Climbing Mexico's Volcanoes: Suggestions Welcome

Going down to Mexico to climb some Volcanoes - any suggestions for a first timer? Other than don't climb the active ones.

They are all easy. If you are on public transport, Nevado de Toluca is a nice acclimatizing hike, and make sure to try the locally famous but wretched candy in the Portales area of Toluca. I just paid a cab driver in Toluca to wait for me while i ran up to the summit, which doesn't take very long. He was thrilled for a day out of town and didn't charge me for the time he napped in the sun. There is a mildly impressive Aztec ruin just outside of Toluca if you are interested in that sort of thing. If you have a car La Malinche is probably a nicer and more substantial hike, but I haven't done it.

Do the Ayoloco Glacier on Ixta - the Arista del Sol is just a crowded long easy hike, but the Ayoloco has nice glacier ice. It is easy to do with one tool and french technique on one side, and the other side gets steeper if you have two tools. No need for a rope. The hut on the Ayoloco is gnarly, so plan on bivying in the grass just outside of it. I would recommend that plan for any Mexican hut since they can get pretty loud.

The van drivers in Amecameca will probably try to tell you that they can take you to Tlamacas near Popo, but this is almost never true. They will also try to drop you off before the Ixta trailhead. If it doesn't look like a trailhead, it isn't. Last time I was there some local women were making quesadillas in the shelter at the trailhead, and they were delicious. I probably ate 6 of them after getting off Ixta.

Orizaba is also an easy but kinda long slog. Again, no rope needed. I like to use Senor Reyes for logistics in Tlachichuca, but its more sentimental for me than anything. There are other cheaper options if you ask around, or you can hike the road if you feel frisky.

Nevado de Colima is a long way off from the other volcanos, but it is lovely and Colima is a nice town. Volcan Colima is probably closed, but you'll get a good view of it from Nevada de Colima. If you get to that area, spend an afternoon in Comala just up the road from Colima. The cafes around the Zocalo are famous for horrendously expensive beers, but offer huge plates of free and good appetizers that are more than enough for a meal and make the cost of the beers a bargain. I did hear the worst Mariachi band in the world there though.

If you are doing a more extended trip, try to get down to Oaxaca and Chiapas. Beautiful place, lots of good hiking, and the food in Oaxaca is awesome.

Use flexible crampons on low angle not the rigid kind. It's a lot easier for French technique. Wait till after your climb if you're going to eat street food and use bottled or spring water whenever you can. For Orizaba, Sr Reyes at Tlachichuca runs kind of a unique place as it used to be a soap factory. He will steer you to the restaurants that are safe like Casa Blanca if they are still there and they have cheap beer. You can hike up from Hidalgo? at 11k to the huts to help acclimatize. Spend a day or two if you can to enjoy the local culture.

The nice thing about doing La Malinche as an acclimatization hike is that you do not have to cross back through the traffic and stress of Mexico d.f. I would second the above persons opinion to do an alternative route on Ixta. I would do anything to avoid the slog that was Ixta when I was there. I lugged up my plastic boots and never even put on crampons! Orizaba is a great solid fun climb. Use of a rope is up to you, there is certainly no need to place any protection as one team did when we were there, and it took them twice as long as we did. Start early and enjoy the sunrise over the ocean hitting orizaba. I would third the advice on Sr. reyes, both myself and my dad have used him and he is great. I really enjoyed amecameca and the market. We arrived early in the day so we were able to spend most of the day wandering around and enjoying the town before heading up. If your acclimated you can do the climb in one day, although we broke it up into two. We hiked up the start of the glacier when we drove in and slept there the first night then summited the next day. I thought it made for a much more enjoyable summit day as we started out on crampons right away and didnt have to negotiate the lower route at night.

my .02

Is Popo still smoking hot these days? I'm not sure about that one. Gotta do a geological volcanos search for news on them all I suppose.

Popo is still smoking away. It probably will until it blows.

While everyone is telling you how easy these volcanoes are I say don't underestimate them, make sure conditions are good before you climb and acclimatize yourself carefully to the altitute.

Ed - thanks for the reply. I went down and climbed Ixta and Orizaba in January and they were great. Three days before we arrived the region received its largest snowfall in 20 years...Fantastic trip. Added some pics to the Orizaba page - if you want to check out the amount of snow!

mountainproject.com/v/inter…

I suggest using the Limon family for transport and logistics in Tlach. Maribel speaks English and is an amazing cook. Check out Summit Orizaba for more information or the Orizaba page on Summitpost for all the beta you need to get started. I've been there three times so if you have any detailed questions let me know. Cheers!

+1 on the Ayoloco Glacier.

Amecameca is a fantastic town with a festive atmosphere, so take your time there. Tlachichuca is strangely fortified city, and by comparison no where near as fun.