Iztaccíhuatl - English

Preparations:

The Journey began months ago, preparing the details for flights, equipment and physical condition.

Volcano National Park

Straight from the airport and up to the mountain, was the beginning of our encounter with the majesty of the volcanos. Once we reached our camping site at 3,000mts we started to prepare for the climb that would start at 2:00am the next day.

Campsite sunset

At the camp site, we had the opportunity to see the colorful sunset giving us a feeling of amazement and inspiration.

Altitude Sickness

Attempting to sleep a few hours before the start time, some people of our group started to experience altitude sickness and were unable to follow through with the journey.

A bit past midnight we got ready to start our way up. Once at the first peak, other group members had to return to the campsite because of the altitude sickness or tiredness.

Climb

As we climbed we started to form smaller groups per speed and later waited for each other to then continue after a small break. Hours into our climb, we could appreciate the brightness of the full moon lighting up our path.

A step at a time, we could feel that breathing became heavier and our hearts speeding up.  It was the altitude.

Every step is worth the effort; the views are just breathtaking.

Sunrise

When reaching the fourth point called “el refugio” we saw the most amazing sunrise. The sun was coming out accompanied by heavy clouds and on the background, we could see the Popocatepetl Volcano.

Glacier

After long hours of climbing in amazement, we finally reached the glacier. To cross the glacier, we put on the boot spikes and went through the ice as if having a super power. Once at the other side, we began the final effort to reach the summit.

Summit

Already 8 hours into the mountains, we reached the peak all 5,200mts high. Complete happiness! We started congratulating and hugging each other, made photos, rested a bit until it became moment to work our way back.  The sky was closing and the path was fogging up.  As a team, our mission was to work our way up and down together, so we began our journey back.

Descent

The first big downhill was like skiing in stones and sand at the same time, it was very slippery!  As we stumbled down, stones of all sizes came chasing us.  Stone! People shouted, to avoid being hit by them, sometimes we were lucky to step out of the way and other times we fell from the impact.

During our descent, it began to snow; we knew that we needed to hurry up, otherwise it would become a painful and slow way down.  Already tired, we saw the campsite and filled with joy we sprinted down and finished the challenge!

Final Thoughts

It´s not just about reaching the summit it’s also about making it back down safe.

I learnt that it is you against the mountain, but at the same time, you become a wolf pack with your group and you feed from each other’s strength and motivation.  We all take care and encourage each other to stay strong and safe.

Thanks!

Special Thanks to Victoria Elizondo being such an inspiration and inviting me to her hiking group. Thanks to Felipe, Alejandro, Mario, Maritza, Selene, Winder, Reyna, Raul, Are, Dario, and our guides from higher ground.