Team Canada

Hey Everyone!

On the 16th we were joined by the rest of our Northern counterparts in Quito. We stayed at an amazing hotel called the Veija Cuba, which was a great change from our cheap $5.00 a night hostels that we´ve been staying at. The rest of our family, Mum, Dad and Chris joined us as well. Mum and Dad took off the next day for their jungle tour, which I was immensely jealous of. The next few days, we chilled out and explored Quito. The Basilica was one of the most amazing churches I have ever been to, mainly because you could climb all the way to the top of the towers and stand out on this tiny, crumbly ledge totally exposed and view all of Quito. Mum and Dad weren´t too psyched on that. It was pretty intense. We also took a tram up one of the mountains, and embarked on a 3 hour hike that involved Chris and I soloing up a 5.2 cliff to get to what we thought was the top of the mountain. Unfortunately we were surrounded by fog, and when we descended, the clouds cleared and showed us that we weren´t even close. Rather disappointing, but what can you do?
The Canadian team trained for a few days at the wall in Quito, which is quite a bit higher than the one in Ibarra. It was great to climb with the team again, it´s always so much fun. There are a ton of newbies this year, and everyone was pulling hard at the wall. It´s going to be a wicked competition, I think everyone is going to do really well. Of course we have the best coaches anyone could ask for. It´s pretty sweet to have Stacey as a coach. Andrew Wilson and Knut Rokne are coaching as well.
We arrived back in Ibarra yesterday. We´re staying at a hotel outside of town. It´s gorgeous, with a field to play games and a pool to push eachother into (three people have gone in fully clothed so far).
Last night an impromptu game of soccer took place. It was a blast until I got booted in the toe..that was the end of that. Dinner was great, and we celebrated Zak´s 14th birthday (he´s on the team, it´s his first year competing!)
Today we went to a lake at the top of a mountain that has an active volcano at the bottom of it. It is one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. Pictures will be posted, don´t fret!
The competition starts on the 23rd. Keep checking back to see how it went!
I miss you all at home, and I hope that everyone is having a chill rest of the summer.
Remember to smile!

Much love,

Vikki

p.s. an interesting note...Stacey seems to have developed allergies to some kind of bug bite as she has developed some lovely cankles that seem to have a fever. (She´s not too happy with that description, but I think its very fitting!)

Cheers!!