Shawn Raboutou (born April 19, 1998) is an American rock climber.[1] In 2022, he became the first person to climb the bouldering grade of V17 (9A), a feat which he repeated only months later.[2][3]

Shawn Raboutou
Personal information
Born (1998-04-19) April 19, 1998 (age 26)
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationRock climber
Height167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known forFirst person to climb at V17 more than once
First ascents
  • Megatron (V17, 2022)
  • Alphane (V17, 2022)
  • The Story of Three Worlds (8c+, 2022)
  • Child of Hell (8c, 2022)
  • Fight Club (8b+, 2022)
  • Fuck the System (8c+, 2021)
  • Big Z (8c+, 2020)
  • Roadkill (8c, 2020)
  • Off the Wagon Low (8c+, 2018)
  • The Book Club (8b+, 2017)

Early life

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Shawn Raboutou was born in Boulder, Colorado on April 19, 1998. He is the son of former professional climbers Didier Raboutou [fr] and Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou; his younger sister is Brooke Raboutou, a competition climber.[4] In 2011, when Raboutou was 13 years old, he climbed Welcome to Tijuana, a 5.14b (8c) graded sport climbing route in Spain.[5]

Climbing career

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Bouldering

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On April 6, 2022, Raboutou made the first ascent of Alphane, a V17 (9A) boulder problem in Chironico, Switzerland, although he didn’t announce his ascent until August 2022. Later on in 2022, Raboutou announced his first ascent of Megatron, another V17 (9A) boulder in Colorado, making him the first climber in history to climb two different V17-grade boulder problems.[6][7]

Competition climbing

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Between 2015 and 2017, Raboutou participated in the IFSC World Cup circuit, although he did not win any medals. He then took time off from competition climbing to focus on bouldering outside. In 2022 he returned to the competition scene in the North American Cup series and took home a silver medal.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Angel. "Shawn Raboutou: A Name Synonymous With Bouldering". hardclimbs.info. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  2. ^ Pardy, Aaron (2022-11-16). "Shawn Raboutou Announces First Ascent of Megatron V17". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  3. ^ Miller, Delaney (22 August 2022). "Shawn Raboutou Does First Ascent of "Alphane" (V17)". Climbing. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ^ Flashman, Johanna (13 April 2018). "Generation 5.16: Shawn and Brooke Raboutou". Climbing. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  5. ^ Fox, Amanda (15 August 2011). "13-Year-Old Raboutou Climbs 5.14b". Climbing. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Climbing History | Megatron 9A". climbing-history.org. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  7. ^ "Climbing History | Alphane 9A". climbing-history.org. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
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