Mexico climbing season is underway and Mountain Madness is rockin’ south of the border!

Our first 9‑day Mex­i­co Vol­ca­noes Expe­di­tion of the sea­son just returned from a very suc­cess­ful trip. Every one of our climbers sum­mit­ed both the 7^th (Iztac­ci­hu­atl, 17,134 ft.) and the 3^rd (Oriz­a­ba, 18, 491 ft) high­est peaks in North Amer­i­ca! Con­di­tions on the peaks were great, as was the weather! 

Sum­mit of Ixta. Sher­man Bra­gan­za photo

Stand­ing high over the mas­sive cen­tral plateau of Mex­i­co are three vol­canic giants: Iztac­ci­hu­atl (“Ixta”), 17,134 ft; Popocat­apetl (“Popo”), 17,802 ft; and El Pico de Oriz­a­ba, 18,491 ft. They are respec­tive­ly the 7^th, 5^th and 3^rd high­est peaks in North Amer­i­ca. Popo is a very active vol­cano and is not climbed at this time but Oriz­a­ba and Itxa offer a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to test your­self at alti­tude with­out long approach­es or many days of trav­el, and you don’t need to mort­gage your house! 

Erupt­ing Popo at night.

Snow-capped Oriz­a­ba. Sher­man Bra­gan­za photos

Mex­i­co is an incred­i­ble des­ti­na­tion for climb­ing. Big moun­tains, mod­er­ate climb­ing, short flights from the U.S., plus easy and fun trav­el while you are there. Moun­tain Mad­ness offers both 9 and 7‑day expe­di­tions to the Mex­i­can Vol­ca­noes. The 9‑day expe­di­tion climbs both Ixta and Oriz­a­ba while trav­el­ing through the cen­tral plateau, stay­ing in small moun­tain towns and a rest day in the city of Puebla. The 7‑day Oriz­a­ba Express warms up to the alti­tude with a hike up La Mal­inche, (14, 636 ft) spends a night in the vil­lage of Tlachichu­ca, then up to Orizaba.

Puebla at night.

View of Ixta from a dis­tance.

Pyra­mid of the Sun in Teoti­hua­can. Sher­man Bra­gan­za photos

We have sev­er­al expe­di­tions planned for the New Year. Sneak away from work for a week and climb a big moun­tain (or two) with us in Mex­i­co! We won’t tell your boss…