Our team spent the rest day wandering around the beautiful streets and churches of Puebla today. We saw some beautiful churches, community parks, ceramic studios, and street musicians. Everyone feels tired after our Ixta climb but in great spirits to go climb Pico de Orizaba on Saturday. We all talked over a delicious dinner about what we learned climbing Ixta and are excited for the next challenge. We are enjoying our time in the mountains and towns of Mexico. Fingers crossed for clear sky's on Orizaba!
RMI Guide Christina Dale
We lay in our tents listening to the sounds of heavy rain, snow, hail, then lighting and thunder at High Camp in Ixta. Miraculous, at 1 am the weather cleared and we packed up to head for the summit. We climbed through the dark night into a dense cloud. Everyone made it to the summit with a layer of rime ice surrounding their faces. We had quick hugs on the summit then hustled back down. The weather progressively worsened on our descent to a point where the winds were so strong we couldn't stand against them. It was a true blizzard and everyone on the team did so well getting down safely. We definitely had a full value climb with lots of excitement.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Hey, this is Christina calling in with the Mexico climb at 7:45 in the morning, and we are standing on the summit. It is howling wind sideways and blowing snow so everyone's covered in a layer of rime. Everyone did so well climbing and we are all up here in good spirits taking a very quick photo, and then we're going to be out of here quick because the weather is coming in. Tomorrow is our rest day and we are all looking forward to it. Congratulations to our team, we are 100% on the summit of Ixta.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
RMI Guide Christina Dale calls from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl.
Hi, this is Christina with the RMI Mexico Volcanoes team. We're currently perched high at 15,000 feet at our high Camp on Ixta. Everyone is doing super well. Today we got into camp an hour and a half before we thought we would so we are walking incredibly strong. It's a beautiful day out on the mountain today. We're going to wake up at midnight tonight, and give the summit our best shot. Everyone's feeling great- had a hot meal, and then some hot drinks and some nice time to hang out and enjoy the changing cloud patterns of the Mexico landscape below. We hope to give you our next call from the summit! Wish us well.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
RMI Guide Christina Dale calls in from Ixtaccihuatl's high camp.
Hola amigos!
We are checking in from 13,100 on Ixta, reporting light rain and overcast skies, but with loads of optimism for clear skies tomorrow for our hike to high camp at 15,000 feet!
Today was spent in preparation for our ascent of Ixta, which included a stop in the town of Amecameca, which was devoid of tourism and gave us a wonderful insight into authentic Mexican culture. After stocking up on water and last minuet supplies we drove to the park entrance where we stretched our legs with a walk to our abode for the evening. The rest of the evening was spent packing and eating a delicious meal prepared by our wonderful host Rogelio. The meal was a delicious concoction of beef, rice, guacamole and beans.
We will wake tomorrow and start our way up the trail to Ixta high camp!
Buenas noches from RMI Guides Christina, JT and the rest of the Mexican volcanoes team!
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Hey this is Christina in Mexico with a blog post:
Some of our team, our world champion boxer, Patty, summited La Malinche today! The rest of us had a truly great day and got in a big acclimatization hike up to 13,400 feet. The best part of the day was that everyone felt great and was so happy to be hiking up way above the Mexican countryside. The climb took us up through the green forests and to the summit ridge where we watched thunderheads roll across the land below. We can back down in a whirlwind of conversations and laughter to hot showers and a sizzling dinner. Everyone is looking forward to Ixtaccihuatl.
RMI Guide Christina Dale
Hola!
The team convened this evening at the lovely Hotel Geneve in the Zona Rosa region of Mexico City. To everyone's relief the earthquake damage proved to be minimal in this area of the city, and hopefully that continues to be the trend for the entirety of the trip. The team met each other for the first time in the lobby of the hotel, whilst seated in high backed lounge chairs, surrounded by paintings and towering bookshelves which made for a rather regal setting to begin our Mexican adventure.
After meeting the team and going over a brief synopsis of the days to come, we took a short walk through the Zona Rosa to a lively establishment that served authentic Mexican food, tasty margaritas, as well as a full mariachi band. Although we were not able to sing along to the tunes with the rest of the patrons, I am sure we enjoyed the food just as much as the locals sharing the restaurant with us.
Tomorrow we depart Mexico City and head for the former training site of the Mexican Olympic team, La Malinche, and begin our acclimatization with a trip up the extinct volcanoe.
Buenas noches,
RMI Guides Christina Dale, JT Schmitt and the rest of the RMI Mexican Volcanoes team!
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Christina Dale reached 11,700' before having to turn due to unconsolidated snow conditions. The team is currently at Camp Muir and will be descending for Paradise soon.
Congratulations to today's team!
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Christina Dale reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver at 12,300'. The team turned due to unstable snow conditions. Pete reported mostly clear skies with a thin cap over the summit, and winds of about 20 mph from the north. The team has started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir Team led by RMI Guides Elias deAndres Martos and Christina Dale reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! Elias reported great climbing with clear skies, and cool fall temperatures. The team has spent their week on the mountain learning alpine mountaineering skills. They will finish out their week of training before descending tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Team!
Good luck I’m praying for good weather for you! Be safe.
Team leader- team gramma neenee
Posted by: Ellen Smith Eaton on 10/9/2017 at 7:26 am
Yeah team! Good luck with weather, enjoy the challenge and have fun! Xtina and JT top notch! Special regards to Craig FLKHGN.
Posted by: Elias on 10/8/2017 at 6:06 pm
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