Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Discussion area for peaks outside of the USA
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
User avatar
Matt Lemke
Posts: 775
Joined: 1/9/2011
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 116 11
Trip Reports (13)
 
Contact:

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Matt Lemke »

Thanks everyone for such great and helpful information! I'm excited for the trip.
Lemke Climbs
The Pacific Coast to the Great Plains = My Playground
"Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping"
"When you come to face what you fear, let the creator guide you"
mtnjim
Posts: 124
Joined: 3/14/2011
14ers: 57 
13ers: 215
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by mtnjim »

Getting in a little late on this one, but... check out my "Driving MEX to La Malinche" thread for recent info on the volcano climbing area of Mexico. I had few problems driving myself and always felt safe.

I haven't posted a follow-up yet, but went to the next race on Ixtaccihuatl out of San Rafael in early Dec. Spent a few days accclimatizing out of Paseo de Cortes and La Joya before the race, staying in Amecameca and driving my rental car up to the trailhead. Again, no problems.

And while I'm on here, special thanks to Gabriel for his email and phone info. Unfortunately I was all ready on the plane when that very detailed message was left on my answering machine.

I'll try to post a more detailed account of the second race later.

JimS
User avatar
Theodore
Posts: 412
Joined: 6/4/2009
14ers: 20  1 
13ers: 3
Trip Reports (5)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Theodore »

Is it possible/doable to fly into Veracruz? I'm trying to plot and plan a future trip that my wife can join on, and have wondered about going into Veracruz, dropping her off with another friend's wife for a few days, then climbing Orizaba, and heading back to Veracruz. Is that realistic? Wondering since everyone seems to go through Mexico City.

Thanks,

Ted
User avatar
Matt Lemke
Posts: 775
Joined: 1/9/2011
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 116 11
Trip Reports (13)
 
Contact:

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Matt Lemke »

Yes...that is perfectly doable. I believe your bus ride may be just a wee bit longer though.
Lemke Climbs
The Pacific Coast to the Great Plains = My Playground
"Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping"
"When you come to face what you fear, let the creator guide you"
User avatar
Carl
Posts: 1800
Joined: 5/20/2007
14ers: 58  58 
13ers: 30
Trip Reports (32)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Carl »

Theodore wrote:Is it possible/doable to fly into Veracruz? I'm trying to plot and plan a future trip that my wife can join on, and have wondered about going into Veracruz, dropping her off with another friend's wife for a few days, then climbing Orizaba, and heading back to Veracruz. Is that realistic? Wondering since everyone seems to go through Mexico City.
When I climbed Orizaba my friend who lives in Mexico City dropped us off in Tlachichuca then drove on to Veracruz to play golf and sit by the pool before coming back to grab us. I can't say whether Veracruz is a nice place to spend a few days, but logistically it should work fine.
User avatar
Matt Lemke
Posts: 775
Joined: 1/9/2011
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 116 11
Trip Reports (13)
 
Contact:

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Matt Lemke »

Does this friend of yours Carl want to go play golf in Veracruz again? :lol:
Lemke Climbs
The Pacific Coast to the Great Plains = My Playground
"Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping"
"When you come to face what you fear, let the creator guide you"
tx_mountain_medic
Posts: 28
Joined: 12/17/2011
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by tx_mountain_medic »

Hype guys,

Just got off of a deployment with counterdrug on the sw border. Let me put it this way, you would be crazy or stupid to go to Mexico right now. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are doing, you can become a target at anytime. If you look like you might be an american or might have some kind of wealth, you will be a prime candidate for a kidnapping or robbery both of shock is likely to end badly for you. At the moment, there is no order in the organized crime world and there are a bunch of small time groups working, without orders from above,for small time cash. In Mexico city in.particular, los zetas is in direct conflict with cartel del gulfo and la familia michoacan for control of the area and the government is "fighting" all the cartels. Check out blogdelnarco.com and borderlandbeat.com if you want to see what is really going on as the mainstream media will not report the actual news for fear of reprisals from the cartels. Let's not even discuss the presence of radical Islamic groups such ad hezballah, quds force (who perpetrated the attempted assasination of a Saudi delegate in nyc with the aid of los zetas), and hamas, each of which would love to get a hold of an american..... Hope this helps in your decission making process. God luck and God bless in what ever you do!
User avatar
DaveSwink
Posts: 837
Joined: 9/21/2006
14ers: 37  12 
13ers: 4
Trip Reports (6)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by DaveSwink »

Those websites are horrifying, once I figured out how to translate them with google. :shock:
User avatar
Kevo
Posts: 169
Joined: 8/23/2006
14ers: 43 
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by Kevo »

Hmm...been doing some research about Orizaba as I have a week of vacation to burn before April and Kushrocks is headed down to climb and I'm considering joining him.

Normally I don't worry about this kind of stuff. I did a canoeing/backing trip in the Big Bend region and spent several nights camping in remote parts of northern Mexico back in 2004 and had a great time, but doing some research gives me hesitation on heading to Mexico right now.

Just typing in "Veracruz" in google news brings up lots of recent stories.

Some of the stories-
-35 dead bodies were dropped on a highway in Veracruz during rush hour to send a message
-Multiple kidnappings leading to murder
-A bus with US tourists was stopped in the middle of the night during a robery. Multiple people shot, several killed.
-The entire police force of 1,300ish cops in the city of Veracruz has been officially disbanded due to so much cartel corruption within the police. The navy is now trying to police the area.
-The Mexican military regulars have trouble policing the drug trade/fighting cartels because of corruption and because so many cartel members are former special forces soldiers who trained with US special forces and are damn good at conducting full on combat missions against the military and anyone else.

General consensus is that areas that were safe even a year or two ago are no longer that safe. Still considering it- I've traveled solo in various third world countries and consider myself to be smart traveler, but it sounds like things are getting pretty bad.
User avatar
cheeseburglar
Posts: 2434
Joined: 8/7/2006
14ers: 58  2 
13ers: 79 2 1
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by cheeseburglar »

I think Tx medic is trying to drum up some fear, get some tax payer dollars, and waste them chasing ghosts in Mexico.
Mexico is a big country. The volcano region is nothing like the border region.
But I do agree you would be safer going through Mexico City, Veracruz is hot lowlands, and everyone knows heat makes people crazy.
The marmot said “Nobody is perfect and you are not nobody.”

Random FoTH Quotes
User avatar
The_Godfather
Posts: 111
Joined: 5/23/2011
14ers: 18 
13ers: 1
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by The_Godfather »

[quote="Kevo"
General consensus is that areas that were safe even a year or two ago are no longer that safe. Still considering it- I've traveled solo in various third world countries and consider myself to be smart traveler, but it sounds like things are getting pretty bad.[/quote]

The places you are referring to are where the govt is focusing on. I'm sure you'd have no issues. I spent the summer traveling across Mexico - to some of what others consider the most dangerous locations - and never once felt that it was more unsafe than it was years ago. In fact, I felt safer now than before. Its a matter of perception I guess. I'm not blind to think that stuff isn't happening, but if you are not involved in the drug trade, it will rarely be seen. Its easy to spot the drug dealers there and just as easy to avoid them. The volcano area though is not where they will be. Too high profile with tourists.
User avatar
JDip
Posts: 107
Joined: 2/14/2011
14ers: 13 
13ers: 7
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Mexican Volcanoes...drug war danger

Post by JDip »

Godfather, did you drink the tap water while you were down there? That's awesome you were there this summer, but consider yourself lucky.
My dad lives in Mexico City, people are stalked and kidnapped, murdered, butchered, raped, and these things happen everywhere, all the time. Not even his security guarded gated community will stop things from happening.
NEVER SAY NEVER. Just last week my pops was telling me about the dead body he saw while walking to his office. Apperantly someone killed the guy cause he had some pesos and a bottle on him.
Don't get me wrong, I'm headed there this summer and sure as hell climbin the volcanoes, but to head into drug controlled country like Mexico and have a non chalant attitude about the danger seems pretty foolish to me.
Post Reply