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Posted by Climbing (Guest) on November 19, 2007 at 1:20:14 am EST
In reply to Re: Pico De Orizaba posted by rgp on November 18, 2007 at 10:31:04 pm EST

I climbed solo from Hildago at about 12,000 feet, to the glacier, at about 16,000 feet and turned there around a few years ago.

At my high point I wasn't able to think clearly nor move at faster than an extremely slow pace.

The conditions were unusually cold and icy/snowy... and I put on crampons half-way between hut and glacier. An ice axe, on this stretch, however, wasn't needed, as there were plenty of rocks to break a fall and slope wasn't terribly steep. Poles were extremely desirable.

I spent one night at the hut described above. I think it's just under 14,000 feet. Mostly I couldn't sleep because of altitude, snoring, and lots of noisy rats. If I did this again, I would skip the hut completely, and make at least one, or possibly two camps at a somewhat higher lever.

Prior to this, I had spent about a week acclimatizing and climbed La Malinche to nearly 15,000 feet.

But if I had spent a few more days becoming accustomed to the altitude, I assume I'd have done better with the altitude. It's well-known that individuals vary widely in there adaptation. I'd been frequently to 10,000 feet, with no ill effects.

At the hut, I was treated to the sight of a climber, descending, and staggering and vomiting, with helpful commentary (to me) of an American doctor, a paying member of a guided party, on the various possible medications that might potentially have helped this distressed climber.

The doctor concluded by saying, however, that going lower was the best advisable course for the afflicted climber.

On my second night, descending, I eschewed the hut, dropped a couple of thousand feet, and took some back-trails through Hildago and a near-by canyon, and was treated to the sight of many sheep, dogs and shepherds, along with buros, going home to Hildago after a day of grazing.

On the third day, I hitched a ride back to the bigger town, with the guided party. I had to pay a rather steep fee to ride the stupid jeep, but it saved ten miles of walking on a miserably dusty road.

Don't fail to see downtown Puebla's baroque churches, and also Cholula. These are great sights not far away. Some of the outlying villages are also very worthwhile and rather freaky for an American...

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