Climbers Living with Crime on Mexico's Volcanoes Gonzalo Ortuno and Nayeli Roldan - El Daily Post
go to original January 4, 2016

On the volcano: Living with crime at 16,000 feet (El Daily Post)

Conquering one of the twin volcanoes that overlook the Valley of Mexico has been an attractive challenge since at least the Cortes expedition in 1519. But in this high-crime age of El Narco, there are dangers on the mountainside that have nothing to do with oxygen depletion, muscle fatigue or accidental falls.

Before she climbed Iztaccihuatl for the first time in 2003, Elena Amezcua had to take a course in high-altitude mountain climbing, and embark on a six-month conditioning program. She bought special boots, walking sticks, thermal clothes. She studied the geography of the volcano and the area around it.

Such preparations are vital for handling the altitude - more than 5,000 meters or 16,000 feet - as well as the climate changes and the muscle fatigue that are unavoidable during the two-day trek up the third tallest mountain in Mexico.

Today, Elena has dozens of ascents under her belt, every one of which she has completed following all the safety rules to the letter.

But this year she faced another challenge - an assault by criminals working the mountainside.

In fact, last July masked men attacked two different mountain-climbing groups that were resting in two shelters placed for that purpose at the 4,800-meter level. The shelters, named Ayoloco and De los Cien, are located along a common route considered one of the most secure on the mountain. Neither had ever been attacked.

But the July attack was not the first on the slopes of the volcano. Nine years earlier, in 2006, a group of armed men attacked climbers along the route from the pueblo of San Rafael. One young man was killed when he tried to prevent the rape of one of the climbers.

Fear gripped the mountain then, and climbers abandoned that route. But the fear was not limited to climbers of Ixtaccihuatl. In 2011, a scouts group known as Guias de Mexico, consisting of 2,000 women and girls, suspended their outdoor activities, first in six states and then nationwide.

A year later, in July of 2012, 13 armed men raided a campsite in the El Colibri ecological park near Chalco east of Mexico City. Five women among the 90 campers were sexually abused. Among those arrested were two active police officers and a former soldier, according to prosecutors in the State of Mexico.

Mountain climbers make for profitable targets, especially those, like Elena, who take all the proper safety precautions. They have on them boots worth 2,000 pesos, at least 4,000 pesos worth of wind- and rain-resistant clothing, sunglasses worth perhaps 2,000 pesos and often some very expensive photography equipment.

When they're robbed at gunpoint, they're not only out thousands of pesos, but also left unprotected halfway up a mountain.

After the July attack, the victims decided to take action instead of succumbing to fear.

Read the rest at Insight Crime

This article was originally published by Animal Politico as part of the series "Learning to Live With El Narco." See Spanish version here. It was translated and edited by El Daily Post (see here).

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