Mexico Dispatch: Iztaccihuatl and Orizaba

Guide: Mark Ryman

Expe­di­tion Mem­bers: Andrea Hilder­brand, Eric Pace, Robert Rud­is­ill, Giuseppe Ruffi­no, and Richard Ward.

We’re pleased to report that the Moun­tain Mad­ness team in Mex­i­co has suc­cess­ful­ly sum­mit­ted Iztac­ci­hu­atl! When we heard from Mark this morn­ing, the group had just fin­ished tak­ing sum­mit pho­tos at 17,154 feet and was prepar­ing to descend.

Accord­ing to Mark’s dis­patch, the trip has gone very smooth­ly: the group ren­dezvoused in Mex­i­co City, then went togeth­er up to the vil­lage of Mec­ca Mec­ca. From there, they went north to La Joya to spend a night accli­ma­tiz­ing in a refuge at 13,124 ft. Yes­ter­day the group moved to a high camp (around 15,500 feet) and pre­pared for this morning’s 4AM alpine start! They were at the sum­mit by ten o’clock this morning.

After descend­ing, they’re head­ed to the col­or­ful vil­lage of Puebla to join the cel­e­bra­tion for Dias de Los Muer­tos (the Mex­i­can ​“Day of the Dead.”) They’re look­ing for­ward to a sum­mit attempt of Orib­aza (18,410 feet!) via the Glac­i­er de Jama­pa, then plan to head to Tlachichu­ca for a show­er, some local cui­sine, and a well-deserved cel­e­bra­tion! Stay tuned for more updates on their Mex­i­can adventures.