Siblings Shawn and Brooke Raboutou climb the Box Therapy boulder (8C+) in Rocky Mountain National Park on the same day. In addition to the twin ascent, Brooke Raboutou's rating suggestion also makes you sit up and take notice: 8C.
Once again, the Raboutous impressively illustrate why they are considered one of the strongest climbing families in the world: in Rocky Mountain National Park Brooke and Shawn On the same day an ascent of the 8C+ boulder Box Therapy by Daniel Woods. After her back-to-back Sibling Send, Brooke Raboutou suggests a downgrade to 8C.
After talking with my brother and other repeaters, I think 8C is an appropriate grade, especially when I compare Box Therapy to some benchmark 8C boulders I've tried.
Brooke Raboutou
First repeaters confirm degrees
Judging by the number of repetitions - with the Raboutou siblings there are just five - Box Therapy has been a success since First ascent in the year 2018 hasn't received much attention yet. This changed suddenly this summer when Katie Lamb repeated the boulder and was the first woman to advance to grade 8C+.
After this historic ascent, the climbing scene intensively discussed the difficulty of the line. Daniel Woods expanded the Tommy Caldwell Boulder Spread Eagle (8A) to more than 20 tough moves with his seated start version and suggested a difficulty level of 2018C+ for Box Therapy 8. Neither made this assessment public Drew Ruana nor Sean Bailey in question after their repeats.
Video: Drew Ruana climbs Box Therapy
Already found it easier when planning
Not so Brooke Raboutou. The strong American proposes a devaluation to 8C. On the one hand, she bases her assessment on the exchange with her brother Shawn and others who did the boulder. “On the other hand, Box Therapy felt more like an 8C compared to other benchmark 8C boulders I’ve tried.”
Anyone who accuses Brooke Raboutou of wanting to discredit Katie Lamb's first women's ascent of an 8C+ boulder with her devaluation is walking on thin ice. In a video by Magnus Midtbo from December 2022, Shawn Raboutou talks about how Brooke had tried the line before and was able to climb it almost in a day. And he adds: “We both think that Box Therapy is probably more like 8C, but a hard 8C.”
Sometimes we are wrong with our initial suggestions. That's why consensus is so important.
Daniel Woods
And what does first climber Daniel Woods say about the devaluation? "As Brooke said, grades are subjective and ultimately just a guide to how challenging a line is."
That might interest you
- Drew Ruana is doing the 8c + Boulder Box Therapy
- Daniel Woods boulders Box Therapy at Rocky Mountain National Park and suggests 8c +
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Credits: Cover picture FinnStack