Citlaltepetl / Pico Orizaba, Mexico (Climb)

On the glacier, nearing the summit.

Citlaltepetl is probably North America’s highest mountain you’ve never heard of. A cursory description of it sounds as fantastical as its name--Our continent’s third highest peak, in southern Mexico, with a glacier-capped volcanic cone from which climbers can see the earth’s curvature bending across each distant horizon.

Geographically and ecologically, Citlaltepetl is, to use the Haida phrase, an island on the boundary between worlds. This mountain straddles the boundary between Mexico’s arid altiplano and its verdant coastal jungles. With its rapidly disappearing glacier, Citlaltepetl also marks the boundary between past and present geological eras.

Geologists call our present epoch the Anthropocene, a time period shaped and marked by human activities. From acidifying oceans to the unprecedented spike in global temperatures to the plastics so ubiquitous that they mark sediment layers, our activities are reshaping the planet in an unprecedented manner. Citlaltepetl’s glacier, receding now even in winter months, is a marker, a signpost, a quiet witness to changes so sweeping that they are rendering whole landscapes unrecognizable.

When the small town of Tlachichuca grew up near the base of Citlaltepetl, winter snows often blanketed the whole mountain. The glacier reached down nearly four thousand feet from the summit, not far from where the road ends and most climbers’ hikes begin today. Mexican alpinists from those years climbed the mountains using homemade ice axes and heavy cotton tents, braving weather that southern Mexico may never again witness. The pictures from that time seem as if they were taken on another planet, or in Alaska.

Today, Citlaltepetl is a relatively easy climb so far as high peaks go. A dirt road terminates at La Piedra Grande, a large stone hut that most climbers use as a base camp from which to summit. Several local companies including reputable ones like Servimont and Don Conchola Limon shuttle climbers from Tlachichuca to the hut for very low prices. The company also offer guide services and lodging in town. It is fairly simple to catch a bus from Puebla to Tlachichuca, and Puebla is accessible via direct buses from Mexico City.

Citlaltepetl, also known as Pico de Orizaba, seems to have very stable weather that makes it easy to plan a trip. During this time of year, from November into January, the mountain tends to have clear nights, clear mornings, and intermittent cloud cover in the afternoon. Winter temperatures can be relatively mild, fluctuating around the freezing mark at the 14,000 foot base camp and above zero on the glacier even during the night.

The hike in is about four miles, with 4,500 feet of elevation gain. The first couple miles are on a fairly obvious informal trail. Then there is a steeper passage through The Labyrinth, a confusing cluster of boulders and glacier-polished bedrock which was covered by glacial ice as recently as the 1970s. The Labyrinth has more and less easily passable routes, which are marked chaotically with cairns and small flags. It is a safe and non-technical climb in dry conditions, but can require crampons and even ice screws and rope if snow falls, melts and freezes into expanses of ice. Above The Labyrinth, the climb follows an old moraine ridge to the toe of the glacier. Crampons and an ice ax are essential for the last 1,200 vertical feet, as well as warm clothes for the exposed and frequently windy ascent.

Acclimatization is probably the most challenging aspect of climbing Citlaltepetl. Different people adjust to altitude at different rates, but everyone should take time to adjust properly and minimize the risk of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), which can be fatal. Since Puebla and Tlachichuca are located at 7,000 and 9,000 feet respectively, acclimatization can begin in town. After that, it can help to hike up the long road toward the base camp hut. Walking from around Hidalgo, the last town, takes about a day, and the climbing companies in town can drop off water and/or additional equipment at the hut if you don’t want to carry it all. Since many of the companies make daily trips up to the hut, it is also possible to day hike up the road for acclimatization and catch a ride back down to town and sleep better at lower elevation.

Most parties depart camp around 1am on summit day, making night time navigation of The Labyrinth the most challenging aspect of the climb. If possible, schedule a trip to coincide with the full moon. It would be possible to leave camp later, around 4:30am, for more light to navigate the confusing rocks. As climbers ascend the glacier and dawn breaks, Citlaltepetl casts a long, cone-shaped shadow across the altiplano. This shadow shortens, drawing closer to the mountain as the sun rises.

The summit of Citlaltepetl is astounding. At the center of the mountain, a dizzying crater is so deep that the bottom isn’t visible from the summit rim. Looking out along the spine of the mountains, clouds from the Gulf of Mexico crowd up against the mountains to the east while a cloudless sky reveals more volcanos to the west. Cloaking the summit’s north flank, an improbable glacier descends precipitously to the dry rock below. The Aztecs believed these volcanoes are sacred. Visitors will find it hard to believe otherwise.