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Oscar Eckenstein Diary Entry Monday, 8 April - Thursday, 11 April 1901
Our [Eckenstein and Aleister Crowley] next expedition was to Toluca. The railway from Mexico City to Toluca City (72 kilometres) is a remarkable piece of engineering. Mr. Hamilton's statement, that it runs through "some of the finest scenery in the world" (Alpine Journal, Vol. XVIII., page 458), I am quite prepared to endorse. I do not know any railway which offers a finer display of scenery. From Toluca a light railway runs to Calimaya (17.7 kilometres), the village nearest the mountains. The whole mountain mass is known as the Nevado de Toluca; it consists principally of a large extinct volcano, called Xinanticatl, and there are a number of smaller hills around it. The crater of the volcano is of oval shape; there is a great gap in its eastern wall and there are two lakes in the floor of the crater. From Calimaya there is a good path to these lakes; it is about 5 1/2 hour's easy walk up to them. At these lakes we camped (height about 13,500 feet).
There are two summits on the ridge or edge of the crater, which are considerably higher than the rest, and it was rather difficult to see from our camp which was the higher of the two. The one on the north side is called El Fraile, and the one on the south side El Espinazo. On April 10th, Crowley and I determined to try El Fraile, which, however, turned out to be the lower by about 120 feet.
Starting from our camp, we worked our way up north on to the edge of the crater; the wall up which we went consisted of scree in very bad condition. We then walked along the top of the ridge over several intervening humps till we reached the foot of the rock ridge proper. This is the east ridge of El Fraile; it is broken up into a series of towers and pinnacles, up and over which we went to the summit. The ridge was very jagged, and all was climbing; but no extraordinary difficulties were met with. If desired, the difficulties can be altogether avoided, and the summit attained by leaving the ridge and traversing out on to the north face, which is mainly a scree slope. We descended by the west ridge (which gave us some easy rocks, and an interesting chimney which overhung at its lower end) till we reached the lowest point or col, and then went straight down the slopes (mainly scree) to the lakes. Times—camp to beginning of rock ridge, 1 hr. 30 m.; then to summit, 2 h. 30 m.; then to col, 25 m.; then to shore of lake, 30 m.; then to camp, 50m.
The next day, April 11th, I was rather upset in my inner works, so Crowley went off by himself to El Espinazo, while I watched through my classes. From our camp he went in a S.E. direction up easy grass and scree slopes, till he reached the ridge which forms the edge of the crater, and then followed this ridge, which is easy walking till the first tower is reached. From this spot onward the ridge is very broken, with many towers and needles on it, and the rock climbing was of an advanced character. I found it very interesting to watch him as he slowly worked his way to the summit. From the summit he went down in a N.E. direction to the top of a couloir filled with snow, which reached down to the floor of the crater. He glissaded down this, and then cantered across to our camp (I had sent a horse to meet him at the lower end of the couloir). Times—camp to foot of first tower, 1 h. 10 m.; then to summit, 2 h. 45 m.; then to camp, 1 h.
All these Xinanticatl ridges had evidently and clearly not been climbed before; but both summits had been ascended previously.
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