Mexico 2011

Here are a few photos from JD's mountaineering trip to Mexico last month.  Mexico was amazing and I cannot wait to go back on a personal trip with Emily and back with SJC in two years.

Enjoy!

One Out of Two Ain't Bad

Hello friends and family!  We arrived back in Mexico City on Saturday the 26th.  The afternoon was spent poolside at our hotel and our last dinner in Mexico was nothing short of spectacular!  Sunday morning we woke early, had a huge breakfast and hit the town.  Time was short, but we were able to visit both the historic district as well as a local marketplace.  We made it back stateside by 7:00PM MST on Sunday.  


I (JD) reached a new personal high at 17,159 feet above sea level on the top of Iztaccihuatl.  Unfortunately, I hurt my already injured knee on the way down Izta and didn't even get a chance to attempt Pico de Orizaba (18,490 feet).  Very frustrating considering I had absolutely no altitude issues at over 17,000 feet!  I shall return.

Pictures of the entire trip will be coming soon!

Thanks for all the support!

Mexico City and Jackson, MO!!! Here we come.

Spring Break is here!  JD is headed to Mexico to climb two volcanic peaks and Emily is headed to Missouri to work on a hiking guide.  JD will be sending sat phone updates to Emily and she will posting updates here and on Facebook.

Stay tuned!

Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba

Our training for Pico de Orizaba has officially started!  Oh yeah, if you haven't heard, we are headed to Mexico in March 2011 to climb Pico de Orizaba.  The trip will be a class that is offered through San Juan College's OLER Program (JD's job).  Pico is an 18,000 ft plus volcano!  It is the third highest mountain in North America and is the second most prominent volcanic peak next to Kilimanjaro in Africa.

Training right now consists of 4 to 5 four-mile runs a week, about 30 minutes on the stair-climber (4 times a week), and weight lifting.  Once more snow hits the peaks up north we'll be spending several Saturday's climbing at high altitude.

After the first of the year, the training will intensify a bit with a lot more cardio, core work, and some Mountain Athlete workouts!  We are gonna be jacked and tan for Pico!

We'll keep you posted.