We are down in the beautiful city of Puebla today. The team and I had a great time on Ixta. What a sight to wake up to the neighbor mountain, Popo, venting a lot of steam from it's top on a crystal clear morning. No wonder it has been closed to climbing for years now. We spent part of the morning packing up so we would not have to return to the hut after skills training. Fun day getting to practice the nuts and bolts for the climb ahead on Orizaba- crampons, ice axe, and rope training were the featured program for the day. So fun to see the enthusiasm when you pull out and put on this type of hardware. The team did well adapting to some new toys and techniques. I feel that they all performed to a high enough standard that I would be willing to rope up with any one of them. It is a special bond up here in the mountains that can happen very quickly. RMI Guide Mark Tucker