Alannah Yip

Yip was born and raised in North Vancouver.[1] She began climbing when she was nine[2] when her godparent's children became interested in climbing.[3] She won her first National Climbing Championship when she was twelve. She trained to be an engineer, specialising in mechatronics. She tried giving up climbing to concentrate on her university studies, but she realised that sport was essential.[2] In 2015 she was able to visit Switzerland as part of her studies and she was able to practice climbing in her spare time with the Swiss national team. When she returned to Canada she began training with the "Climb Base 5" in preparation for the following years World Cup climbing events.[3]

Yip practising climbing in 2018

Yip graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2018.[1]

Her coach was Andrew Wilson in 2018 and she has been supported by Petro-Canada.[4] She qualified for a place in sport climbing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She had not done well in the qualifiers but managed to get the last place available.[5] A place at the Olympics was up for grabs at the American Climbing Championships in 2020. She took the place in Los Angeles at the IFSC Pan Am - Continental Championships beating Andrea Rojas of Ecuador and Chilean Alejandra Contreras.[6]