up and up. The pitch never exceeded 40 degrees. There were three from the Monterrey group that paused for a long time about a third of the way up the glacier. One of them finally peeled off and started back down. He looked to be descending fine, so I didn't change my path to intercept. Seven climbers with three guides and a driver and only four made the summit.
View from 16,800
I really can't explain but as soon as I started up the Jamapa Glacier I was the fastest climber on the mountain. I was easily the oldest by ten years or more, everyone had more crampon experience ( a couple of Monterrey hikers had been up the year before and of course the three guides) but I moved quite quickly. This was by far the highest I'd ever hiked.
Sarcafago
All my training and altitude prep were suddenly paying off big time. I didn't do anything except climb. I didn't stop for water, dig into my pack, nothing. I focused on climbing and climb I did. At one point I stopped, looked around and the experience overwhelmed me for a bit and tears started streaming down my face. I WAS ABOUT TO HIGH-POINT MEXICO!!! Pico De Orizaba is the third highest Peak in all of North America. Only Denali in Alaska and Logan in Yukon are higher. The altitude finally began to affect me around 200 vertical feet from the Summit. I was reduced to 20 to 30 steps stop and take ten huge breaths and continue. Finally 6 and ½ hours after starting out I stood atop Mexico!!
Chris Brobin Summit Photo Orizaba
Selfie 18,491
Just before the Summit a guide had three of the people from Monterrey short-roped and were going down. The other guide and client were at the Summit when I got there and quickly started down. Phil with his skis was an hour behind me (maybe we could have co-ordinated things a bit better on the glacier (my fault since I just took off)). I had the summit to myself for half an hour. At one point a Crow spoke to me. I'm still wondering if it's my spirit animal or something. Eventually a guy and his son Summit from the other side. They had jeans, ice axes but no crampons. I point to their feet and he says, moreno. brown. There was no snow on the south approach. But what's the fun in that. I never had a headache all day nor any nausea. Frankly I could not have felt better.
Phil eventually shows up and said he hit the caldera on the other side of the peak and had to circle around to the summit. He did the same thing on his ski down. Stunning views.
Phil and Chris Summit photo
Calderaview 1 from Summit
Caldera View 2
I head down as he gets ready to ski.
The top twenty feet of the descent are quite icy. Naturally it took me an hour to get down the glacier without incident.
We descended without difficulties from the Glacier. I found a different route in the Labrynth and we were picked up by our driver and were back in Tlachichuca by early evening.
Cancholas
Citlaltepetl
View from Cancholas
We finished the peak quicker than I expected. We spent the night in Tlachichuca ( it's quite a nice town). The next morning we returned to Puebla and then grabbed a bus to Veracruz. The IberoAmerican Summit was going on so lots of people with guns. Phil and I rented bikes and rode around for the day along the Malecon and in the historic district. We were the two tallest people I saw the whole time so the bikes didn't quite fit. I picked the purple bike. It was great decompressing after the Peak.
The Malecon in Veracruz
The following Morning Phil headed to Oaxaca and I returned to Puebla.
View from Zocalo, Puebla
Smart Bikes, Puebla
Ice Rink, Zocalo, Puebla
Various Altitudes
Random Thoughts
Phil Furiosi was an outstanding hiking partner. We worked together great and kept our schedule flexible. Flexibilty was a key to the success of the trip.
Preparing extensively really helped me summit. I wasn't even particularly tired after twelve hours on the peak.
Mexico has an excellent transportation system. This made moving around quite easy.
I need to return to the state of Puebla because Malinche is a fourteener.
The guided group we crossed paths with on the mountain was much less successful than we were. I can't think of when a guide would be helpful for me.
Since my first trip to Mexico as part of a family vacation in 1973 Popo has been on my to do list. Unfortunately it's currently an active Volcano and as such is closed.
The coldest temperature on the hike was around 25 F. I put on my puffy after being on the Summit for an hour. I took it off five minutes into my descent.
It's time to HighPoint the America's. Aconcagua 2016 anyone?
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
to you Mr. Brobin! You worked hard and prepared well for success on that mountain and I’m glad you were able to stand on the third highest Peak in North America. Nice write-up (short, sweet and to the point) and great pictures! I enjoyed this climb myself, years ago and you took me back down memory lane with this trip report. Somehow I think Anthony & Renee are already aware of your successful summit and safe return, but I will make sure and mention it to them when I see them this Saturday. Congrats again and definitely pursue Aconcagua, I think you’re ready for it!
Absolutely awesome write up Brobin! You simply killed it on the snow. Congrats! Maybe I could have kept up if I smoked some Diamox, instead of Marlboro Reds! Remember the British/American dude? Lol. Pleasure climbing with you, and I hope we can do Aconcagua next year. Let me know if you are able to find time for Mt. Hood around April or May, or whenever I return from Chamonix.
My two cents on the trip:
(1) Puebla is 2 hrs closer to Tlalchichuca, but Mexico City is fine. Just don’t be naive. Men will approach in business suits, looking sharp/professional, and ask if you need informaciones, rides, lodging, etc... Beware, as they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
(2) In my very subjective opinion, you will not find a slope anywhere near 45 degrees. Chris and I even heard 65deg, I ascended and descended what I found to be the steepest part, and I would say 36-37deg’s, max.
(3) For the skiers, much of the "glacier" has melted. Roughly 500’ or so in the last few years. The snow was bullet proof, although not water ice. It did not soften or warm up whatsoever, even in the heat of mid-day.
(4) Leave your ropes, harnesses, prussiks, etc. at home.
(5) Stay at the Cancholas. Maribel, and the entire family, will treat you like family. Su casa, es tu casa! Contact them at summitorizaba.com
(6) If you happen to be a degenerate gypsy and want to save some pesos, you can sleep in most bus terminals. I essentially bivoaced w/o being bothered by anyone. I did tie my bags to my leg though...
(7) I hiked up the labyrinth in tenny’s. Do NOT do that!
Que tenga un buen viaje!
Edit: There was no caretaker/guardian in the hut. The first day we hid our bags and pads, but the second day we just left ’em out. Probably a better idea to cache your belongings somewhere. The guides locked up their bags with bike chains.
I did Ixta and Orizaba last spring and had a great time. Sounds like you had a better climb than me, as I had the Mexican crud on Orizaba, but made the summit. Split Ixta into two days to acclimatize and enjoyed that as well. Thanks for letting me re–visit the good times with your report!
Congratulations! Thanks for the honorable mention in your trip report. It was nice to have the company on Pikes. Glad to see that all went well. We’re getting ready to leave in seven days. Pretty excited!
Thanks for the Nice comments.
Esegas– I didn’t do Itza. I may return for that and Malinche some day.
Wildernessjane– How did it go? You definitely crushed me that last 300 meters vertical on my Acclimation weekend.
Phil–The Amero–brit was a piece or work, No?
First–he doesn’t summit because someone else forgot his crampons. I know we discussed gear and you sent me your list. But it never occurred to me to check your gear. Then all of his advice seemed really bad and he just got off the peak. Lastly, of course, he thought I was some POS because I live in Colorado Springs, a military town. I’m not going to stop hanging around with all the soldiers and ex soldiers I know to make this idiot happy. Just ONE thing, I can Summit a 14er from my house, on foot. How many people can say that?
Rant over. I’m still a bit surprised how easy the whole thing was. I’m really just some random guy that wandered up to the summit with the Great Phil Furiosi.
We had an incredible time! We had a fair amount of new snow, all the way down to the hut, so it was a pretty different experience for us having to posthole through the Labyrinth. The snow on the glacier was in great shape though. Despite having to put on a few extra miles each way because we couldn’t get to the La Joya TH, we were also able to successfully summit Izta. Popo even put on a little bit of a show for us.
Congrats on Itza WJ. I’ll have to return, I left a couple of peaks on the table.
MMM POPO!
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I ascended and descended what I found to be the steepest part, and I would say 36-37deg’s, max.
