As soon as we turned around I was relieved to be heading back downhill, even though the descent was almost as challenging as going uphill. I kept repeating to myself, “Safety first.” At the base of the glacier we could…
Summit Day on Orizaba
One-thirty a.m. came around too soon, but other climbers in the hut were up and about getting their own breakfasts out of the way and starting their ascents. At 2 a.m. it was a cold, hard slog up the first…
The Orizaba Climb – Part One
In November 2010 Hector and I attempted a summit of Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltepetl, which is Nahuatl for “starry mountain.” At 5,747 meters, it ranks as North America’s third-highest peak and Mexico’s tallest mountain. When I first…