Directa Cara Noroccidental

For several years now we have been trapped by that line that can be seen a little before reaching Pueblo Hidalgo and that runs along the steep wall of the Northwest Face of Pico de Orizaba, between the Western Face (La Cara del Muerto) and the Sarcophagus (see photo). We had never been there but those who know the Pico de Orizaba know that just getting to the base of alternative routes to the Jamapa Glacier (North Face) or the South, can be very tedious due to the amount of sand and loose stone. On the 19th with Berny Alpinista, Ricardo Rivera and Juan Guarnicas we headed to Pico de Orizaba with the objective of approaching that slope and attacking that ideal line in a light style and willing to force vertical steps. Realizing that the conditions were ideal (otherwise it would be too risky to ascend a route that was already very unstable) we climbed the Thorny Route and arriving at the Sarcophagus wall we camped. The next day the first thing was a rappel to get down from the ridge and then cross the entire northwest side until we reached the obvious funnel where we began to climb. Upon reaching the wall it was necessary to take out the rope and begin to score the first mixed sieve, with very poorly formed ice waterfalls and unstable stone (V, 90º, 30 mt.) which was extremely delicate. After a snow ramp we reached the second sieve, this one, more difficult than the first although with the ice in better conditions (V+, 90º, 90 mt.). We passed the second sieve first on ice and then with a rock crossing (the upper part was in terrible condition) and after a second easier snow ramp (III, 60º, 90 mt.) we went out to the Jamapa Glacier and finished the technical section just before the bombardment of stones began, which constitutes a strong danger and stress during the entire climb itself, which has to be carried out with very strict schedules. We decided to call the route “Direct Northwest Face” due to the logical line it constitutes to ascend the summit on this side of the volcano, being very different from the routes on the Western face of Pico de Orizaba. In the drawing, courtesy of Don Alfredo Careaga, you can see very well the routes of the Western Face (to the right of where we went up) as well as the Horror Frost route (on the left side of where we went up) which is a very wide corridor that goes up ending very close to the Sarcophagus and which we had the opportunity to appreciate during our ascent. The D+ grading is based on the French grading system for alpine routes (this being the most suitable and therefore known internationally) and is a proposal based on the experience of the members of the team.

4 ice screw