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Spanish Word of the Day
| February 26th, 2016 at 1:26:51 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
Another patron posted this photo. I actually went in there for a drink when I was in MC.  You were about two blocks away from the lovely Tezka restaurant on Amberes Street (also home of about a dozen gay bars).  Iztaccihuatl is actually harder to climb than the taller Pico de Orizaba . I figured you would do that one first. |
| February 26th, 2016 at 2:53:22 PM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 |
I figured they must have been several around there someplace. I preferred Ruta Metro Insurgentes, which is a pedestrian street, ending at the King's Casino (more on that later).
I heard that mentioned. I think they had us do Izy first because of the lower altitude. Question for the advanced readers: Why is it the Zona Rosa but also the Casa Rosada. Are rosa y rosada simply too interchangeable words for pink? Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| February 26th, 2016 at 7:21:14 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I don't know if one means "pink" and one means "rose colored". But you can say Casa Rosa as well.  
We'll wait for your trip report. But I spent several days on Calle Liverpool about a block from King's Casino. I was skeptical about Zona Rosa, as I thought that it would be too touristy, and I regretted that I couldn't afford to stay in Polanco. But, I was very pleased with the area, as I found it very comfortable and I felt safe.
Well, once again we will wait for full trip report. I got the impression that some companies have access to two different acclimation huts at different altitudes at Iz, while they just had the higher altitude at Pico. Probably means more than summit peak. |
| February 26th, 2016 at 8:14:35 PM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 |
I was referring to the Casa Rosada of Argentina.
I felt that way too. My hotel, where I spent four nights, the Maria Christina, was just across Avendia Reforma from the Pink Zone.
I was going to show this tomorrow, but here is my video of the climb: Funny you talk about huts. We spent two nights in kind of like a hostel near the base of the mountain. According to the web site we were supposed to spend only one and then spend the second night in the hut seen in the video. However, the guide, for unexplained reasons, said we would do the whole thing in one day. The other guest was very upset about it, as she was a slower climber than me and didn't achieve the summit due in large part due to this change in plans. She had strong words about it with the guide service owner when we got back to Mexico City. I also would have preferred to break up the climb and spend a night at the high elevation hut. The guide company owner said the reason they stopped staying at the hut was that it had a problem with mice and sometimes there was not enough space, especially in February, which is a busy month for Izy. I know one night isn't a big sample, but we spent about three hours resting in the hut where I saw no mice and only three other climbers, when about 20 could have fit nicely. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| February 27th, 2016 at 2:05:20 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | Very fun video. Although the wind obscures your words it helps convey the effort. So does your panting for oxygen. The nearest small town is called San Oedro Nexapa population < 5000.  There is a park entrance called Paso de Cortez at on google maps (19.086317, -98.646859) @12,000' about 18 km from the town which seems to be the main intersection of the roads to the volcanoes, to Mexico city urban area, and towards Puebla. Just north of that is a parking lot called La Joyita (19.133229, -98.652068) @13,024' so I assume that is where you began your hike. There are only 9 states with elevation above 13,000' so even at the parking lot most of us would have difficulty breathing. "small port" 1st Portillo : 13,904' 2nd Portillo :14,461' 3rd Portillo : 14,852' (higher than Mount Whitney 14,505') You must have done this in the dark. Then comes a mountain shelter. The shelter is named after the environmental group, Grupo de los Cien, A.C. Espinillas, built 1996 ( over 15,000')  Google maps list the walk from the parking lot to the shelter as 3.5 km via Paso del Jabonero. So given the elevation change of 2656' =809 meters that is about an average grade of 23% at extremely high altitude. |
| February 27th, 2016 at 6:55:13 AM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 | I hope to put together a written report of the climb today with pictures. However, going off memory, I think the parking lot was indeed called La Joyita and there was a Jabonero pass there somewhere. As far as I could tell, there is pretty much just one main route, which we took. Living in Las Vegas, then spending two nights in Mexico City, I'm sure was a good foundation to deal with the altitude. However, when we got out of the car at the base "hut" I really felt the altitude. There is nothing like time to get used to it. If I may toot my own horn, I'm in very good cardiovascular shape, which I'm also sure helps. It is definitely more tiring climbing at altitude but I never had any feeling of severe altitude sickness. Not to diminish it, but the distance from Everest base camp to the summit is only 12.5 miles and it isn't very technical. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| February 27th, 2016 at 10:55:07 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 | From Google Maps it looks like Jabonero is the entire trail from the parking lot to the summit. Jabón is soap, so it is a "soap colored pass".
You are allowed to "toot your own horn" as you are incredibly accomplished. But my friend the ex-seal who regularly did 50 mile races said he always had problems at altitude, and to some extent you can't condition your way out of problems at lower altitudes. It also varies a lot from person to person. The effects on the human body are exponentially related to elevation. Mountain medicine recognizes a change from "High altitude" to "Very high altitude" at 11,500' . Most people know the Interstate system doesn't go above 11,000' . There is no base lodge at any ski resort in the USA higher than 11,000'. There are no towns of any size in the USA above 11,000' . Mexico has one town of 500 people that live at 11,900'. So for most people they only spend very limited amounts of time above 11,500' at western ski resorts. I assumed you got sick from altitude, and that's why you had to return early. This guy describes getting sick at the mountain shelter despite spending two days at altitude. They went back down to about 8000' before deciding to try again. I wonder if his experience is the real reason why your guides didn't want to spend the night at the shelter.
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| February 27th, 2016 at 11:28:31 AM permalink | |
| Wizard Administrator Member since: Oct 23, 2012 Threads: 239 Posts: 6095 | Yes, I fully grant that different people have different tolerances for altitude and it varies within the same person from time to time too. I have two failed attempts on Mount Whitney due to altitude sickness. I'm not sure if it was being older, chance, or just being in better shape for my last two attempts of Mount Whitney were easy successes. Along the way up Izy I saw plenty of people visibly struggling with the altitude. I think most of them quit shortly after the refugio hut or before. There is a tough steep section that, which I'm sure gets a lot of people. For a lot of people I think it is enough to just get to the knees of Izy to call it a success.
Wouldn't jabonero mean soap maker? Thus, soap maker pass? The mountain is quite red in color and most soap I've seen is white or creamy colored. Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber |
| February 27th, 2016 at 7:25:23 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I thought the pass was partly snow covered. You are correct in general, but Oxford Dictionary says in Mexico it means whitish (or soap colored). RAE gives both definitions without specifically referring to a region. OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY jabonero SP. LAT. AM. SP. feminine: jabonera 1 (industria) soap delante del nombre IN OTHER DICTIONARIES 2 (Mexico) (vaca/toro) off-white, whitish Diccionario de La Real Academia Española, jabonero, ra 1. adj. Perteneciente o relativo al jabón. 2. adj. Dicho de un toro: De color blanco sucio que tira a amarillento. 3. m. y f. Persona que fabrica o vende jabón. 4. f. Recipiente para depositar o guardar el jabón de tocador. 5. f. Planta herbácea de la familia de las cariofiláceas, con tallos erguidos de 40 a 60 cm, hojas lanceoladas, con pecíolo corto y tres nervios muy prominentes, flores grandes, olorosas, de color blanco rosado, en panojas, y fruto capsular con diversas semillas. El zumo de esta planta y su raíz hacen espuma con el agua y sirven, como el jabón, para lavar la ropa. Es muy común en los terrenos húmedos. 6. f. Planta de la familia de las cariofiláceas, con tallos nudosos de 60 a 80 cm de altura, hojas largas, muy estrechas y carnosas, flores blancas, pequeñas y en corimbos muy apretados, fruto seco y capsular, y que es frecuente en los sembrados. |
| February 27th, 2016 at 7:35:42 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
In retrospect are you glad you didn't spend the night in the hut? Would you have been more upset if your hiking companion got sick in the hut? I take it from your comments your later sickness had nothing to do with altitude. My friend got very sick from just eating fish in Mexico City. She needed a doctor come into the hotel room and give her two IVs. |