Pico de Orizaba Oct 2006

[skiyak777]

Anyone interested in doing a quick hit (well, I was thinking 7-10 days total) on Pico de Orizaba this fall? Dates TBD, but October is the prime snow season.

Volcano skiing experience and ice axe/crampon skills required. I'm too lazy to carry a rope to 18,410 feet, so I'm going to just try to avoid falling in any crevasses. I hear they aren't a major hazard on this mountain anyway.

Flights to Mexico City are about $370 now, so this trip shouldn't wind up being too expensive (unless we get arrested or something.)

[PWDR8S]

Originally Posted by skiyak777

Anyone interested in doing a quick hit (well, I was thinking 7-10 days total) on Pico de Orizaba this fall? Dates TBD, but October is the prime snow season.

Volcano skiing experience and ice axe/crampon skills required. I'm too lazy to carry a rope to 18,410 feet, so I'm going to just try to avoid falling in any crevasses. I hear they aren't a major hazard on this mountain anyway.

Flights to Mexico City are about $370 now, so this trip shouldn't wind up being too expensive (unless we get arrested or something.)

Love to but I'll be in Nepal for Oct. trekking to the Khumbu Glacier with some clients.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by PWDR8S

Love to but I'll be in Nepal for Oct. trekking to the Khumbu Glacier with some clients.

I gotta say, you have just one of the worst jobs imaginable.

[PWDR8S]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I gotta say, you have just one of the worst jobs imaginable.

Yup... it IS. Somedays, I do have to wonder where or how I'll get my next meal. BUT I wouldn't have it any other way... Life is too predictable otherwise.

[jdew]

Originally Posted by skiyak777

I'm too lazy to carry a rope to 18,410 feet, so I'm going to just try to avoid falling in any crevasses. I hear they aren't a major hazard on this mountain anyway.

. . . . but what happens if you fail?

[RR]

Originally Posted by jdew

. . . . but what happens if you fail?

depends on the failure. Not everything is worst case and it really is astonishing what folks can do when they have to..

Worst case one:
Die from infection of self inflicted injuries neccesitated by being entrapped in the accident but only after a grueling self rescue which involves unstopable annoying music playing in the mind

two:
Die from injuries after grueling self rescue which involves unstopable annoying music playing in the mind

three:
die after regaining conciousness and realising you are ****ed

four:
die in the fall

Those things happen to a minority of accident victems

[jdew]

It might be hard to find a partner when the plan is to hope that you avoid crevases. It may be a low probability event, but if your number comes up, a little insurance ala rope could make a big difference.

[skiyak777]

Originally Posted by jdew

It might be hard to find a partner when the plan is to hope that you avoid crevases. It may be a low probability event, but if your number comes up, a little insurance ala rope could make a big difference.

Most of the people I know who have done it on skis didn't bring a rope, and I'm generally reluctant to rope up without protection on steep terrain for fear that the whole rope team will be pulled off if someone falls.

If it hits the fan, I can always pull out a spanish phrase from the guidebook I have (Mexico's Volanoes- A climbing Guide):

Mi pierna esta quebrada, pero todavia estoy gozando del viaje
(english: My leg is broken, but I'm still enjoying the trip!)

[boardman]

There's not a single crevasse on the Jamapa Glacier (the main Orizaba climbing route) and none to speak of on most of the other routes, IIRC. However, the featureless nature of the glacier makes it dangerous in other ways; i.e., if you don't self arrest immediately, chances are very good that you will not stop until you rocket into the talus below. This is exactly what happened to two guys when I climbed there in December 2000 and witnessed a chopper evac of their dead bodies. In total, 11 people lost their lives on Orizaba that climbing season.

[skiyak777]

[PWDR8S]

Droooooooooooool!