Pico De Orizaba Acclimatization

[rkeuchel]

Hello,

I am look for some quick advice from ya'll with high altitude experience; preferably 16k<. My partners and I are very acclimatized at 14k. We have spent multiple hours at 14k in the last five weeks or so. We are climbing up to 18.5k in the next week on Pico de Orizaba and we are looking for advice on summit day. We believe we can make a straight push from 14k to 18.5k with no issues. However, none of us have been higher than 14.5k. Looking to see if this would be reasonable without serious AMS symptoms.

[susanjoypaul]

*

[Monster5]

We believe we can make a straight push from 14k to 18.5k with no issues.

This is frequently done on Orizaba, and especially by Coloradans. Water and easy talking pace for most. Head down and try again the next day if you're feeling it.

I've been above 16K over a dozen times and can generally daytrip up to 18Kish the first day. Some partners can do the same, others need more acclimatization, and yet others can't even leave camp due to symptoms. Hard to say. Genetics. However, Orizaba is relatively warm and requires less gear/effort relative to other high glaciated peaks and that makes a big difference on one's overall condition.

[rkeuchel]

Thank you both for the wisdom/advice.

[kaiman]

You'll never really know how your body is going to react going from 14k to 18k until you try doing it. That being said, anything you can do while you're there to acclimatize yourself below and above 14k will be helpful. When I climbed Orizaba in 2014 we spent a day at the Pyramids near Mexico City at around 8000-9000 feet, then drove to the Pass of Cortez at 13,000 feet and hiked to the refuge on Iztaccihuatl (17,159) at 15,600 feet the next day, and climbed Iztaccihuatl the next day). The afternoon of summit day we drove to Tlachachuca that night and then up to the hut on Orizaba the next day for a summit push two days later. I felt great and really only noticed the altitude between 17,800 and 18,500 on Orizaba. As I had never been that high before, I'm sure my body would have become more accustomed to the thin air had I been at that elevation for more than a couple hours. Your mileage may vary, but if you've never been that high before, all you can really do is take it slow, and try to acclimatize as much as possible before summit day.

My two cents,

Kai

[Scott P]

There is good advice above.

Don't forget that there are plenty of other peaks in the vicinity than make good acclimatization climbs and good peaks to climb in their own right.

Some suggested climbs are Nevado Toluca, Iztaccihuatl, La Malinche, and Cofre de Perote. I haven't done Cerro Negro, but that one would be good too.

[Kevin Baker]

I would try to get at least one acclimatization hike in whether on Orizaba itself or lower summits. We stayed at the hut two nights and did one hike to the base of the Labyrinth the first day, then to the top of it the 2nd day. You're not going to see much difference from CO 14ers until you get above about 16K. I felt like Izta was harder than Orizaba because of the multiple summits, so I would do that after Orizaba if you're considering it.

[wildlobo71]

All good advice above - I'll throw in my $0.02 here so we can get even more variety...

My group went down at Thanksgiving of 2012; there was not a lot of snow - the labyrinth was way drier and melted out (not dry or just chocked full of ice, but just a lot less snow than we'd hoped, and more ice... the pictures we were using as guides didn't really help much at all.) We got to Piedra Grande that afternoon, set up camp outside the main hut on pads... decided to walk up to about 15K to take a look around and say we'd been to 15K... our plan was to hike through the labyrinth the next day and then two days later hit the summit... At dinner that night we all looked at each other and said "let's just do it tomorrow." We woke up around 1am, and got to the summit without much issue. I was by far the slowest, but I didn't begin to feel any effects until at least 17K or so, and it just got a bit slower and more laborious to breathe - but nothing that was a detriment... I was sort of psyched to be there at that point.

If you've spent several summers above 13K every weekend or so, you *should* do just fine. But like it's said here - listen to your body. And get all the peaks you can while you're down there - that's my one regret, and why I will have to go back.

[719BR]

I haven't done Cerro Negro, but that one would be good too.

if you are looking at altitude just for the sake of altitude, sierra negro is great because it's high and it's right next door to orizaba. actually summitting will be a challenge however because the summit is on a private, guarded facility and the logistics getting permission are difficult to work out.

[Steve Climber]

Probably repeat info here, since I was too lazy to read any of the replies above, but if you're well acclimated to 14k, 18.5 shouldn't be too big a deal.

We hiked to ~16k on day one as soon as we were dropped off at base camp. Next morning, up to 17k(ish), basically to the saddle/base of glacier, which was more to figure out the route finding through the Lab so we'd be good in the dark that night. 1a same night/next morning, we pushed out for the summit. Left camp at ~1:15a, hit the top at dead-nuts 6:30a, just in time for the sunrise at 6:32a. The only person in our team who had any altitude issues was my cousin who had flown in from Spokane (2500' ish?) the day before we went to base camp...so he went from 2500 to 16k in 2 days...rough. He summited a couple hours behind, but was feeling ok by the end.

[Scott P]

I haven't done Cerro Negro, but that one would be good too.

if you are looking at altitude just for the sake of altitude, sierra negro is great because it's high and it's right next door to orizaba. actually summitting will be a challenge however because the summit is on a private, guarded facility and the logistics getting permission are difficult to work out.

Good to know.

[Trotter]

Hello,

I am look for some quick advice from ya'll with high altitude experience; preferably 16k<. My partners and I are very acclimatized at 14k. We have spent multiple hours at 14k in the last five weeks or so. We are climbing up to 18.5k in the next week on Pico de Orizaba and we are looking for advice on summit day. We believe we can make a straight push from 14k to 18.5k with no issues. However, none of us have been higher than 14.5k. Looking to see if this would be reasonable without serious AMS symptoms.

diamox