Entries from Mexico
The first full day of the trip has been a blast. We started off with breakfast at the hotel in Mexico City. While we were eating the military honor guard raised the national flag in front of the presidential palace giving us quite the show.
After that we peeled out of town and headed for the mountains. On our way out we stopped to get some water and one of the guys found a soccer ball that he just had to have. So now we have a team soccer ball.
The drive was real smooth and we pulled into the cabanas at La Malinche before noon.
Once we moved in we set off for a hike. We ended up getting to about 13,700 feet on La Malinche and set a new altitude record for Dave!
We have just returned from the hike and we're all starving. Dinner is in 8 minutes so I've got to go!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
January 12, 2013
Posted by: Seth Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 7,300'
Buenos noches from Mexico City. Everyone has arrived without too much incident and we just spent the evening getting to know each other. Our hotel is located right on the zocalo (historic center) in the city so there is tons of activity all around. We had a great dinner overlooking the square and now we're getting ready for a fairly early start tomorrow. Our next stop is La Malinche where we begin our acclimatization in earnest.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Thinking of you, Amigos!
Posted by: Laura Bryson on 1/13/2013 at 7:08 am
Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman with the Mexico Adventure team. We are happy to report that we are back at basecamp here on Orizaba. The mountain today, Orizaba, said no. It's always a little bit unfortunate. It's always a bummer when you don't summit. But we made it to within about 1,500 feet of the summit. Actually made it a good way on the glacier but we had rock hard, bulletproof ice. It's something I've never seen here before and pretty rare on all the mountains I've been on. We could hardly even penetrate our crampons. It was that firm. So my gut was telling me the obvious. Orizaba said no to reaching the top. It's something I never really share with my team before a summit climb, but I did have to let them know that while we were on Ixta, here on Orizaba, that same day unfortunately, a climber who was non-guided, slipped and fell. And she did not make it. So when you hear things like that, and you have the conditions that we had, it's a pretty easy decision to make. Even though it's disappointing not reaching the top, we are back down safe and sound and you know what, we can come back when Orizaba is in better shape, better conditions and give her another shot, but the team is real happy. We made the summit of Ixta, and that definitely still has us smiling and we're definitely glad to be down here. So we're gonna pack up camp and head back down to Dr. Reyes' and we'll have a good meal down there and definitely have a celebration. So thanks for tuning in. Everyone here says hello and we will hopefully see you on the mountain. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman recaps their day on Orizaba.
Hello RMI Blog,
This is JJ Justman. We are done resting and relaxing in the town of Puebla, and are now at our camp on Orizaba at 14,000’. A nice little spot everyone is guiding out our tents making sure they do not blow away in the wind. We do have a little bit of a breeze, but the weather is beautiful. They are calling for a bit of a cold front tonight so it might be chilly, but we are planning on waking up early and going for the summit of Orizaba tomorrow morning, most likely at 2 o’clock in the morning we will be walking on out.
The team is doing great, we are well rested, well fed, and we are looking forward to see what Orizaba has to offer. Stay tuned we will give you a call tomorrow to let you know how everyone is doing.
Everyone on the team says, “Hello!”
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
JJ Justman and Team checking in before Summit Bid
Its not just about climbing mountains. Mountain adventures, especially international adventures, provide an opportunity to experience the whole enchilada. Seeing that we are in Mexico...no pun intended. And speaking of enchiladas and Mexico...today the team spent the day enjoying the local culture of Puebla.
Everyone made the summit of Ixta yesterday. And everyone deserved a great day of rest, which mainly included enjoying the authentic cuisine of Puebla. I always said, "you've never eaten Mexican food, until you've eaten in Puebla".
For breakfast we enjoyed scrambled eggs covered in mole sauce. For lunch we devoured tacos pastor. And now, we are preparing for dinner at one of Puebla's famous restaurants, where we will sample all of the mole sauces that have made this region famous.
No, it's not all about climbing. However, tomorrow the team is looking forward to our next mountaineering objective... Pico de Orizaba.
Stay tuned...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
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Posted by: Michelle M Ruiz on 11/1/2012 at 12:21 pm
Hello RMI blog. This is JJ Justman. I am extremely happy to report that the entire team, 100%, got up Ixta this morning! We actually had an early day. We were on the summit early enough to watch the sunrise. We had just a gorgeous day to climb. Everyone's doing very, very well. Just was one heck of a team to climb. Lot of fun and I can't say enough great things about this group. So we are back at camp, we're going to get some hot drinks and then we're going to pack up camp. And we'll be heading to Puebla this evening. So we're certainly tired, we need a little hydration, a little food, but everyone is doing great. And I would like to pass the phone over to one of our team members they'd like to say something to those of you who are following our blog. Hey guys. This is TA Loeffler calling. Had an amazing morning climbing Ixta this morning with JJ and company. This climb, when you put together the two days of climbing with big loads to high camp and then getting up to the summit. Boy did we see a gorgeous sunrise! Popo in front, sending off a plume. And it's pretty surreal to get to the top of the 7th highest peak in North America. And I'm just really proud of everyone on the team. Hello to everyone out there in RMI land and it's great to share a summit with RMI once again.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI JJ Justman recaps Ixta summit day.
On The Map
HI TA,
Congratulations on your summit!it is really cool that you made it to the top.Did you have a good time on the mountain? Looking forward to having you back for a visit again. Hooray for you from the grade fours at Bishop Abraham Elementary.
Heather and the grade four class
Posted by: Heather Courage on 10/25/2012 at 4:31 am
Hello everyone this is JJ Justman with the RMI Mexican Volcanoes adventure team. We are very happy to report that the entire team is up at high camp on Ixta. We are now at 15,300'. It's a long day carrying heavy packs to get up here, but it is definitely well worth it. I'm looking towards the summit right now. We just have a couple thousand feet to go. So we're getting our tents secured down and guyed out. And we're also working on a little bit of a hot drink as well as a dinner for this evening, which is gonna include some homemade sausage with a little bit of Ramen soup, and cheese quesadillas. Stay tuned tomorrow. I'll definitely give a call in. The weather right now is beautiful. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's going to remain the same and wish us luck and we'll touch base hopefully with some great news tomorrow. Everyone's doing great and they all say hello. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from Ixta's High Camp.
On The Map
Hello everyone following the RMI blog. This is the Mexican Volcanoes adventure checking in for the day. Our team made it up here. We are officially on Ixta. We're at the lower hut, had a good day getting up. The weather is absolutely beautiful. Good view of Popo, which is a little bit of a smoking volcano right now in the distance. And a great view of Ixta, which is our objective for the next couple of days. But in the mean time, our group is packing gear and getting everything set. We looked at the tents, everything's in order. So now my job is cut out for me. We're going to do a little bit of cooking here and feed the team. For starters, we're going to go with a tortilla soup, but before that we have a little bit of chips and homemade salsa. And then for our main course, we're having a little carne asada. That was a special recipe given to me by RMI Guide, Dan Windham. Looking forward to making a good dinner tonight, getting our bellies full. We're at 13,000' right now so we are officially acclimatizing. So we're going to have a good evening down here on the lower slopes of Ixta and then tomorrow we are going to move up to High Camp on Ixta. We'll check back in and let you know how everything's going, but all is well. Thanks for following along and we will touch back with all of you tomorrow. Take care. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in from Ixta's lower camp.
Hello everyone at RMI. This is JJ Justman calling in with the Mexico Volcanoes adventure team. We had a great day today getting out of Mexico City and arriving in La Malinche where we had our first acclimatization day. For those you don't know a little bit about La Malinche, it's an old volcano, it's non-glaciated. It's actually known as the Weeping Woman. La Malinche is one of Cortez's mistresses. It's a beautiful peak here, standing at 14,640'. Today, our team made it up to 14,000'; had a great trail side lunch. And we returned back down to our cabanas, where we are showering up and getting ready for a great dinner down here in camp. Tomorrow the plan is waking up a little bit early and heading out the door and getting to Ixta. But before we do that, we'll have a little bit of shopping to do, some last minute items for our dinners and breakfasts, but everyone is doing really well. The weather here is absolutely beautiful. We had great views of Ixta, Popo, Orizaba, and of course La Malinche. Knock on wood we're hoping the weather stays, because it was nice to get a little bit of a suntan today and hopefully tomorrow we'll get even a little more sun. We'll touch base and let you know how everything is going. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman on Day 1 of Mexico Volcanoes Expedition
On The Map
After an excellent climb with perfect conditions our team descended to Tlachichuca. It was hard to believe that all in the same day we could have climbed again by moonlight, this time looking at Popo and Ixta hit by the morning sun. It was a warm day and our team did a fantastic job handling the high altitude and moving securely in the rarified air. Again, our timing was ideal, just as we pulled into the hut to pack, the clouds rolled in and obscured the mountain. These were some of the best climbing conditions I have seen down here and the entire team appreciated the chance to stand on top in warm, windless weather.
Now we bid our farewells and look forward to the next time we all get to try our hand at climbing these sleeping giants. Though this trip will be tough to top, til then!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
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Great update - and congrats on new altitude records…hope today is another good day for you all!
Posted by: Caskie on 1/14/2013 at 1:26 pm
Thanks Seth for the very fun report! Now Dave is a true High Altitude Mt Climber! Great photo! Viva La Mexico!
Posted by: Laura on 1/14/2013 at 6:00 am
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