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The light rays of the head lamps ramble through the trees, above the ground and above the backpacks. In the fireplace there is only ash left. Silhouettes get together in the middle of the camping site. The trekking poles scratch on the ground. It’s 4:30 in the morning on Sunday, the 23rd of February, at the mountain Nevado de Colima. Last weekend, OUTDOORS UP, the mountaineering team of the Universidad Panamericana, conducted its last training for the highest mountain in Mexico, the Pico de Orizaba. The Nevado de Colima has 4248 meters above sea level and is located an hour away from Guadalajara. Therefore, it is very accessible for the group of thirty who all have the same aim: climbing the 5610 meters above sea level of the Pico de Orizaba. They want to be ready on the next Friday, 6th, until Sunday, 8th of March.
Andrea has lost track of how many times she had already climbed the Nevado. “30 times maybe?” The OUTDOORS staff consists of young people, just as the majority of the group, but what counts is experience and according to Andrea also the vocation to help others. The training at Nevado de Colima with the whole group is always the last occasion when it is certain who will go to the target mountain.
In the last semester, they climbed the Iztaccíhuatl which is the third highest mountain of Mexico with 5286 meters above sea level. This time, they eye at the highest: the Pico de Orizaba. However, at the weekend of the Nevado, the group climbs the mountain in two days; for the Pico they only have one day which results in a walk of approximately 14 horas. Alan, a participant of OUTDOORS, compares it with a scale: “If the Nevado is a five, the Iztaccíhuatl is a nine and the Pico a ten.”
At five in the morning on Sunday, the group finally leaves in order to get to the top. Because of the altitude and the low level of oxygen, the previous few hours of sleep haven’t been deep. In the first one and a half hours, the snake of hikers curls in the dark of the night through the forest of pines and holm oaks. Breathing becomes harder, the lungs fill with cold air, but the skin is sweating. In spite of the cold temperatures, the queue stops from time to time to quit some layers of clothes. The darkness and the trees at both sides make one feel like as if he or she wouldn’t really advance.
“Formerly there were more trees”, remembers Martín (59), a friend of OUTDOORS who climbed the Nevado de Colima for the first time in 1974. The State Unit of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Jalisco just closed a critical year with a multitude of bushfires at the Nevado de Colima in 2019 (read the article only in Spanish). For José Manuel Martínez Murillo, First Commander of the UEPCBJ, the bushfires go hand in hand with the climate change. However, he mentions that luckily the Nevado de Colima is a protected area with little population and not so many visitors which is why they haven’t seen so much of a difference due to global warming in the last ten years. The mountain climate continues to be normal with wind velocity up to 70km/h and extreme temperatures of hotness and cold.
The team of OUTDOORS has left the woods behind and arrives at the foot of the snow field. The ones wearing bulky gloves now have to take them off to put on the crampons. Right in this moment the sun rises and the snows starts to glow. The clouds move above the peak of the mountain and the sunlight bathes the rocks in dark orange and yellow. In spite of the beauty of the nature, every step requires concentration in the steep snow field. The slipping of a member of the group who shoots down the field at a tearing pace shows how the mountain – besides the admiring of its beauty – claims respect towards his difficulty.
Luckily the boy can hold on to the last little grass bush just before a segment of only snow. Two hours and a vertical climb on some rocks later, the group finally arrives at the peak. The clouds deny a view at the Volcán de Fuego (Volcano of Fire). However, they take a photo of evidence and hereupon start their way back. Arriving at La Joya, on the very same day, the bags are being loaded into two pickups and the group continues to walk down until the village at the foot of the mountain. As it is a training, many start to jog through the woods and consequently the average duration of four hours during the ascent reduces down to two.
During the trainings of OUTDOORS, Andrea feels a total connection to the mountain, the nature and friends. “Primarily, you disconnect yourself from your mobile phone.” She mentions that the mountain provides a difficult climate. Therefore, one has to support the other and trust a lot. “We end up being family”. Let’s see how this special family will confront the Pico de Orizaba in one week.
In the video (Spanish with subtitles in English), Andrea explains how to train for a high-altitude mountain.