Mexico's Volcanoes: A Climbing Guide Paperback – September 14, 2001

Excellent book. Very detailed. Lots of useful information in addition to climbing routes. The only drawback is that it is 14 years old. None-the-less, I found it very helpful. Could not find any other guidebooks for Mexico volcanoes.Added several weeks after the above post: Just returned from climbing Izta and Orizaba. The guidebook was helpful in a general way, but we got better information on conditions from mountaineering staff at Ruben's sporting goods in Mexico City, and ended up hiring guides, which proved to be a good move for us. One beef with this book - it portrays Mexico City as being somewhat inhospitable to visitors. I traveled the metro many times and never encountered the pick pockets noted in the book. Yes, the metro was sometimes crowded, but no worse than the NYC subway during rush hour. He also warns about the taxi ripoff, but we found the "on the street" metered taxis to be fair and safe, and often a less expensive choice than the unmetered taxi arranged by the hostel. I would add that a working knowledge of Spanish is essential to facilitate the climbing - there are few English speakers around!

Para los que estamos iniciando en esta diciplina esta oerfecto

Detailed, simply and with several options for climbing rutes "unclassic"Giuseppe - Italy

I spent last winter in Mexico and used Secor's book to climb the volcanoes in the country. It has been a helpful guide and in the main is full of accurate detail as far as in country information is concerned but it does need updating in certain areas. The details for climbing La Malinche and Nevado Toluca for example are quite poor and have hardly no descriptive value at all. Both volcanoes are actually very beautiful hikes and both contain a number of routes that are not mentioned in the book. The route details in the book therefore do not do justice to these volcanoes. Scrambling over Nevado Toluca for example is a joy and the 'Complete rim traverse' (not mentioned in the book) rivals any horseshoe scramble South of Scotland in the UK. Overall however it is a good guide book and the route details for the other peaks in Mexico are good. I hope this book does get updated however as there is a need for such a guide as Mexico's volcanoes are superb to climb and are a great introduction to those who want to progress to the higher peaks of the Andes.

I am an experienced world traveler and mountain climber who used this book in 1999. I must say, I have never been so disappointed with a travel book in all my life. A few points: in the little town of Tlachichuca, Secor leads you to ONE person for climbing assistance. Knowing that, they take FULL advantage of climbers, grossly overcharging for services. Two: Secor's route descriptions are seemingly detailed but upon use are revealed as painfully inadequate. For instance, at Citlaltépetl, Secor makes not one word of mention regarding "la lengua", the tongue of the glacier, which turns out to be the most difficult part of the whole ascent. Finally, and this is the most personal and non-important point to a casual reader, I don't like Secor's decision to follow the poor precedent set by the Mountaineers of favoring non-indigenous peak names. Thus as Tahoma and Koma Kulshan became Rainier and Baker, the majestic Citlaltépetl is reduced to Pico de Orizaba. All in all, this is a good start (given the lack of anything better) but definitely make sure that every piece of information used from this book is followed up by a second source to avoid certain rip off and/or disappointment.

I am coming to the end of a winter in Mexico and have been using Secor's book to climb the volcanoes in the country. It has been a helpful guide and in the main is full of accurate detail as far as in country information is concerned but it does need updating in certain areas. The details for climbing La Malinche and Nevado Toluca for example are quite poor and have hardly no descriptive value at all. Both volcanoes are actually very beautiful hikes and both contain a number of routes that are not mentioned in the book. The route details in the book therefore do not do justice to these volcanoes. Scrambling over Nevado Toluca for example is a joy and the 'Complete rim traverse' (not mentioned in the book) rivals any horseshoe scramble South of Scotland in the UK. Overall however it is a good guide book and the route details for the other peaks in Mexico are good. I hope this book does get updated however as there is a need for such a guide as Mexico's volcanoes are superb to climb and are a great introduction to those who want to progress to the higher peaks of the Andes.

Well-written: credible author, useful beta, packing lists, and phrase book. Useful for foreign climbers preparing for these climbing objectives/trips.