Raboutou Send Train on Box Therapy V15
Siblings Shawn and Brooke topped the epic Daniel Woods problem in back-to-back tries
In October, Shawn and Brooke Raboutou both sent Box Therapy V15/16 on the same day in back-to-back tries. It was a true family affair – the siblings were joined by their parents at the boulder. Box Therapy is an extremely long problem, containing at least 18 crimpy moves across a 50-degree overhanging face. Located in Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, the boulder is situated over 11 km from the trailhead, making long-term projecting no easy task. Brooke first tried Box Therapy back in September 2022. After waiting a year to get back on it, this season it only took her a few sessions to top the problem. Mellow just released a new video of the Raboutou dual send, which you watch below.
Discovered by Tommy Caldwell, Box Therapy was first climbed by Daniel Woods in October 2018. In total, he hiked 146 km over seven sessions while projecting. Originally grading the problem V16, he described the problem having “micro holds that make your pulleys feel like they are gonna pop after every attempt.” After Woods’ FA, the line was repeated by Drew Ruana, Sean Bailey, and Katie Lamb, who made the first female ascent in July this year.
The Raboutou siblings ended up feeling V15 was more appropriate for Box Therapy, and Woods has since agreed with their assessment. “Grades are tricky because they truly are subjective and can feel different for everyone,” said Brooke about the grade on Instagram. “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.”
Before Box Therapy, Brooke had climbed a number of V14s including Trieste in Red Rock, Jade in Rocky Mountain National Park, and Muscle Car near Boulder. With her Box Therapy ascent, she joins a small group of women who have climbed V15. In 2016, Ashima Shiraishi was the first to tick the grade with Horizon V15 at Mount Hiei in Japan. Two years later, Kaddi Lehmann climbed Kryptos V15 in Switzerland. The following year, in 2019, Mishka Ishi climbed Byaka-dou V15 in Jorai, Japan at just 13 years of age. Oriane Bertone was the next to climb the grade with the first post-break ascent of Satan I Helvete Bas in Fontainebleau. She initially proposed V15 for this low variation but subsequent ascensionists moved the grade down to V14, which Bertone agreed with.
In June, Czech climber Jana Švecová made the first ascent of Nova, a variation of Adam Ondra’s Terranova V16. She originally proposed V14 for the problem but Will Bosi upgraded it to V15 after making the first repeat in November. Lamb and Raboutou came next with their Box Therapy sends in July and October respectively.
