Mexico Volcanoes Cybercast
10/26/2007
Hi every one following the Mexican Volcano Expedition, sorry for the delayed cybercast, there is no cellular reception on Pico de Orizaba. Yesterday we enjoyed a leisurely morning at our base camp hut Piedra Grande, situated north of the peak at 14,000 feet. By mid afternoon we established a high camp around 15,500 feet and ate an early dinner and went to bed with plenty of sunlight. At 1:00 am we woke for a hurried breakfast and set off for the summit of Pico de Orizaba; at nearly 19,000 feet this was to be the expedition’s primary objective. We were climbing by 2:00 am under mostly clear skies and rarely did we need our headlamps as our path was illuminated by a full moon. We made decent time to the base of the glacier that marks the rope up point for the north face, Thom began to slow and it was soon apparent he was suffering from AMS; his symptoms were not severe but continuing was not an option either. Dr. Reyes (third generation mountain guide on Orizaba; and the owner of a local outfitter) had graced our expedition up to this point and graciously offered to abandon his summit attempt and descend with Thom and Thom’s wife JJ who was feeling strong but didn’t want to continue without Thom. Don and I continued climbing with the Perro’s misfortune weighing heavy on our minds. Don seemed to strengthen as we climbed higher and I breathed laboriously to keep his preferred pace while braking trail. We blazed a direct line up the north face and stood on the summit at 9:00 am with breathtaking views of southeastern Mexico and almost zero wind. We took photos and quickly descended to meet up with the rest of our team at high camp. Thom felt better and better throughout the remainder of the day. Currently we are all down at Dr: Reyes’ century old soap factory turned climbers’ refugee: safe, sound and tired. Before the team headed to the showers they asked me to thank everyone for following our expedition. This is Brent signing off for team Los Tres Amigos.
10/24/2007
Hi friends, family and loved ones thanks for checking in on the 2007 Alpine Ascents Mexico Expedition. We are calling from Dr. Reyes compound in Talacachuca and we are momentarily heading up to our base camp at Piedra Grande where we will spend the night in a hut at about 14,000 feet. The following day we will hike up to our high camp just shy of 16,000 feet where we will go to sleep really early and then go for the summit of Pico de Orizaba. The weather is somewhat stable and questionable, we are hoping for clear skies and full moon, wish us luck on that. Reception up high will be scarce to none so this might be our last cybercast until we are down off the mountain. We have the good company of being accompanied by Dr. Reyes him self, 3rd generation Mountain Guide and the owner of the largest outfitters company here in Mexico. He will accompanying us personally on our climb this year so we are super excited to have his expertise along . All we are hoping for is a blessing from all of you guys and we are going for it. Talk to you in a few days and good bye.
10/23/2007
hola every in cyberspace. thanks for checking in on team Los Tres Amigos down here in mexico. We just arrived in Ameccamecca after an attempt on Ixta. Ixta is the "sleeping lady" according to aztec mythology. Well the lady said no. We spent last night at a hut around 15,400 ft. There we were greeted with 50 mph gusts and a mixture of sleet, hail and driving rain. We woke at 5 am this morning to near zero visibility and knew we were being rejected by our lady. Mid-morning we broke camp and headed down the mountain in ankle deep slush. The team is in good spirits regardless as we have completed our acclimitization and turn our attention to our primary objective, Pico de Orizaba. Tommrow we will enjoy a rest day in Puebla on the way to our next base camp. Wish us luck.
Brent
10/21/2007
Hello there friends, family and fans thanks for tuning into the Alpine Ascents 2007 Mexico Expedition cybercast. Today is day three of our trip, our cell phone coverage is spotty but our assistant guide graciously loaned us his phone and we found a place where we were able to get some reception. Yesterday we drove in to the little town of Amecameca and saw the market. We came up to a beautiful hut here at the base of Itza at 13,125 feet we spent the night and had a wonderful meal of burritos. Today we did an acclimatization hike to 15,125 feet, everyone was feeling really strong. We cached 5 liters of water per person up there. Tomorrow morning early we will head up to the Ayaloco Hut which is just under 16,000 feet. The following morning we will go for the summit of Izta, so that will be early Tuesday morning. If everything goes as planned, after the climb we will return to the town of Amecameca. We will leave another cybercast to let you know how that summit went. It has been a little rainy and foggy but it is clearing up right now and we are looking forward to a wonderful climb. We have decided on a team name it is going to be, los Tres Amigos; the three amigos because JJ, Tom and Don have been climbing together for a long time. So stay tuned and we wanted to let everyone know that we hope that you are having as much fun as we are. This is Brent signing off.
10/19/2007
Welcome friends, family and fans thanks for tuning in to the 2007 Alpine Ascents’ Mexico Volcanoes cybercast. Our expedition begins today here in beautiful Mexico City as we take in the sites, sounds and smells from the beautiful market place, the taco stands and mariachi bands. This evening we will also get the chance to visit some of the beautiful plazas and cathedrals located nearby. Tomorrow we will begin making our way towards el Pico de Iztaccihuatl and el Pico de Orizaba and. I am joined by Don Aubrey, JJ Porro and Thom Porro. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to the up coming climbs. So stay tuned as we attempt to climb the 3rd and 7th highest peaks in North America. This is Brent Langlinais signing off.