Thais Cavicchioli climbed four volcanoes in Mexico – 06/29/2023 – É Logo Ali
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The restless person has just returned from Nepal, and decides to prepare for a new climb in those parts, more specifically to the 6,812 meters of altitude of the Ama Dablan mountain, doing what? Climbing four volcanoes in Mexico. This atypical training was the project tackled by mountaineer Thais Cavicchioli, who this year won the Gold Carabiner award, from the Brazilian Mountaineering Confederation, for having alone faced more than 200 kilometers of trekking through the Himalayas — but without climbing.
In fact, she says that it wasn’t really her choice to go to Mexico, which is generally more associated in the popular imagination with beaches, margaritas and the pyramids of Teotihuacan. “A friend who was a trail companion for three years here in Brazil moved there and was going to get married, I took advantage of the trip and went to research what could help me prepare to return to the Himalayas”, she explains. “I didn’t choose Mexico, but Mexico chose me through friendship,” she adds.
Researching possible destinations for his lively backpack, Thais discovered the possibility of going to four volcanoes of different technical levels, altitudes and difficulties. “My goal in life is to climb Ama Dablan, but I needed to start learning about ice climbing, and the highest point in Mexico is Orizaba, or Citlaltepetl, which is its original name, and that was the project: to present the climb on ice like Thai mountaineers right there”, he says.
On the recommendation of his friend and experienced mountaineer Pedro Hauck, Thais sought out the Mexican guide Iñaque Herrasti, who began to guide his preparation while still in Brazil. “We designed an acclimatization plan together, because the Orizaba, with 5,610 meters of altitude, would be my first big experience in high mountains with ice”, he recalls.
The beginning of the task would be to climb the Ajusco volcano (3,930 meters), located inside Mexico City and without a drop of snow or ice. “That was very interesting, because in Nepal, at that altitude, we’ve already found snow, but when you get to the top of this volcano and look at the crater, everything is very green, and in the Himalayas there’s no green at all, just rocks”, emphasizes Thais .
After Ajusco, the trip continued to Nevado de Toluca, at 4,680 meters of altitude. “It’s another one that, despite being called Nevado, with climate changes, even in winter, it rarely receives any snow”, he says. The climb there “is more technical, very beautiful, but with many loose stones, but when you reach the summit, you can see two lakes, Sun and Moon, inside the crater”. Having completed the circuit closest to the capital, the pair headed towards Orizaba (“Oh, he calls it Citlaltepetl”, insists Thais). On the way, they would still face La Malinche (4,461 meters), where they saw the first signs of snow.
“Well, things got much more technical there, a lot of rock climbing, rock walls for no climber to defect, the snow around, a lot of emotion”, recalls Thais. For those unfamiliar with mountaineering jargon, rock climbing is the same as climbing. OK, even clearer: crawling on the rocks looking for support for two feet, two hands and, not infrequently, the buttocks. No one said mountains are easy, did they?
Finally, they arrived at Orizaba, oops, at Citlaltepetl, with its summit completely covered in snow, requiring the use of crampons (metallic hooks that attach to the boots to give traction to the climb), axes (a small pickaxe that gives support to the ascension) and rope climbing. “The experience of being tied to another person by a rope, knowing that if one of you slips it’s the other’s responsibility to catch him, is very strong, you have to learn not only to walk on ice, but to fall and to catch on in the fall so as not to slip”, he says.
“At that time, despite all the classes, the preparation, I felt very scared, and the most important thing on the mountain, in addition to the technical and physical aspect, is the psychological factor”, points out the mountaineer. To complicate the task a little more, Thais had to face the infamous curse of Montezuma —a tremendous diarrhea that, according to legend, would have been the plague of the Aztec emperor who, after receiving the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés with open arms, was dethroned by him and arrested, in the 16th century. To this day, anyone visiting Mexico guarantees that the plague is still active.
“So, in addition to being my first ice climber, I had colic and had to fill my shit tube with the effects of the curse”, she says, amused. After all, the policy of not leaving anything on the mountain —poop included and, let’s face it, mainly— is fundamental as a rule of respect for the environment and other mountaineers. “Imagine having to bury something in the ice, in the first sun it melts and it stays there, in plain view…”
After reaching the summit of Citlaltepetl, Thais is ready for new challenges. Mainly to reach the summit of Ama Dablan. But that will be another story.
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