How to Choose The Right Pico de Orizaba Expedition
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Researching and choosing the right expedition company to support you and help guide you through all logistics, as well as be there for you on the mountain, is important. You want to do your homework so you feel 100% confident in your choice and can focus on the climb.
We encourage you to look closely at both the big picture and the small details. Look at a company’s priority on safety, the quality and experience of their guides, their reputation, and their level of “care factor.”
Safety & Success
Your safety and success are the top priorities, in that order.
A climbing company should invest heavily and plan extensively for your safety.
We have an unparalleled safety record, and our clientele’s well-being factors into every decision we make while on expeditions. Although we like to stand on the top of mountains more than anyone, we believe that climbing is a round-trip endeavor, and getting you back to your loved ones safely is paramount. We take many safety precautions, including bringing multiple communication devices, high-altitude safety equipment, medical kits, and the highest-quality gear to ensure a safe environment in which to climb.
At CTSS, we ensure the safety of our climbers by employing guides with years of experience on Pico de Orizaba and around the world. By using the Northern Route, we provide you with the highest chance of success and give you the best climbing experience available on the mountain. This is due to the more relaxed terrain and greater amount of time for acclimatization en route to the summit.
We are proud to have maintained a 100% expedition success rate for all our Orizaba expeditions. This is a testament to our quality of service and attention to detail. With our expertise, experience, and infrastructure, you can stack those odds in your favor. We offer a longer acclimatization progression for proper acclimatization to mitigate the risks of altitude sickness. Many guide services, especially local companies, race their clients up the mountain to cut corners on costs. We are highly invested in our reputation for safety and success and are always striving to improve our programs to maintain our hard-earned status.
Decision-making in the mountains is supremely important, and our guides are the best in the business. They have a hunger to summit whenever it’s safe to do so and have a proven track record. All of our programs acclimatize conservatively to mitigate the risk of having altitude issues and to give them the highest chance of success.
Leadership
Look for guides who are seasoned experts with a strategy that is patient, conservative, and well-planned to give you the best opportunity for success. They should be adept at managing the team, able to lean on extensive experience, and “thread the needle” when it comes to picking the best summit window.
Our mountaineering guides and staff are second to none and will guide you through the many nuances of climbing Pico de Orizaba, which will allow you to be successful. From start to finish, we will work with you to make sure you’re as prepared as possible to reach your goal of standing on the tallest volcano in North America. Often, being able to troubleshoot problems before they occur can make the difference, and this is where CTSS’s vast experience becomes crucial.
Progression Climbing Specialists
We are proud to be a holistic mountaineering guiding service that is committed to retaining you as a happy climber. We work with mountaineers over a lifetime of climbing, and we get to know each individual throughout their progression. This means we are deeply invested not only in your safety and success but also in your goals, your learning, your journey, and your satisfaction. An Orizaba-only trek operator only needs your business once, whether you summit or not, get altitude sick or not. It’s our goal that, once you climb with us, you’ll stick with CTSS expedition after expedition.
Our team looks forward to helping you create a path that makes your climbing dreams come true. You won’t get a generalized plan for your mountaineering journey from our team. You get a custom-tailored plan designed for you, your budget, and your timeline, and we will always be ready to answer your questions and provide personalized support rather than become one of the countless faceless online booking platforms.
Values & Philosophy
Does an operator have strong values?
This is sometimes a little harder to identify as it’s more of a feeling than a sales pitch, but you should get a feel for a company through their little interactions, their care factor, their attention to detail, their corporate social responsibility, and their responses to you.
Mountaineering can be high risk and stressful, so pick an operator who has strong core values and a team mentality that aligns with yours so that when things get challenging, you can rely on open lines of communication, knowing they will do what they can to support you.
It is this team cohesiveness that flows through to each individual climber and helps them stand on top.
