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.
