DAY 8 – Izta Summit Day
Midnight came quickly as it always does. Not sure why we had to start that early again and our guides really didn’t have a good answer. We only had 4,000′ of elevation in 4 miles, very much like a typical day in Utah. Granted, we were starting from 13,000′ and would climb to 17K but that still didn’t seem to necessitate another 1am start. Unfortunately, the only option here was to follow along. When your group hires a guide, the team loses all decision making ability… which I have very mixed feelings about.
Up by way of the Standard Route
Within 15 minutes of hiking La Arista de Sol, the standard route on Izta, we were already passing a large group that started shortly before us. We would not see them again.
1,000 feet up and a mile in, we reached the 1st saddle in just under an hour. 400 more feet and another third of a mile and we hit the 2nd saddle. The lights of Mexico City could be seen off in the distance.
When we got to the 3rd saddle at 14,860′, we had climbed 1,800′ in 1.75 miles. That elevation and distance took us 2 hours. It felt like we were making decent progress but slow and steady was the pace.
By 4am, we made it to the Grupo de Los Cien shelter at 15,500 feet. We were 2,500′ up and almost 2.5 miles in after 3 hours of climbing in those cold, dark morning hours.
Not Really The Crux
The slope up from this hut to “The Knees” is supposed to be the crux of this route. I would challenge that opinion with what we thought to be a real crux later. This section of the climb does ascend 1,000′ in a half mile to the First Knee at 16,500′. So it’s definitely steep, but hardly required use of your hands to make it. The risk level also didn’t seem high as far as the chance of slipping and falling to your doom. Maybe that would have felt different with more light, but I doubt it. I also don’t recall seeing any crosses here either. Again, this would have been much better to do with more daylight.
A quarter mile later and another 200′ of elevation, we reached The Belly. Before dropping down onto that glacier, we stopped to throw on crampons. It was the first bit of snow we came across all morning.
Shortly thereafter, the sunrise from this vantage point was unbelievable. We were in the right place at the right time to see it light up the sky behind Malinche and Orizaba. A Van Halen song came to mind!
This is also where we came upon the real crux.
The Real Crux
As we were setting up camp the day before, a couple from Seattle had returned from their summit day. We, of course, asked how it was, anxious to know more about what to expect firsthand. Both expressed that “The crux wasn’t the crux at all. The real crux was after that – down the sheet of ice into the belly.” We concur… the “crux” up to The Knee was nothing! The *real* crux, as we traversed it, was definitely this slope the Seattle climbers warned about. It was solid ice! Obviously there are no pictures of that white-knuckle experience until after we passed the worst of it seen below.
The sketchy part is the upper slope where you can see two others coming down behind us (circled).
Safe crossing here required careful footwork since an ice axe would have done absolutely nothing! I had never been on such an extreme surface and remembered reading about this in Glacier Mountaineering by Andy Tyson & Mike Clelland. ALL TWELVE POINTS needed to be engaged, 100%!
Our guide told us Glaciar del Vientre has receded much over the years. Way back whenever, you could cut right across rather than having to go around like we did.
Up and out of The Belly to that ridgeline above.
From there, we looked back at what we later considered a “no fall zone”. Four more climbers were crossing that area as this pic was taken. They are circled for further perspective about that being the real crux of the route. If there was a better way across this section, our guide didn’t lead us there.
A few more shots were taken of this sunrise while the clouds filtered its colors.
Final Push
The final push is only a half mile more from here to The Breast (“here”, meaning the top of the ridgeline after climbing up out of The Belly, as seen above). Another 400 feel of elevation is gained in this final stretch pictured behind our guide below.
Up and around this bump called Peña Ordoñez according to the CalTopo map I’m referencing… and no, that’s not a nipple of this iztāc (white) cihuātl (woman).
We reached the South Summit a few minutes before 8 o’clock. That put our summit stats at slightly under 7 hours to climb 4,300 feet in 4 miles.
We did wander over to the West Summit to see The Head of this sleeping beauty.
However, there was no desire to cross over and touch the North Summit. It was cold and windy and we were ready to be done. We were standing on the highest point, and that was really all that mattered.
Down by way of an Alternate Route
Our guide suggested an alternate way down instead of going back the way we came. It’s called the Ayoloco Trail. It drops off the ridge to the west just after that bump called Peña Ordoñez on CalTopo.
Looking back at what we just started to descend, Peña Ordoñez is that rocky point best seen here.
Ayoloco Trail
With nothing much left of the Glacier de Ayoloco, the traverse is through large boulders as you cross this field of moraine. The map does show another shelter in this area called Refugio de Ayoloco, but we didn’t take the time to go look.
It mellows out the closer you get to the valley floor.
The Ayoloco route is a pretty steady descent for 3.5 miles. At about a thousand feet per mile, I don’t think it would be too bad going up to the summit this way.
We arrived back at Camp La Joya around 12:30, just in time for lunch. Final stats for the day were 4,600 feet over 8 miles in 11 and a half hours. Our GPX track can be downloaded from here.
Two hours later, the last member of our group arrived back at camp. We kinda had to rush her to get changed, packed up and loaded in the van that would take us back to Mexico City. I started to realize that this might be why guides make you start so early. They have no idea how long it’s going to take their clients to finish. I’m sure the Servimont staff expected to leave right after lunch, but instead, had to sit around and wait for a couple more hours. However, we still were able to make a quick stop in Amecameca to check out their local street market.
We spent our last night back where we started, at the Fiesta Inn near the airport. Their dinner buffet, a nice hot shower and a comfy bed with a normal pillow made for a really nice ending.
DAY 9 – Return Home
My flight left early that next morning… like 5:45am. Others were scheduled to leave throughout the day, but I didn’t mind this “alpine start”. It put me in Houston at 8 and back home by noon. Reflecting on the week, it was a pretty awesome trip!
