A different kind of mountain

So our plans for making a mountain trilogy climb (Pico de Orizaba, Iztaccíhuatl & Nevado de Toluca) the previous weekend were postponed for 2 more weeks. Nevertheless, this weekend Gil and I managed to do a 24km/10-hour/deep-snow "tune-up" climb attempt at Iztaccíhuatl.

The mountain hasn't been this frozen in about 15 years. Full winter conditions made a it totally different kind of mountain. I wasn't able to reach the summit due to timing (had to hike from Paso de Cortéz and back) and the deep snow all along the Ayoloco route. I buried myself to the waist level more than a couple of times!

This is how mountain climbs should be done: long approach hikes in real mountain conditions. Lets see how it goes for the next weekend, I'm looking forward to it... :)

Rest of the pictures are here.