1) 'CITLALTEPETL' (PICO DE ORIZABA) 5611m (N19°01.823'; W097°16.198')
It was in the 3rd week of my Spanish lessons at the 'Instituto Cultural Oaxaca' (second half of November 2005) that 3 new guys arrived. (Jake, John and Caleb). I had heard that they had been riding from San Diego in the USA down to Oaxaca on their bicycles and I was eager to meet them during the first lunch break! "So where are you guys riding too?" was my first question. "Aaa we want to ride down to Patagonia in Argentina". Nothing more has to be said, that evening we already met for a couple of beers...
..."So Caleb, I want to climb 'Citlaltépetl' up the north route (star mountain in the Náhuatl language or better known as Pico de Orizaba, Mexicos highest mountain at 5611m), you guys keen on joining me?" The smile on Caleb's face and glowing eyes was the answer! A few minutes later we were making plans and the following week our tea breaks were always spent talking about one thing: 'Pico de Orizaba'! The biggest problem was to get equipment. Luckily a 35kg bag of equipment was sent to Caleb and after a few more E-Mails the equipment problem was solved. We were ready and eager to get out of the noisy city. We had enough of school and eagerly awaiting the last day just like school kids looking forward to their vacation! We needed exercise and some clean mountain air to fill our lungs!
So off we went on the 3.12.2005. Like kids on their first day of holiday, we were happy and sat in a comfortable first class bus to Puebla (5 hours). There we switched buses.....ok now we are talking, a 50 seater bus but there were 60 people seated and another 45 standing!!! (I had plenty of time to count all the passengers while standing in the isle for 2 1/2 hours!). Yes, like sardines in a tin, we were stuffed into the bus. The driver picking up more people on the way kept shouting that everyone should move closer together! Where the hell were we supposed to move to? On my right, John was standing on my toes (where the hell was he supposed to put his stinky 'cycling' feet, simply no space!) ,on my left a huge Mexican straw hat was in my way. We stood crambed in the isle for the whole 2 1/2 hour ride to Tlachichuca. The different smells and odours was one thing but my flat feet (flat feet are called 'pies de tortillas' in Spanish) really felt like tortillas after that long ride.
Left: 'Pico de Orizaba' (5611m)seen through a 300mm zoom lens from the Mexican town of Tlachichuca.
We were glad when we arrived in Tlachichuca and we strolled straight to 'Servimont'. A mountaineering company which has turned an old former soap factory into a charming mountain hut 'like' place, where we stayed and where we were able to rent gear for our climb. The place is like a museum and very well kept. The machinery inside dates back to over 100 years and is very interesting!
left:Together with Jake, John and Caleb at the charming former soap factory. We had some dinner at a nearby restaurant and then started sorting out all our gear.
Caleb, sorting out his gear. "So who is going to carry all those bottles of wine up the hill?" We did not sleep too well in Tlachichuca because there was a 10 day festival going on and if anyone has been to Mexico then you will know that there is only one kind of fireworks, the kind which does not light up but rather makes a terrible noise. It is like heavy artillery or a handgrenade going off....this all night long was not too pleasant and it was another reason to get going the next day. At least everytime a bang went off, the guy snoring next to me got a fright and stopped snoring for a while!
04.12.2005: Caleb, John and Jake waiting for an interesting ride up to the base camp. The 2 hour ride was in an old 'second world war' military jeep. It turned out to be quite an action packed ride!
The scenery along the way was awesome, with lots of pine trees.
The road got worse and worse and soon it turned into a 'camel trophy' adventure! The road turned into a steep 'washed out river bed' kind of track.
"hold on boys, no time to get sick yet"! It was a dusty, bumpy ride. I was glad to be called the 'old man' or 'paps' by my younger friends, this always gives me the privilege to sit in the comfortable front seat!
left: The base camp 'Refugio Piedra Grande'. A basic hut but a good shelter against the wind! (N19°03.481';W097°16.193)
right: John, Caleb and Jake cooking inside the hut. We planned to stay here for at least 2 nights to acclimatise to the high altitude.
A good bottle of chilean red wine belongs on a mountaineering trip! We slept well the first night until I was awoken at 3am by 'hell of a noise'. Now what was that 'moving thing' on the table! I turned on my flash light to see a rat sitting comfortably in my mug, nibbling off the rest of the dried up milkpowder on the rim of my mug. It was a huge, fat 'thing'! Believe me, I put the mug in boiling water for at least 10 minutes the next morning before I had my next mug of hot chocolate!
John, Jake and myself talking to Marcin, a polish climber. Marcin was able to give us some good tips in regard to the route up the upper icefield.
Filtering water, a typical job for the acclimatising day!
05.12.2005: John and Jake, doing the right thing on the acclimatising day: rest and drink a lot! On the rest day we also hauled our ice gear to the bottom of the ice couloir at 4700m. This proved to be a good move as we were able to move fast and light for the first 2 hours that same night.
There was another group at the hut that got up at 11 pm to get a good, early start. We had only gone to bed at 9pm and were basically forced to get up with the others. Those of you who have an expedition cooker (petrol) know exactly what the noise is like! However, when about 5 cookers start boiling water at full blast at 11 pm there is no more sleeping in the hut! It is worse than an alarm clock! So we eventually also crawled out of our sleeping bags at 11:45 pm and got our 2 cookers going as well. (we needed to boil a good 8 litres for the days climb). We set off in the dark shortly before 1:00 am and made good progress. By 2.30 am we had reached our depot and it was time to put on our crampons! Time for the steep section, the ice-couloir. Let the fun begin! Bottom of couloir: Elevation 4747m; N19°02.780'; W097°16.205'.
Top of couloir: Elevation 4950m; N19°02.553'; W097°16.124'
Up the ice-couloir we went and then a couple more hours through the dark up the steep ice ridge until the first sun light was showing far off towards the east, way above the cloud zone! A fantastic experience!
...Jake how are you doing down there? The mountain cast a huge shadow across the clouds. (Elevation: 5223m; N19°02.224'; W097°16.213')
Jake and John coming up the last section, towards the rim of the crater. The going is slow at this altitude. The oxygen content is less than 1/2 of the oxygen at sea-level!
left: the rim of the crater! 'Good going boys'!
John's final steps up to the summit! Overwhelmed and happy! The clouds more than 2500m below us!
Jake, reaching the summit!
The summit of 'Pico de Orizaba' (5611m)Amazing, all 4 of us made it to the summit! Jake, not feeling too well! We diagnosed AMS (acute mountain sickness), going down immediately was essential!
Typical swiss, I will never stop loving mountains! (Summit: 5611m; N19°01.823'; W097°16.198')
The rim of the crater (Pico de Orizaba).
Back down at a lower altitude but still too high (4650m) for Jake. We moved quickly, watching Jake stumbling over the rocks (altitude sickness can be extremely dangerous and anyone can be affected, it has nothing to do with physical strength). Back down at the base, things were much better and that same evening we were all drinking wine in celebration of our successful climb.(including Jake who was fine again).
It was a wonderful climb with Jake, John and Caleb. I hope to meet up with them further south. They went back to Oaxaca to continue their ride, trying to catch up to 2 other cyclists. I left Tlachichuca and took some buses to the base of 'La Malinche' (4460m), my next climb on the list.
2) LA MALINCHE (4460m) - named after the famous indigenous lover and interpreter of Hernán Cortés, who was the first big discoverer of Mexico back in 1519.
There was no one at the base of the mountain except for Thomas and Andrea (from Switzerland). Thomas had a pair of old hiking boots which he kindly gave me and which proved to be valueable for my climb up 'Izta'.
08.12.2005 'La Maliche' was in the clouds when I climbed it early in the morning. I had left my tent at 6 am at 3000m and walked up through a steep, forested hill (reminding me much of the walk through the forest zone on Kilimanjaro in Africa), except that this forest was mixed, containing many pine trees.
right: summit of 'La Malinche' (4460m), unfortunately in the clouds. A dog accompanied me all the way to the summit, so I was not too lonely and I was able to share my lunch with him. He fell asleep at the summit!
For a brief moment I got a view down the steep slope of 'La Malinche'. I returned to my camp early that afternoon and slept for 2 hours. The last days took a lot of my energy, with only little sleep. I had something to eat and then slept a solid 13 hours! My new 'sleeping' record!
3) IZTACCÍHUATL (5286m) - 'the sleeping woman'
09.12.2005: I left 'La Malinche' and headed to Mexico City to catch a bus to Amecameca at the foot of the famous 'Popocatépetl' (5452m). Mexicans usually take their time when it comes to getting in and out of a bus but when the bus driver said that the motor was 'smoking' it was suddenly a different story. I have never seen Mexicans leave a bus so quickly (this happened in the middle of the city). Again I was squashed between some Mexicans...relieved to get out and away from the bus and get on a bus without a problem!
The 2 famous mountains outside of Mexico city: 'Izta' = Iztaccíhuatl, 'Popo' = Popocatépetl
The story of 'Popo' and 'Izta': Legend has it that 'Popo' was a great warrior. He was deeply in love with 'Izta' the emperor's daughter. Unfortunately 'Popo' had to go off to war and 'Izta' missed 'Popo' so much that she died of grief. After the war when 'Popo' returned he was so sad that he created a mountain on which he placed 'Izta'. Next to 'Izta' he created another mountain from which he watches over her night & day. 'Popo' is sometimes still angry about the incident. He shows his anger by ejecting thick clouds of smoke. He has been angry for quite some time now (since 1994) and therefore it is not possible for mountaineers to climb him ('Popo'). However 'Izta' (also known as the 'sleeping woman') can be climbed and that was my aim! looking from Amecameca one can clearly make out the 'cabeza' (head) on the far left, then the highest point of the mountain is the 'Pecho', 5286m (breast), then comes the 'rodilla' (knee) and further south is the 'pie' (foot).
The town of Amecameca is constantly alert and has planned out evacuation routes incase 'Popo' will blow off his top like 'Mount St. Helens' back in the early 1980's.
The plaza in Amecameca, with Iztaccihuatl in the background. I stayed in the town for a day to relax before attempting to go up to the base of 'Izta'.
Amecameca and it's lovely church dating back to the 16th century.
left: Garth (Australian) and Miguel (Mexican). I met the 2 guys at the base of 'Izta' and we shared a great dinner together at the 'Altzomoni' mountain hut. Seeing I was very well acclimatised from my previous summits, I decided to push it to the summit in one day, leaving at midnight.
'Pico de Orizaba' seen through the 300mm lens, way up on the upper slope of 'Izta', just before sunrise. I had been climbing up the steep slope for 6 hours during the night, stopping only for a sip of water or to eat some dried fruit to give me 'natural' energy. During the night I sometimes felt lonely high up on the mountain, only hearing the distant cries of coyotes, far down in the valley. Climbing up the steep, slippery section between the 'Rodilla' (knee) and the glaciated belly. My head was facing the starlit sky, I counted at least 10 shooting stars!
left: shortly before sunrise I reached an altitude of 5050m, over behind 'Izta's' knee, 'Popo' was watching his beloved 'Izta'. 'Popo' was probably wondering who the hell is climbing up between the knees and the glaciated belly, the hardest and most slippery part of the climb!!! Was he going to get angry at me for climbing his beloved 'Izta' from the feet up to the 'breast'? Wait and see....
'Pico de Orizaba' and 'La Malinche' way off in the distance. I had reached the glaciated summit icefield just as the sun rose over the horizon. The icefield and the sea of clouds look like one big icefield!
left: The summit of 'Izta's' highest point the 'Pecho' (breast). View across to 'La Malinche' and 'Pico de Orizaba'. Was 'Popo' going to be angry that I climbed his womans breast? Let me look across and see what he thinks....
'Popo' is angry! As I stood on the summit of 'Izta', he ejected a cloud of volcanic fumes into the sky! He is obviously watching his beloved 'Izta' very closely.
On the summit of 'Izta' at 5286m.
From the summit, looking over the 'belly' icefield on 'Izta'. 'Popo' in the background. He had calmed down after he saw that I was climbing off his beloved 'sleeping woman'. I had a good but long walk back and then hitch-hiked my way back to Amecameca. After dinner at 7pm I went to sleep and slept another 12 hours. I took the bus back to Oaxaca where I spent the Christmas days with Lucia.
My plan is to continue cycling at the beginning of 2006, down to the Guatemala border. I will wait for Gabriel, my friend before cycling through central America.
Left: 'Pico de Orizaba' (5611m)seen through a 300mm zoom lens from the Mexican town of Tlachichuca. 
We were glad when we arrived in Tlachichuca and we strolled straight to 'Servimont'. A mountaineering company which has turned an old former soap factory into a charming mountain hut 'like' place, where we stayed and where we were able to rent gear for our climb. The place is like a museum and very well kept. The machinery inside dates back to over 100 years and is very interesting!
left:Together with Jake, John and Caleb at the charming former soap factory. We had some dinner at a nearby restaurant and then started sorting out all our gear. 
Caleb, sorting out his gear. "So who is going to carry all those bottles of wine up the hill?" We did not sleep too well in Tlachichuca because there was a 10 day festival going on and if anyone has been to Mexico then you will know that there is only one kind of fireworks, the kind which does not light up but rather makes a terrible noise. It is like heavy artillery or a handgrenade going off....this all night long was not too pleasant and it was another reason to get going the next day. At least everytime a bang went off, the guy snoring next to me got a fright and stopped snoring for a while!
04.12.2005: Caleb, John and Jake waiting for an interesting ride up to the base camp. The 2 hour ride was in an old 'second world war' military jeep. It turned out to be quite an action packed ride!
The scenery along the way was awesome, with lots of pine trees.
The road got worse and worse and soon it turned into a 'camel trophy' adventure! The road turned into a steep 'washed out river bed' kind of track. 
"hold on boys, no time to get sick yet"! It was a dusty, bumpy ride. I was glad to be called the 'old man' or 'paps' by my younger friends, this always gives me the privilege to sit in the comfortable front seat!
left: The base camp 'Refugio Piedra Grande'. A basic hut but a good shelter against the wind! (N19°03.481';W097°16.193)
right: John, Caleb and Jake cooking inside the hut. We planned to stay here for at least 2 nights to acclimatise to the high altitude.
A good bottle of chilean red wine belongs on a mountaineering trip! We slept well the first night until I was awoken at 3am by 'hell of a noise'. Now what was that 'moving thing' on the table! I turned on my flash light to see a rat sitting comfortably in my mug, nibbling off the rest of the dried up milkpowder on the rim of my mug. It was a huge, fat 'thing'! Believe me, I put the mug in boiling water for at least 10 minutes the next morning before I had my next mug of hot chocolate!
John, Jake and myself talking to Marcin, a polish climber. Marcin was able to give us some good tips in regard to the route up the upper icefield.
Filtering water, a typical job for the acclimatising day!
05.12.2005: John and Jake, doing the right thing on the acclimatising day: rest and drink a lot! On the rest day we also hauled our ice gear to the bottom of the ice couloir at 4700m. This proved to be a good move as we were able to move fast and light for the first 2 hours that same night.
There was another group at the hut that got up at 11 pm to get a good, early start. We had only gone to bed at 9pm and were basically forced to get up with the others. Those of you who have an expedition cooker (petrol) know exactly what the noise is like! However, when about 5 cookers start boiling water at full blast at 11 pm there is no more sleeping in the hut! It is worse than an alarm clock! So we eventually also crawled out of our sleeping bags at 11:45 pm and got our 2 cookers going as well. (we needed to boil a good 8 litres for the days climb). We set off in the dark shortly before 1:00 am and made good progress. By 2.30 am we had reached our depot and it was time to put on our crampons! Time for the steep section, the ice-couloir. Let the fun begin! Bottom of couloir: Elevation 4747m; N19°02.780'; W097°16.205'. 
Up the ice-couloir we went and then a couple more hours through the dark up the steep ice ridge until the first sun light was showing far off towards the east, way above the cloud zone! A fantastic experience!
...Jake how are you doing down there? The mountain cast a huge shadow across the clouds. (Elevation: 5223m; N19°02.224'; W097°16.213')
Jake and John coming up the last section, towards the rim of the crater. The going is slow at this altitude. The oxygen content is less than 1/2 of the oxygen at sea-level!
left: the rim of the crater! 'Good going boys'!
John's final steps up to the summit! Overwhelmed and happy! The clouds more than 2500m below us!
Jake, reaching the summit!
The summit of 'Pico de Orizaba' (5611m)Amazing, all 4 of us made it to the summit! Jake, not feeling too well! We diagnosed AMS (acute mountain sickness), going down immediately was essential!
Typical swiss, I will never stop loving mountains! (Summit: 5611m; N19°01.823'; W097°16.198')
The rim of the crater (Pico de Orizaba).
Back down at a lower altitude but still too high (4650m) for Jake. We moved quickly, watching Jake stumbling over the rocks (altitude sickness can be extremely dangerous and anyone can be affected, it has nothing to do with physical strength). Back down at the base, things were much better and that same evening we were all drinking wine in celebration of our successful climb.(including Jake who was fine again).
08.12.2005 'La Maliche' was in the clouds when I climbed it early in the morning. I had left my tent at 6 am at 3000m and walked up through a steep, forested hill (reminding me much of the walk through the forest zone on Kilimanjaro in Africa), except that this forest was mixed, containing many pine trees.
right: summit of 'La Malinche' (4460m), unfortunately in the clouds. A dog accompanied me all the way to the summit, so I was not too lonely and I was able to share my lunch with him. He fell asleep at the summit!
For a brief moment I got a view down the steep slope of 'La Malinche'. I returned to my camp early that afternoon and slept for 2 hours. The last days took a lot of my energy, with only little sleep. I had something to eat and then slept a solid 13 hours! My new 'sleeping' record!
The plaza in Amecameca, with Iztaccihuatl in the background. I stayed in the town for a day to relax before attempting to go up to the base of 'Izta'. 
Amecameca and it's lovely church dating back to the 16th century.
left: Garth (Australian) and Miguel (Mexican). I met the 2 guys at the base of 'Izta' and we shared a great dinner together at the 'Altzomoni' mountain hut. Seeing I was very well acclimatised from my previous summits, I decided to push it to the summit in one day, leaving at midnight.
'Pico de Orizaba' seen through the 300mm lens, way up on the upper slope of 'Izta', just before sunrise. I had been climbing up the steep slope for 6 hours during the night, stopping only for a sip of water or to eat some dried fruit to give me 'natural' energy. During the night I sometimes felt lonely high up on the mountain, only hearing the distant cries of coyotes, far down in the valley. Climbing up the steep, slippery section between the 'Rodilla' (knee) and the glaciated belly. My head was facing the starlit sky, I counted at least 10 shooting stars!
left: shortly before sunrise I reached an altitude of 5050m, over behind 'Izta's' knee, 'Popo' was watching his beloved 'Izta'. 'Popo' was probably wondering who the hell is climbing up between the knees and the glaciated belly, the hardest and most slippery part of the climb!!! Was he going to get angry at me for climbing his beloved 'Izta' from the feet up to the 'breast'? Wait and see....
'Pico de Orizaba' and 'La Malinche' way off in the distance. I had reached the glaciated summit icefield just as the sun rose over the horizon. The icefield and the sea of clouds look like one big icefield!
left: The summit of 'Izta's' highest point the 'Pecho' (breast). View across to 'La Malinche' and 'Pico de Orizaba'. Was 'Popo' going to be angry that I climbed his womans breast? Let me look across and see what he thinks....
'Popo' is angry! As I stood on the summit of 'Izta', he ejected a cloud of volcanic fumes into the sky! He is obviously watching his beloved 'Izta' very closely.
On the summit of 'Izta' at 5286m.
From the summit, looking over the 'belly' icefield on 'Izta'. 'Popo' in the background. He had calmed down after he saw that I was climbing off his beloved 'sleeping woman'. I had a good but long walk back and then hitch-hiked my way back to Amecameca. After dinner at 7pm I went to sleep and slept another 12 hours. I took the bus back to Oaxaca where I spent the Christmas days with Lucia.