Summit Success

On October 28, I headed to Mexico to climb a couple of mountains for breast cancer research. Our team consisted of 7 Climb to Fight Breast Cancer climbers as well as a father and son from Texas, and 3 guides. After a day tourning pyramids around Mexico City with some of the CFBCers, the complete group met in Mexico City on October 29. The following day, we loaded ourselves and our gear into two vans and headed southeast towards our first objective, Iztaccichuatl, anywhere from 17,100 to 17,500 feet, depending on the source. Before we got to the mountain, we had a nice stop in Amecameca, where we toured the market and a cool old church.

We spent our first two nights at Itza in a refugio near the tv and microwave towers at an elevation of about 13,200 feet. The first day, we went on an acclimitization hike to familiarize ourselves with pressure breathing and other fun aspects of high altitude climbing. On day 2, we loaded up our backpacks and headed for high camp. This involved descending to 12,200 feet, and then climbing up to about 15,000 feet over scree and rocks. We camped among the rocks, had an early dinner, then went to bed around 5pm in preparation for our alpine start for the summit. At midnight, we were awakened (well, hard to awaken when you never have actually slept). Got dressed, ate our oatmeal, and headed out of camp about 1:45 am. All 12 of us reached the summit at about 7:30, having witnessed a fantastic sunrise and mountain shadow on the climb up. The summit was crystal clear, but windy and COLD. Water bottles, even though in our pack, were very slushy. I had blue lips, though I'm not sure whether that was from the cold or the hyopoxia. Our trip back down was warmer and faster. Back at high camp, we took down our tents, packed up our gear, and then headed back down another 2800 feet and up several hundred to the waiting cars and beer. Then, a long ride to Puebla. We checked into the hotel around 7:30 pm after a LONG day. I was too tired to eat dinner. Just wanted bed.

We spent Monday in Puebla as a recovery day. We shopped in the artists market, checking out amazing pottery and other crafts. Several of us got massages to get our bodies back to where they needed to be in order to tackle our next objective, Pico de Orizaba, the third highest mountain in North America at over 18,700 feet.

Tuesday morning, back to the vans and the 2 + hour drive to the town of Tlachichuca. At Tlachicuca, we tranferred our gear to heavy duty 4x4 vehicles and ate lunch. Then, we got into the trucks and headed up the 13 mile dirt road that puts the middle fork snoqalmie road to shame. 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived at our objective, Piedra Grande, 14,000 feet. There is a big climbers hut at Piedra Grande, with cooking tables and bunk space for 40 people. Fortunately, there were only a few other people besides our group, and no mice. Our original plan was to camp outside the huts, but the wind was quite strong, so we elected to stay inside. Good choice.

If you are paying attention, you might realize that Tuesday was election day. It was quite strange to be in a foreign country on the big day, and in a place with no electricity or cell reception. We did have a sat phone. Before we went to sleep, we called Seattle at around 8pm east coast time. No hard results at that time, so I went to sleep not knowing who our next president would be. The next morning we called an east coast relative and got the good news. Woo Hoo!!!

Wednesday morning, we once again loaded our packs and headed up the scree and rock slope to our high camp around 16,000 feet. In high camp, we had clear skies, but lots of wind in the afternoon. Seemed to be a trend. We ate an early dinner, and this time, I remembered to bring my sleeping pill. Although I didn't sleep great, at least I got some sleep before our midnight wake-up call. At 1:45, 10 of us broke camp, roped up and crampons on. We climbed steeply through the rock and ice "labyrinth", then, after about 1 1/2 hours, we broke out onto the glacier. As we climbed, the slope got steeper and steeper. Eventually, the pitch reached 45-50 degrees. We were told that this was a "no fall zone. If you fall, someone dies." Not terribly reassuring. At one break, we could not sit, because the slope was too steep. Toes were cold, feet were cold. Thankfully, I had handwarmers to keep my fingers from going numb.

At about 17,600 feet, two climbers turned around with one of the guides. One climber was suffering from severe hypoxia. He was actually hallucinating. The other was shaky and worried that she could not continue safely. The 7 of us remaining continued up the slope. Because I was at the end of the rope, I got to carry the 5 pounds of extra rope. Believe me, at that elevation, I could feel it. It was all I could do to keep going. Every time I tried to look up to see the top, I felt like I might tip over. I stopped looking. At this time, we could start to see our surroundings as sunrise was approaching. But, given the severity of the slope and my desire not to die, I was not able to take any great sunrise shots. I'm okay with that.

The 7 of us reached the crater rim about 7, took a short break, dropped our packs, then made the short climb to the summit. No wind, just views of everything. The was a great crater just below us, and we could see Itza in the distance. Another great mountain shadow day.

On the way back to our packs, I had a bad moment. Took a step and realized that my foot seemed weird. I looked down, and my crampon was half off my foot. Not a good place for that to happen. I had a bit of a panicked moment, but the guides were able to reattach it to my foot as I held onto the crater rim for dear life. I have no idea what I would have done if it had actually come off. Don't want to think of it.

We picked up our packs, then headed back down as the sun began to warm us. Again, we were reminded of the "no fall zone." We were to trust our crampons (oh, the crampons that I was just told sucked???) and just head straight down the mountain. Great. 45 degree slope, 2000 feet of ice covered snow between me and the rocks at the bottom, and the no fall zone with crappy crampons. And, I'm roped to 4 people. If I fall, I kill them, too. And, if they fall, I get to go along for the ride. Why am I climbing???

We all made it down, and it really wasn't that bad. Quads were sore for days and the legs were a bit shaky at times, but the snow conditions were great and our guides had everything under control. We made it back to camp about 9:30, and our friends had broken camp and packed everything up for us. Nice friends! We reloaded our packs, then headed down to the Piedra Grande and the 4x4s that were due to arrive at 1. They weren't there. Finally, at 3:30, they showed up. We loaded up, drove back down the crazy road, and showered and had dinner in Tlachichuca. Then, the long 3 hour drive to Mexico City. At midnight, we checked into our hotel. Another LONG day. But, we were safe.

Friday, I flew home to Seattle, and got in to Seatac at about 1:00 am. Alaska Airlines was kind enough to give me a new suitcase after apparently throwing my suitcase in front of a herd of wild elephants. At least it wasn't my pack that they ruined. I spent the weekend recovering, but now I'm good to go. And, I get a whole week's worth of rest starting tomorrow (Wednesday) courtesy of the ACL surgery I am having tomorrow.

Thanks to all of your support, in addition to reaching my summit goals, this year, I have raised over $11,000 for breast cancer research atthe Hutch. My three year total is over $25,000. Thank you for being a part of my endeavors!