Entries from Mexico
January 18, 2016
Posted by: Billy Haas, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 10,000'
Hello from the La Malitzi Resort! We are snug in our beds nestled on the flanks of La Malinche, a 14,636' extinct volcanic remnant. We spent the day in this Parque de Nacional stretching our legs and lungs for the first time since we all gathered in the city. We were treated to perfect weather and excellent hiking temperatures. However, as is often the case driving in Mexico, we were delayed by an enormous traffic jam. A bottleneck not in the city this time, but instead shortly before arriving at the mountain. Mexico City was recently hit by a large storm that deposited snow at relatively low elevations. Since this is quite a rare occurrence, the local news outlets have been broadcasting a continuous cycle of footage of families up playing in the snow; some touching it for the first time!
With all the media attention, there were hundreds of cars trying to access the La Malinche trailhead and things quickly slowed to a halt.
After waiting as long as we could, we left our overnight bags with the driver to sit in traffic, and began the journey through the literally thousands of local hikers towards our goal of reaching the upper slopes of the mountain. Given our time frame, we had no chance of reaching the top, but we hiked for 3 hours amidst a herd of parents, grandparents, children and dogs running past us and often stopping to inquire where we were from and if we were going to look for the snow, as well.
When we reached our high point, we bundled up and rested for a half an hour or so, allowing our bodies to recover while enjoying the expansive views from 13,300'.
Upon our arrival back at 10,000' our driver had finally reached the resort, checked us in, and most importantly made sure the propane water heaters were warming up for a well deserved shower. It was nearly dark as we got settled and we were all anxiously awaiting the fantastic dinner that Rogelio (our transportation coordinator) promised.
It did not disappoint! We feasted on steaks, chorizo, tortillas, beans, guacamole, and grilled vegetables resting on small charcoal grills on our table.
Everyone is now off to bed for a solid 8 hours of rest, and then tomorrow we begin our journey toward our first objective, climbing Ixta!
Well check in tomorrow from the Altizomoni Hut!
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Billy Haas and the team
On The Map
January 17, 2016
Posted by: Billy Haas, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,300'
Hello from Mexico City!
Our team arrived throughout the day, and by 7pm we were all gathered on the rooftop patio of the hotel for an equipment review and logistics breakdown of the days to come.
We are all looking forward to leaving the hustle and bustle of urban life and heading into the hills for our first acclimatization hike.
We'll check in again from the La Malitzi Resort.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall and Billy Haas
Well folks...I had my best weather day on Ixta. And yesterday and today, I had my worst weather day on Orizaba. The team is great but we were unable to summit Orizaba. High winds and a constant rain prevented us from going higher. However, that is not preventing us from having a great experience. As for me, this was a phenomenal team and we had I think, too much fun. Mike and I hope to climb with everyone again. We are now back at Sr. Reyes and are drying all our soggy gear.
This is the last blog for Team Mexico. Thank you all for following along.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
November 13, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 14,000'
Hi everyone. This is JJ Justman and Mike King and Team Mexico. This morning we parted the beautiful colonial city of Puebla. We had a great rest day yesterday in Puebla enjoying a little bit of the good life. This morning we took off and headed to Orizaba, which is where we are right now. We set up camp. We are actually going expedition style, so the tents are up and the stoves are going for some hot drinks. The weather right now is a little little bit cloudy, little bit foggy and a light mist. The weather actually isn't too bad; nice and calm so that's good. Everyone's doing really, really well. We're looking forward to a great summit day tomorrow. Our plan is to have an early dinner, and then wake up and start climbing just after midnight, give or take. It should be a full day for us tomorrow, so stay tuned. We'll give a call, keep your fingers crossed, and hopefully will call you from the summit of the third highest mountain in North America, Orizaba. Thanks for following along. We'll touch base again tomorrow. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls in from Piedra Grande Hut in Mexico.
On The Map
November 12, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 17,340'
The RMI Mexico team is in Puebla. While at their hotel, RMI Guide, JJ Justman, was able to send us photos and a video of his team's successful Ixta summit. Check it out below!
November 11, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 17,340'
Hey, everyone, this is JJ and Mike and Team Mexico. I'm going to give everyone 3 seconds to guess, that's right, three seconds to guess where we are. You don't need that much time you guessed it, we are all 100%, the entire team, is on the summit of Ixta as we speak. I'll tell you what, it was a beautiful day climbing, actually probably my best day on Ixta of all my years, over a decade of coming here. Just a beautiful day climbing and a great strong team, we worked hard but everyone did well. We are taking a few summit photos, have a little bit of water and food and then we are going to throw the rucksacks back on and head down hill. Don't go too far away we are going to go all the way down to Puebla later this afternoon. And I'm going to hopefully make a summit video as well as post a few photos. Thanks for following along. We are really excited to be up here and we really appreciate your support. So stay tuned a little later and you'll see how beautiful today was climbing. Take care everyone, chao from the summit of Ixta.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl, 17,340', Mexico.
On The Map
November 10, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 15,400'
Hello RMI Blog followers. Team Mexico is coming at you live from high camp on Ixta. It was a beautiful day. It was a tough day; however, the team did awesome getting to 15,400 feet.
We are busy setting up camp and the name of the game is recovering with a good meal and some hot drinks. We will depart tomorrow at 3 a.m. for the summit so wish us well!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
Great photos. Praying for all to have a safe climb. Enjoying the blog.
Posted by: Linda Manley on 11/11/2015 at 7:53 am
November 9, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 12,000'
Today was a fantastic day for Team Mexico! We left our cabins at La Malinche and continued on our adventure. After a hearty buffet breakfast and a few team members saying "I can't believe I ate 3 breakfasts!" we hit the road and headed to our first objective, Ixta.
We made a quick pit stop to buy a few last items and we also acquired our park entrance permits. We are now settling in the Altzomoni Hut at 12,000'. The team went for another hike to get the blood flowing and everyone is feeling great.
We are now packing and sorting gear for our move to high camp tomorrow. Stay tuned, the team is getting pumped as we get closer to making our summit attempt!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
November 8, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 13,000'
The team left the bustling Zona Rosa District in Mexico City and headed for the hills. We arrived in La Malinche at noon and we quickly settled into our private cabanas and dinned our trekking shoes.
The weather was less than ideal with steady rain; however, our team made the best of marginal conditions not to mention rain gear! The park police actually were not going to let us up because of the weather.
You see, the park sees a lot of tourists...locals from the city dressed in sandals and sweatpants. Which, is nice on a beautiful day. For us, the weather wasn't actually that bad so with my best Spanish I sweet-talked our way to trek up to 13,000 feet.
The team did great! We had a fun time and did our bodies good adjusting to higher altitudes. We are now settled back in our cabanas and we are getting ready for another great dinner here in Mexico.
Heh! After a wet day at altitude this team deserves a little pampering!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
On The Map
November 7, 2015
Posted by: JJ Justman, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,300'
The team is all here! We are in Mexico City on a beautiful evening and we are looking forward to beginning our expedition. Tomorrow we will head for the mountains to get some fresh air. The weather is nice and we are hoping it continues for us. Stay tuned to the RMI blog for updates.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
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Congrats to Rhonda and the rest of the team. Stay strong and be safe.
Posted by: Judy on 11/11/2015 at 10:13 am
Awesome!! Congratulations on summiting Ixta! We love the blog and hearing how the expedition is progressing. Can’t wait to see the photos and videos! Hello to our son, Nick:-)!! Good luck with the rest of the week.
Posted by: Julie Beres on 11/11/2015 at 7:35 am
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