Kathy - I agree with the idea of a guide. I don't want to stress over unnecessary details when we don't have to! Although, I do agree that we may not actually need a person to physically walk us up the mountain, especially if the route is straightforward (definitely the case on Rainier). I emailed Sr. Reyes, the one recommended above, to get his pricing on doing all the services except for the guiding aspect, vs. the entire package with a guide...will let you know!
Anyone else have additional feedback?
Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
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- marie123
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
If you can climb Rainier without a guide, you can certainly climb Orizaba without a guide. Getting a driver to pick you up at the airport and transport you around might not be a bad idea though. We rented a car, got lost on multiple occasions, and enjoyed the craziness thoroughly. I would not change that at all and would do a similar thing again. Paco Cabo (our driver for Piedra Grande) was awesome and only charged $30 for the ride to Piedra Grande instead of the going rate of $50 dollars at most of the guide services. Bargain down there! Paco's contact e-mail is espinosa_servis@hotmail.com if you want to contact him about rides and my trip report is at http://www.zachtaylorsnowboarding.com/O ... ummit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Hopefully you will find it useful.
Pay attention to acclimatization down there. The climbing is straightforward and the routefinding fairly straightforward too. Make sure you know the route, but do not stress about it. Altitude is the one thing you need to pay serious attention to for the actual climb. Study how people acclimitize at these altitudes before you go down there. Sometimes people zip right up to 18/19000' easily and other times not, so take the time to do it right if you are taking the time and spending the money to go all the way down there. We climbed Nevado de Toluca first (15,000') and then camped at the Paseo de Cortez at 13,000' before we even went to Orizaba. We also did an acclimitization hike up to 16,000' on Orizaba before attempting the summit. The younger and fitter you are the more apt you will be to altitude sickness because it is easier to climb faster without letting your body adjust fully. HACE and HAPE are no joke. Move slower than you think you need to on the mountain and plan your time accordingly. Good luck!
Pay attention to acclimatization down there. The climbing is straightforward and the routefinding fairly straightforward too. Make sure you know the route, but do not stress about it. Altitude is the one thing you need to pay serious attention to for the actual climb. Study how people acclimitize at these altitudes before you go down there. Sometimes people zip right up to 18/19000' easily and other times not, so take the time to do it right if you are taking the time and spending the money to go all the way down there. We climbed Nevado de Toluca first (15,000') and then camped at the Paseo de Cortez at 13,000' before we even went to Orizaba. We also did an acclimitization hike up to 16,000' on Orizaba before attempting the summit. The younger and fitter you are the more apt you will be to altitude sickness because it is easier to climb faster without letting your body adjust fully. HACE and HAPE are no joke. Move slower than you think you need to on the mountain and plan your time accordingly. Good luck!
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
If you did Rainier without a guide, you certainly don't need a guide for Orizaba. For transportation from Mexico City to Puebla, the bus leaves directly from the airport and is totally safe. Make sure you get the bus to CAPU station and not 4 poinente. The bus to Tlachichuca leaves frequently from the CAPU. Don't let all the anti immigrant fascists worry you about Mexico. 99.9% of Mexicans will go out of their way to help you.
Happy Hiking,
G
Happy Hiking,
G
- ScottN
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
Gabriel wrote:If you did Rainier without a guide, you certainly don't need a guide for Orizaba. For transportation from Mexico City to Puebla, the bus leaves directly from the airport and is totally safe. Make sure you get the bus to CAPU station and not 4 poinente. The bus to Tlachichuca leaves frequently from the CAPU. Don't let all the anti immigrant fascists worry you about Mexico. 99.9% of Mexicans will go out of their way to help you.
Happy Hiking,
G
I agree with this statement. Our group couldnt speak spanish at all, and we managed to use the bus system, although we did end up at the other station in Puebla. A quick cab ride got us to CAPU. People were extremely friendly and helpful. It's all part of the adventure.
- JB99
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
The truest statement in this thread... And the bus system couldn't be easier, you go straight from your plane, to a bus (that is nicer than the plane you were just on) without leaving the airport. We took a red eye flight so we arrived in the early AM and bused straight to Tlachichuca.Gabriel wrote:99.9% of Mexicans will go out of their way to help you.
G
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not."
Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
Another vote for the buses in Mexico being very cheap and easy and nice.
I'd also agree that a guide is completely unnecessary if you did fine on Rainier. We used Sr Conchola-Limon as our driver. Like Reyes, he has a large, safe compound and provided us with lodging, a great meal with his family, white gas, and h2o. He is also a guide. He was also about half the price of Reyes. Funny thing was when Reyes ended up picking us up as a favor to Canchola-Limon when he was already picking up his clients. Didn't have the heart to tell them how much less $ we spent. If you need another link to peruse (we also did ixta and malinche):
http://14erskiers.com/franksblog/2010/1 ... -part-1-2/
I'd also agree that a guide is completely unnecessary if you did fine on Rainier. We used Sr Conchola-Limon as our driver. Like Reyes, he has a large, safe compound and provided us with lodging, a great meal with his family, white gas, and h2o. He is also a guide. He was also about half the price of Reyes. Funny thing was when Reyes ended up picking us up as a favor to Canchola-Limon when he was already picking up his clients. Didn't have the heart to tell them how much less $ we spent. If you need another link to peruse (we also did ixta and malinche):
http://14erskiers.com/franksblog/2010/1 ... -part-1-2/
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
another TR...
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/show ... -Oct-30-08" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/show ... -Oct-30-08" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- somethingrandom
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
Can you share what the price comparasson was for the two leaders?gb wrote:Another vote for the buses in Mexico being very cheap and easy and nice.
I'd also agree that a guide is completely unnecessary if you did fine on Rainier. We used Sr Conchola-Limon as our driver. Like Reyes, he has a large, safe compound and provided us with lodging, a great meal with his family, white gas, and h2o. He is also a guide. He was also about half the price of Reyes. Funny thing was when Reyes ended up picking us up as a favor to Canchola-Limon when he was already picking up his clients. Didn't have the heart to tell them how much less $ we spent. If you need another link to peruse (we also did ixta and malinche):
http://14erskiers.com/franksblog/2010/1 ... -part-1-2/
-Just as soon as you idiot proof something, some a**hole is just going to come along and make a better idiot.
-To Cessna: "November one, zero, four Lima Papa, wind 080 at 90 peak gusts 120, runway 35 cleared for takeoff"
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-Whether climbing or flying, the single greatest thing to remember is that every ascent is optional, and if you feel like making another, your subsequent descent is mandatory.
-To Cessna: "November one, zero, four Lima Papa, wind 080 at 90 peak gusts 120, runway 35 cleared for takeoff"
To fellow controller: "Watch this sh!t"
-Whether climbing or flying, the single greatest thing to remember is that every ascent is optional, and if you feel like making another, your subsequent descent is mandatory.
- MountainHiker
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Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
On our most recent Orizaba trip we used Reyes. They put our summit photo on their website.
http://www.servimont.com.mx/ingles/comments.html
We went unguided but used Reyes for other support: ride to the hut, lodging and meals in town. He even had one of his men walk us to the bus stop with our baggage on a cart. You can hire as much service as you feel you’d like. Agree with the others with navigating the Mexican bus system and the helpfulness of Mexicans.
La Malinche is an option for acclimation.
http://www.summitpost.org/la-malinche-with-utm/376073
http://www.servimont.com.mx/ingles/comments.html
We went unguided but used Reyes for other support: ride to the hut, lodging and meals in town. He even had one of his men walk us to the bus stop with our baggage on a cart. You can hire as much service as you feel you’d like. Agree with the others with navigating the Mexican bus system and the helpfulness of Mexicans.
La Malinche is an option for acclimation.
http://www.summitpost.org/la-malinche-with-utm/376073
Red, Rugged, and Rotten: The Elk Range - Borneman & Lampert
Re: Pico de Orizaba - Guide Recommendations
Sorry, this was from 2000, and I do have some notes scribbled down in my Secor guidebook, but all they say is that Canchola-Limon was 40-50% cheaper. I'm sorry I don't know the exact circumstances that led me to write that, but I did take a lot of notes like that, so I must have gotten the info somewhere. I remember talking to some other climbers on the climb that confirmed our choice was much cheaper. I'm sure prices have changed to a large extent.somethingrandom wrote:
Can you share what the price comparasson was for the two leaders?