Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou

Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1963-05-08) May 8, 1963 (age 62) Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation	Rock climbing coach
Height	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight	43 kg (95 lb)
Website	raboutoufamily.blogspot.com
Climbing career
Type of climber	Competition lead climbing Sport climbing
Highest grade	Redpoint: 5.14b (8c) Bouldering: V12 (8A+)[1]
Known for	Winning 4 World Cups and 1 World Championship
Medal record Women's Lead climbing Representing  United States World Championships 1995 Geneva Lead 1993 Innsbruck Lead 1991 Frankfurt Lead World Cup 1989 Lead 1991 Lead Winner 1992 Lead Winner 1993 Lead Winner 1994 Lead Winner 1995 Lead Rock Master Winner 1994 Lead

Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou

Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou (born 8 May 1963), is an American rock climber and rock climbing coach. In competition lead climbing, she is a 4-time World Cup champion (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995), and won the biennial World Championships in 1995. She is the third-ever woman in history to redpoint a 5.14a (8b+) graded sport climbing route. She has coached several competition climbers, including Natalia Grossman, Megan Mascarenas, Margo Hayes, Colin Duffy, Emily Harrington and her daughter, Brooke Raboutou.^[1][2]

Climbing career

Competition climbing

Erbesfield won the world's first Climbing World Cup (Leeds in 1989) as a relative unknown. She quickly gained sponsorship and traveled around the world to compete on the new World Cup circuit. She went on to win the overall title for four consecutive World Cups from 1992 to 1995.^[1][3]

Rock climbing

Beyond her illustrious competition career, Erbesfield-Raboutou has made notable contributions to outdoor sport climbing. In 1993, she became the third woman in history to redpoint a route graded 8b+ (5.14a) with her ascent of Silence Vertical in Troubat, France.^[4] That same year, she achieved the first-ever female onsight of an 8a+ (5.13c) route, Overdose in Lourmarin, France.^[5]

Demonstrating remarkable longevity in the sport, at age 49 in 2012, she redpointed Welcome to Tijuana (8c/5.14b) in Rodellar, Spain, becoming the oldest American woman to climb at that grade.^[6] Her outdoor accomplishments underscore her enduring prowess and influence in the global climbing community.

Coaching

She founded the climbing gym ABC Kids Climbing in Boulder, Colorado which focuses on developing agility, balance, and coordination in young climbers. Many of its graduates are climbing 5.14, and performing well in national and international climbing competitions.^[7] Two of the four American athletes who qualified for the 2020 Olympics in sport climbing, Brooke Raboutou and Colin Duffy, were both members of Team ABC, which also produced Margo Hayes, the first woman to climb a 5.15a (9a+) route, and Natalia Grossman, the 2021 bouldering world champion.^[8]

In 2018 she was inducted into the Boulder Sports Hall of fame.^[9]

Personal life

Erbesfield married French rock climber Didier Raboutou [fr] in 1993, and their two children, Brooke Raboutou and Shawn Raboutou, are themselves accomplished rock climbers.^[3]

Rankings

See also: Best IFSC results

Climbing World Championships^[10]

Discipline	1991	1993	1995
Lead	3	2	1

Climbing World Cup^[11]

Discipline	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Lead	3	4	3	1	1	1	1

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead^[10]

Season	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1989	2		1	3
1990		1	1	2
1991	1	2	1	4
1992	2	3		5
1993	3	3		6
1994	4			4
1995	2	1	1	4
Total	14	10	4	28

Notable Climbs

Redpointed

8c (5.14b):

• Welcome to Tijuana - Rodellar (ESP) - July 2012 - Her first 8c, at age 49 becoming the oldest American to climb the grade^[12]

8b+ (5.14a):

• Ixeia - Rodellar (ESP) - June 2012
• Tripa de Conejo - Rodellar (ESP) - June 2012
• God's Own Stone - Red River Gorge (USA) - April 1, 2012 - At age 48
• Bad Attitude - Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (FRA) - August 27, 2008 - At age 45^[13]
• Attention vos Regards - Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (FRA) - 1993
• Silence Vertical - Troubat (FRA) - 1993 - World's third-ever female ascent of an 8b+ route.

On-sighted

8a+ (5.13c):

• Overdose - Lourmarin (FRA) - 1993 - World's first-ever female onsight of an 8a/+ route.

8a (5.13b):

• Ramponeau - Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (FRA) - 1992

Bibliography

• Noble, Chris (November 2013). Women Who Dare: North America's Most Inspiring Women Climbers. Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-0762783717.

See also

• History of rock climbing