Quick Facts
CancerBiography
Allison Vest (born June 26, 1995) is a Canadian rock climber known for competition climbing, bouldering and sport climbing. She won the Canadian Bouldering Nationals in 2018 and 2020. She also came first in Canadian Lead Nationals in 2019, and placed 10th in the World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar in 2019. In August 2019, Vest became the first female Canadian climber to a conquer a V13 (8B) graded boulder, with The Terminator, in Squamish, British Columbia. This feat was documented in the 2020 film The Terminator, which premiered at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival on March 1, 2020.
In February of 2022, after taking an extended break from competition climbing, Vest became the first Canadian woman to climb a V14 (8B+) graded boulder, "Show Your Scars", in Ogden, Utah.
Biography
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Vest relocated to Canmore, Alberta, with her family when she was seven. She retains dual citizenship. Living in the Canadian Rockies, she began competitive climbing at age 9, and joined the Canadian National Team as a teenager.
Vest is nicknamed "Albatross" because of her 7+ ape index. At 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), her wingspan is 7 inches (180 mm) longer than her height (5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)).
Canadian Nationals performance
| Rank | |
|---|---|
| 2020 Open Boulder Nationals | 1st |
| 2019 Open Lead Nationals | 1st |
| 2019 Open Boulder Nationals | 6th |
| 2018 Open Boulder Nationals | 1st |
Personal life
She has garnered a following on social media as a result of her humorous and satirical training videos.
She began her studies at the University of Alberta and transferred to the University of British Columbia in 2015 to study kinesiology. She is sponsored by Black Diamond, Tension Climbing, RhinoSkin Solutions, and Hive Climbing. In her spare time, she was a youth team coach at the Hive Climbing Gym in Vancouver.
Since spring 2020, she has lived and trained in Salt Lake City with friend and American climber Kyra Condie, and the pair began documenting their training on their shared TikTok account, @climbingroommates. In 2022, Vest and Condie launched the podcast "Circle Up with Allison and Kyra", creating 30 minute episodes on climbing, motivation, body image and mindset.