Brooke Raboutou Is First Woman to Climb 5.15c
The Olympic silver medalist just made history with her ascent of Excalibur 5.15c
Brooke Raboutou just announced that she climbed Excalibur 5.15c (9b+) in Drena, near Arco, Italy. The ascent is historic – the first female ascent of a route graded 5.15c. Several women have climbed 5.15b in the past, including Angela Eiter, Laura Rogora, Julia Chanourdie, and Anak Verhoeven. Excalibur is the first 5.15 ascent for the 23-year-old American Raboutou. 5.15c is the world’s second hardest climbing grade. There are only three 5.15d (9c) routes in the world: Adam Ondra’s Silence, Seb Bouin’s DNA, and Jakob Schubert’s B.I.G.
“Dear Excalibur, Thank you for the lessons,” said Raboutou via Instagram. “From the start, I was drawn to you — something about your unrelenting intensity. Our relationship swayed over time. Some days felt like effortless harmony; on others, we fought, our voices raised. Still, the way you pushed me was like none before. You forced me to confront my fears, detach from expectation, and feed every flicker of belief I could find. You taught me to argue with doubt until it began to doubt itself. You asked for everything, but gave me even more in return. To everyone who supported me on this big goal — thank you. I’m endlessly grateful for my people, and for the connections this climb brought into my life. It means more than I can say.”
Excalibur was established by Stefano Ghisolfi in 2023. The line is short, steep, and powerful. It works its way up a series of sharp micro edges and small awkwardly-positioned pockets to a fierce boulder problem up high, requiring an extremely technical heel hook. Ghisolfi put substantial effort into unlocking the complex beta in 2022, working the moves with some of the world’s top climbers including Adam Ondra, Will Bosi, and Jakob Schubert.
There was much speculation as to whether the climb would be 5.15c or 5.15d once completed. Ghisolfi had this to say about the grade: “I’m also confident to propose [5.15c] as [the] grade, this time I have no doubt about it, and for sure it is the hardest of all my first ascents, and probably the hardest route in Italy now!”
Ondra walked away from the project due to the high potential for injury from the beta he was forced to use. The small holds required him to put his fingers in a scary tendon-compromising position. It’s uncertain if Schubert will return to the project in the future. Will Bosi took multiple trips and 20 days of projecting to finally unlock Excalibur, making one of the most coveted second ascents in the word of sport climbing in February this year. He sent the route on 3rd of that month, exactly two years after Ghisolfi’s FA.
Raboutou hasn’t focused much of her time on outdoor sport climbing in recent years. She broke records as a kid, becoming the youngest woman to climb 5.13d at 10 years old and 5.14b at 11 years old. Many will know Raboutou from the Olympics and World Cup circuit. She earned silver at the Paris Olympics last summer and fifth in Tokyo. She has many World Cup podium finishes, including a gold at the Boulder event in Hachioji in 2023.
Raboutou also has an incredible outdoor bouldering resume. In October 2023, she made the second female ascent of Box Therapy, downgrading the problem to V15. She has multiple V14s to her name, including Iur in Ticino, The Traphouse in Cuvier Rempart, Trieste in Red Rock, Jade in Rocky Mountain National Park, Muscle Car near Boulder, and Direct North V14 in the Buttermilks – a problem she sent in a single session.
Stefano Ghisolfi’s FA of Excalibur 5.15c
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