News of Mexico, Central America and Caribbean

Hi Everyone,
Is anybody planning to do Mexican Volcanos in December. I am planning to do La Malinche, Izta and Orizaba in December.

Rocky

Where can one find a list of benchmarks in Mexico, along with lat/long -- say the equivalent of the PID files in the USA? I'm particularly interested in benchmarked peaks in the region lat 32 to 33, and longitude -115 to -116. Part of that region is in the USA, and I can find many benchmarks there... but south of the border is another issue entirely. By benchmark I mean a surveyed, know-to-be-pretty-accurate position on ...

Need a recomendation for a guide service for Cotopaxi .... personal experience a plus :)

Anyone with recent experience?

For anyone who's climbed Ixta, are there decent markets in Amecameca to obtain last minute food or should we load up on Mountain House before we arrive in Mexico? Also is white gas relatively easy to find in the hardware or paint stores?

So I'm interested in climbing Orizaba, Izta, Malinche and doing some cragging in El Potrero as well as checking out the ruins near Mexico City. The thing is I cannot afford tickets to fly. I know if can find people to share a ride with it will be much more affordable but I'm worried about driving and parking in parts of Mexico (especially Mexico City). I've traveled to Mexico a bit (Acapulco in college and ...

Has anyone who climbed Orizaba in December needed a belay parka, or would a midweight down or synthetic do the trick? Something like an OR Chaos or MH Compressor.

I'm going to be in Ecuador at the end of January and will be needing a climbing partner to climb a couple of the higher peaks. I'll be doing my acclimatization myself and have most of the needed equipement. That being said, I won't have a partner for those peaks so am looking for a private guide that will simply be a partner for me; the bare basics.

But I can't quite seem to find ...

Is anyone planning on going down to Orizaba early December? If so I would love to go. I have experience in the mountains, though this will be my highest climb. I will be an Wilderness EMT and would love to tag along with another group. I'm from San Diego and am in shape (just got done with a thru-hike of the PCT this summer) and ready to climb.

As some of you may know, the Volcan de Fuego (http://www.summitpost.org/volc-n-de-fuego/150356) near the City of Antigua, in Guatemala, erupted this week (September 13th, 2012). It was the biggest eruption since 1999, as it shot rocks up to 1,000 meters above and left a 2,000 ft. long lava flow. It looks like over 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate but many of them refused to do so.

Here are some more detailed links:

...