Not only was she half of Canada’s climbing team, she was also the only Canadian woman to compete in that event at Tokyo 2020 this year.
“I feel really honoured to be a part of the first inclusion of climbing in the Olympic games,” Yip told The Chief.
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“I think it was a historic event, and it was really exciting. I’m just really proud to be able to be a part of it and show our sport on the world’s biggest stage for the first time ever.”
Anyone looking to catch a little bit of that magic Olympic dust won’t have to look too far — she’s coming to Squamish to give a presentation and a clinic as part of the annual Arc’teryx Climbing Academy this weekend.
But that’s not the only Squamish link to the Games.
Yip also happened to be cheered on with the help of a drum made by the Squamish Nation.
It all began with Yip’s airport arrival in Japan, complete with COVID-19 testing and about 15 document checks. It was a bureaucratic maze that took 4.5 hours, though some people had to stay as long as nine hours.
At her first event, the speed climbing qualifiers, Yip was able to deliver a personal best performance.
“My previous personal best I had set maybe five days before when I was at that training camp in the north and that was 8.4 seconds. Before I left Canada, I hadn’t run under 8.6 seconds so to run under eight seconds was absolutely insane in my head.”
She ran a time of 7.99 seconds.
The bouldering section was more of a challenge for the athlete.
Yip said it was difficult to perform in temperatures well over 30 degrees.
On top of it being harder on the body, it’s much more difficult to grab and stay on a climbing hold in hot weather.
“I felt like I was suffering. I couldn’t really hold very much. It felt hard. Everything felt hard,” said Yip.
“I knew a lot of people back home were watching and cheering and I wanted to try as hard as I could. I really wish I could’ve done better.”
Yip finished the bouldering event with zero tops and two attempted zones.
Around that time, she could hear two sounds.
The first sound was her fellow climber Olympian and friend, Sean McColl, cheering her on.
The second was the steady beat of a Squamish Nation drum crafted by Tsawaysia Spukwus (Alice Guss), which was being played by Canada’s chef de mission, Marnie McBean.
How that drum made its way into the Olympics is a story in itself.
The instrument was commissioned by Squamish Nation Elder Tewanee Joseph, who was connected to McBean.
He wanted to give her a drum to bring to the Olympics, and asked Spukwus to do the job.
“It’s an honour to make it,” she said.
The drum has the image of a copper shield, which represents wealth, honour and respect. It’s bordered with the eye of the Creator, which serves as a guardian.
A maple leaf is also painted on the drum.
Also on the instrument is the colour orange, which pays respect to those lost at residential schools, Spukwus said.
She got her start in the craft in the mid-1990s when she was working as director of education for the Squamish Nation. She hired a guide to help students learn how to make the instruments and she learned from observing.
Years later, when supervising a similar workshop for the Tsawwassen First Nation, an elder urged her to make the jump from observer to participant.
“One of the elders said, ‘Alice did you ever make a drum before?’ I go, ‘No,’ and she goes ‘Well, sit down and make one,’” she recalled with a laugh.
Spukwus obliged, and that began the start of her drum-making career.
Since then, she’s made a drum each for the Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Whitecaps, among others.
Spukwus has also made a drum for the upcoming Paralympics.
Making a drum is a spiritual practice.
Spukwus notes that it’s a process of giving thanks to the animal that gave up its life for the drum hide, the tree for the drum shell and the Creator for the power to transform the material into an instrument.
“Every time we beat the drum, we’re keeping the spirit alive of the elk and we’re keeping the spirit alive of the tree,” she said.
“Every time that drum is beaten, it’s the heartbeat of Canada.”
Back at the Games, Yip moved onto the lead climbing segment of the competition.
“It didn’t look very flowy and when I got on the route I was right. I’d put a lot of work into lead in the last year — I really just wanted to show my improvement,” she said.
“It’s hard to say what I was thinking because it went by so fast and then I fell...but I am pretty happy. I did fight through a few moves that were sketchy.”
She executed 21 moves before falling off the 15-metre wall.
Overall, she took 14th in the overall qualifications, which meant she didn’t make it to the finals.
At the end of the day, however, Yip said her fellow climbers were very supportive throughout the competition.
One memory stands out.
“Right after our first speed climb, everybody came back around behind the wall and we were all in this small little holding area with air conditioners,” Yip recalls.
“Some people had done well, some people hadn’t done well. But pretty much everyone was smiling, looking around, saying, ‘Hey guys, guess what? We’re Olympians now.’”
At the Arc’teryx Climbing Academy, Yip will be giving a presentation at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 27 at O’Siyam Pavilion. She’ll also be hosting a climbing clinic on Aug. 29.
