the after summit breakfast

.....where would you celebrate your summiting??????
and where would I probably do it?????


yes right-we went to Starbucks ......
we took the early morning bus to Puebla (instead of 650 pesos for a taxi this time we took the public bus and spent 45 pesos each...), went directly to Starbucks and are feasting here.....chai, cheesecake, cheese sandwich all at once...and it tastes sooooo good!
welcome back to civilisation!

welcome back

Por was just smiling when he saw us again and confessed that he was checking on us all the time....." you were really really fast..." I could see you on the glacier far too early .....and now we have to wait for the car as they as well did not think you will be down at 10.30......hihihihi...never ever underestimate me.....
and please give me some food I am starving....(all of this in Spanish of course....)
hell, I am really exhausted but in a good way...I feel I have been doing something and my body is happy and positively tired....
yes I can...again and again and again.....thank you body for helping me and supporting me fulfill my dreams I am really really grateful of your work and efforts....

thank you Fernando!

he really is a good guide...he let me up the best way ....it was the most strenuous way - directly up the glacier....but the most efficient way....
thank you for this wonderful and unique experience!

the descent

and just like planned as soon as we came out of the labirinth Thomas joined us....he went up to 4700m .....congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the highest he ever went ....and he even tried his new crampons......it was a real pleasure seeing him at the beginning of the moraines....and we made our way down to the hut together...
and once again I could not believe whicch way I did justsome hours ago....as it was of course dark I did not realize how shitty the way up there to the glacier really was and only realized it now.....
here are the pics to make you understand why I hate stones and moraines...and why I simply love glaciers and walking with crampons....

record time

hihihihi only later when we were safely back to the hut had Fernando told me that this was his record time this year......and then he fell back asleep........hihihihi.....not the first guide I "used totally"......
but honestly now I need to confess that I liked to overtake the ironmen who where so full of words and praie of themselves and then I was passing them as early as in the labirinth and was again passing them on our way back down when they still where not even half way up the glacier.....boys dont talk before you are sure you can do it!

impressions of the summit

still to come.....

yes I can

5h 45 min and I was on the summit......the sun shining in all directions no wind and a feeling which cannot be described.......what a day what a mountain what a thrill to be on top of it all......
speechless I took in the wonders of nature around me.......once again I overcame every physical limit.......lack of oxgygene, cold, wind, night, ......whatever ...and I made it!!!!!!!!!!

summit day

so now it is 2 o clock...I could not sleep after midnight anyway as the others were thinking they were alone in the hut and waking everyone up anyhow...no matter if they wanted to get up tonight or not....
so after they all left we had our peanut butter sandwich...my favourite food before summiting...this or a noodle soup....and yes you can really eat in the middle of the night...well at least I can...and 2 litres of tea......and now we are ready to take off...wish me good luck....

akklimatization hike

as it is still early we did some meters up to tue labirinth....I am very confident that I will summit...I dont feel the height at all and I am feeling really strong....
and - what a nice change....my guide is not a macho...well he is by behaviour but so far he has not said anything which would be negative .....and he seems to be really good.....
and knows the mountain well.....
and he has a cool toy...which of course was totally to Thomas liking.......
he has a little tool where you put in your forefinger and the thing shows you your heartrate and the saturation with oxygene.....very useful....
my heartrate is very low but my saturation of oxygene is the same than thomas...so everything over 80 in this height is okay and we both have 88.....on sealevel you have 95...not too bad is it? Fernando himself has 93...and our trekking guide and cook Por he has 94....amazing!

by the way Servimont the agency I was booking this trip are real Halsabschneider .... I have never ever paid so much money for 3 days on a mountain...but as they do have a monopole they can charge whatever they want.....my 2 weeks trip to Mount Everest basecamp was way cheaper than the 3 days here...I dont allow myself to think about that......it would piss me off and I definitely want a positive mountain experience and I am sure it will be worth it once I am on the summit...

la Pietra Grande 4260m

that was a nice walk....2 hours and we are already up there.....so after we had lunch- I am sooo hungry all the time....it is threatening....Thomas is not eating anything and the higher we climb the hungrier I get.......I could eat all the time....
there are at least 10 other climbers....all of them very much "show offs".....they like to play ironmen here......how wonderful how sporty how good they are......we will see tonight if they are really that good or if they are just "Gockels".....I hate this behaviour.....and try to blend it out......

second day

after a "not so much sleep night" meaning I did not sleep at all- partially because it was so cold partially because I needed to get out of the tent more than once......
I need to climb more mountains to get again used to that!

and when it finally was time to get up we immediately lit a fire again....and then when the sun was coming up it was all of a sudden very warm again.....

today we will be walking up to the refugio la Pietra Grande on 4260m......and then tonight at 2 am Fernando my guide and myself will summit......very much looking forward to the climb....cant wait it....this stupid hiking is nothing considering having crampons on your feet and walk up a glacier to stand on top of a (middle) high mountain......

fucking cold

you have NO idea how cold it can be in this height...I underestimated it myself.....we had dinner next to a fogata....which means lagerfeuer and it was utterly necessary.....it was so fucking cold .......
but that was nothing to how cold it was in the night....... (I should have brought my Carinthia sleeping bag.....)

first day

today we drove up to 3500m where we put up camp......the tent is okay and is built for 4 people....I do not know how the calculate or measure it but Thomas and myself fit in just okay...I would never ever want to spend the night in such a tent with 3 other people!!!
now as the tent is all set up we will go for a day hike to further our akklimatisation.....and the mountain looks already so tempting to me!

Pico de Orizaba-the route

what we will do is go up to 3500 m today....put up camp and go for a day hike....
then tomorrow we go up to 4200m and sleep in Pietra grande (in a hut...where it is supposed to already be really really cold)
and on day 3 we will attempt to summit to 5760m in the nighttime and with temperatures as low as -15 degrees C without wind....with wind it will be much much colder....

Servimont

so and here we are now...with the only company doing the Pico de Orizaba......and as usual they do negotiate about the prices all the time...although I have been in touch with them for weeks and they sent me various prices for different packages....today when we arrived and talked about the programme the pricing again was different...that is really the only annoyance if you do expeditions abroad....they always give me the impression they rip me off....and these expeditions are never a bargain anyway...(except if you go to Peru and know Jorge....)
so after some back and forth discussions everyting is now settled and we will start with our trip tomorrow.....HURRAH!
today we again do some acclimatization around this place and prepare our gear and enjoy lovely views to the vulcano....

www.servimont.com.mx