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Sibling senders: Brooke and Shawn Raboutou

The Raboutous may be the most powerful family in rock climbing. Siblings Brooke and Shawn are children of parents Robyn Erbesfield and Didier Raboutou. As far as climbing parents go, it’s hard to beat ex-world-class competitors on the International Climber Circuit! Robyn has won four world championships, and Didier won the Arco Rock Master. Plus, Didier has also won three world championships – those are some big climbing shoes to fill!

The parents run ABC Kids Climbing and the elite Team ABC Boulder team in Colorado, where they train youth climbers. They take outdoor trips around the US to climb in places like Hueco Tanks, Texas, Joe’s Valley, Utah, and The Red River Gorge, Kentucky.

Brooke and Shawn are currently pursuing different avenues in the climbing world, but both have been extremely successful. Considering they were climbing in their Boulder, CO, basement in their diapers, did anybody expect anything less? Let’s dive into the world of sibling senders Brooke and Shawn Raboutou and how they continue to create history.

Brooke Raboutou

Brooke is a professional rock climber who specialises in competition climbing. She competes on the US National Team during the Olympics and represents the US at IFSC Climbing World Cups. Before she started competing nationally, she held some mighty titles.

As a child, Brooke completed many firsts in the climbing scene:

  • The youngest woman to climb 5.13b/8a at age 9
  • The youngest woman to climb 5.13d/8b at age 10
  • The youngest woman to climb 5.14b/8c at age 11

YouTube video

As a teen, she saw lots of competition success at the IFSC Youth World Championships, winning various medals from 2016 to 2019 (International Federation of Sport Climbing). Brooke was the 2016 Youth B World Champion and the 2017 Youth A Combined Pan American Champion. Then, in 2018, she won gold in the 2018 Youth A Lead Category at the IFSC Youth World Championships.

During the 2020 Toyko Olympics, Brooke finished fifth in the combined competition, which combined Lead, Bouldering, and Speed climbing. The Speed discipline was her downfall, but the 2024 Paris Olympics is changing the climbing structure. Instead of a combined score for all three disciplines, Lead and Bouldering will be combined, and Speed will be a separate category. It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out!

Here is a list of Brooke’s most notable sends:

  • Trieste – V14/8B+
  • Jade – V14/8B+
  • Muscle Car – V14/8B+
  • Box Therapy – V15 or V16/8C or 8C+

During lockdown, you could find Brooke bouldering around her kitchen countertops!

More recent sends include her 2022 trip to Switzerland, where she topped some tough boulders: Sonlerto V12/8A+, Lur V13/8B, and Heritage V13/8B. In April 2023, she won the IFSC Boulder World Cup in Hachioji, Japan, her first-ever IFSC Climbing World Cup gold medal! It’s safe to say she’s following in her parent’s footsteps!

Shawn Raboutou

Although Shawn grew up in a household of competition climbers, he has taken his career in a different direction. He competed for a few years, but there is very little information to find except for some local competitions when he was younger. Instead, Shawn dedicates his climbing to bouldering outdoors.

Many consider Shawn Raboutou the best boulderer in the world right now. Whether you think so or not, you can’t argue he’s not one of the best! Shawn is currently the only person in the world with two V17/9A ascents under his belt. He’s also projecting other V17s, Burden of Dreams in Finland and Sudain Seul in Fontainebleau.

Here is a list of Shawns most notable sends:

  • Livin’ Large – V16/8C+
  • Big Z – V16/8C+
  • F the system – V16/8C+
  • Story of Three Worlds – V16/8C+
  • Insomniac – V16/8C+
  • Alphane – V17/9A
  • Megatron – V17/9A

To stay up to date with Shawn, he has a YouTube channel where he posts vlog-style climbing content. There, he includes videos, sometimes with his younger sister Brooke, working out beta on his projects, and hard sends. If you’re curious about finding the most current news about Shawn, check out his Instagram channel.

Shawn is also part of mellow, a group of world-class boulderers who create cinematic films of their climbing on YouTube. Mellow comprises Shawn Raboutou, Daniel Woods, Jimmy Webb, and Giuliano Cameroni. Expanding on their own climbing, they also post videos of other climbers crushing it outdoors. You can even find Brooke in a few! Here is a link to the Mellow YouTube channel.

Check out Shawn on his V17 sends Alphane and Megatron below:

YouTube video

YouTube video

Sibling Send: Box Therapy V15 or 16/8C or 8C+

The Raboutous had a family outing late in 2023, during which they took the long approach to find Box Therapy. This boulder is a sit-start variation of Spread Eagle V11/8A established by renowned climber Tommy Caldwell. It includes at least 18 crimpy moves through a 50-degree overhang. Situated in Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, the boulder is over 11km from the trailhead. Projecting something that far away takes dedication!

Box Therapy was initially sent by Daniel Woods but has been repeated by Sean Baily and Drew Ruana. Katie Lamb also repeated this boulder and holds the FFA! (First Female Ascent)

This is something of a climbing fairytale. “A strong family comes together to overcome a boulder problem.” The Raboutou parents, ex-professional climbers, spot and film their children, current professional climbers, getting back-to-back sends of this elusive climb. In the video posted by mellow below, you can see the family shuffling pads and psyching each other up. This video is also a great example of how different beta can result in the same outcome.

YouTube video

Box Therapy backlash

After the siblings sent Box Therapy back-to-back, they received a little backlash after proposing a softer grade. The original grade Daniel Woods stated was V16/8C+, but the pair believe it is more likely V15/8C. Brooke has climbed numerous V14s, but this would be her first V15! Backlash comes from taking way Katie Lamb, who claimed to be the first woman to climb V16/8C+.

Lamb clarified that she and Brooke are good friends and took umbrage toward their proposed grade. We can see Brooke’s opinion that she posted in an Instagram story: “Grades are tricky because they truly are subjective and can feel different for everyone. Here’s my opinion: after chatting with my brother and others who have done the climb, I feel like V15 is an appropriate grade especially if I compare it to some of the benchmark V15’s I’ve tested. Above all, I am filled with joy and gratitude for my family and the adventures we get to go on together, as well as all the surrounding support that continues to push me further.”

This shows that even professional climbers can think something is easier or harder than the grade proposed. Grades are ultimately subjective! Whether or not the grade is changed, the back-to-back sibling sends with their parents’ support is something special, especially when you look at how much work it requires to get to the boulder!

The Rabotou family’s future

Robyn and Didier continue to run their ABC Kids Climbing program focusing on youth athletes. If their two children aren’t perfect examples of a successful coaching program, I’m not sure what is! If you’re around Boulder, CO, and have kids interested in becoming amazing climbers, check them out!

Brooke is currently training for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she’s excited to put her hard work into motion. Since speed climbing will be a different category this go-around, I expect she’ll receive better results. It’s been four years since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and she’ll be looking to improve her placement.

Shawn continues to climb outdoors and create videos for his and mellow’s YouTube channel. In an interview with Alex Honnold’s podcast Climbing Gold, Guiliano Cameroni and Daniel Woods called Shawn the CEO of mellow. He is in charge of the operations of the company’s merchandise, so he keeps busy when not climbing. Who knows, maybe we’ll see his third V17/9A ascent this year!

A family of strength

From the outside, it looks like the Raboutou family has it all. A family of world-class athletes making history is sure to make a splash. But at the end of the day, they’re just a normal family pursuing the things that they love.

We don’t see all the dedication and hard work it takes to win championships or climb the world’s hardest boulders. But it takes persistence and sacrifice to pursue your dreams, which I’m sure each member of this family does. Remember that when you see somebody succeeding, they have spent countless hours honing their craft. That can look like standing on the podium or on top of a boulder in the woods.

The takeaway here is that what the Raboutou family has achieved is inspirational. They continue to stay close, as shown in the Box Therapy video, and support each other. It doesn’t matter if their children are climbing in World Cups or in the dirt; I’m sure they’re incredibly proud.

How do you think Brooke will do in the 2024 Paris Olympics this year? Do you think Shawn will send Burden of Dreams, Sudain Seul, or both? Let us know in the comments!

Update: Post 2024 Olympics

Brooke made her debut in the 2024 Paris Olympics this year, finishing in second and giving Team USA their first sport climbing medal! She had been competing and training heavily the last few years to give it her all on the world’s biggest stage.

Brooke looked strong and confident during the competition, topping three of the four boulder problems in the opening round. After the bouldering round, she was only 0.4 points behind the previous sport climbing gold medalist and crusher Janja Ganbret.

Going into the lead climbing round, Brooke knew that she needed to stay focused and give it her all. After reaching the 60-point mark, she was in first place on the center stage. She fell shortly after and simply had to wait and watch the last two competitors to see where her fate lay. Unfortunately for her, Garnbret finished the climb with a higher score and took gold, leaving Brooke with the silver medal!

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