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Alannah Yip is Back on Top Heading into Finals

Two athletes top all four semi-final boulder problems, but Yip has the lead on attempts. Can she hold it through finals?

Canadian bouldering nationals saw the end of its second round late this morning. The four-boulder event took 40 climbers across two gender categories through a variety of challenging problems. An intense competition saw limited separation.Watch finals at 3:30pm here.

Still, Alannah Yip is dominating. While the qualification round found a tie between the Olympian and Evangelina Briggs, Yip’s performance this morning effectively offered a clinic on consistency. Following years of Olympic training, Yip has provided strong result after strong result. At the Kanata North American Cup Series (NACS) event, Yip held down first or second position over the length of the competition.

When the rest of the field tired, Yip maintained and pushed through fatigue to secure first under immense post-Olympic pressure. This Nationals carries a similar weight to it and to see her maintain composure between rounds is impressive. Although Yip may not have performed quite as well as she may have wanted to in Tokyo, she has remained the dominant force in Canadian Competition.

With that said, the field is deep and she was not the only climber to top all four semi-final boulders. Quebec’s Babette Roy provided an incredible performance this afternoon. Where Yip climbed her four boulders in 6 attempts to Top and five to Zone, Roy posted seven attempts to Top and six to Zone.

At this stage in the competition, these results are not significantly different. As mentioned, Yip’s greatest strength right now is her consistency between rounds. Roy has the advantage of limited expectations. While Yip could feel as though she is defending, Roy may feel like a darkhorse by comparison.

Much like the men’s field, the women’s category has potential ranging all the way through to sixth position. Third place qualified Paige Boklaschuk has shown just as much consistency as Yip in recent rounds. With that said, Boklaschuk hasn’t been able to secure four tops in rounds where four tops matter. Otherwise, Boklaschuk Tops boulders quickly. In this round, she climbed the cleanest, flashing to every Top and Zone she secured. Given the right set of boulders she could be difficult to defeat.

If the problems happen to be more physically demanding, Albuquerque North American Cup Series finalist Madison Fischer could prove unstoppable. Fischer’s determination makes her one to be wary of, especially when the boulder is just hard. Like many competitors, she appeared to pump out on the long W2, but that boulder problem required more resistance than any other, in either category, in the round. We may not see another like it in finals.

Like Fischer, Briggs also fell just by the Top of W2. Although she may have found the semi-final round frustrating, she climbed well. Briggs moved through the grips with stability. Her near-ascent of W2 was a bit of a heartbreaker, but evidence that she is very much in the running. As the youngest competitor, Briggs does not carry the weight of expectation as some of the other athletes might. She is also one of the strongest in the field. If she can isolate the hold, she can do the climb. This could be a huge advantage in a difficult round.

Finally, Indiana Chapman is one of the most flexible and technical climbers in the field. Although she qualified in sixth, her bronze medal at the recent Kanata NACS event shows that she is strong and consistent. Chapman is used to making finals and will be difficult to shake off of the podium.

Women Advancing to Finals

1 – Alannah Yip

2 – Babette Roy

3 – Paige Boklaschuk

4 – Madison Fischer

5 – Evangelina Briggs

6 – Indiana Chapman

Featured image of Babetter Roy by Philip Quade of Rock Digital Marketing.

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