Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou (born 8 August 1963), is an American

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

and rock climbing coach. In competition lead climbing, she is a 4-time

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

champion (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995), and won the biennial

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1995. She is the third-ever woman in history to

redpoint Redpoint ( gd, An Rubha Dearg) is a small settlement in the north west of Highland, Scotland. It takes its name from Red Point, a low promontory to the south, which marks a turn in the coastline from facing west to south east as it becomes Loc ...

a graded

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...

route Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...

. She has coached several competition climbers, including Megan Mascarenas,

Margo Hayes Margo Hayes (born February 11, 1998) is an American professional rock climber from Boulder, Colorado. In 2016, she won both the Bouldering and Lead Climbing events at the World Youth Championships in Guangzhou ( China). In 2017, she became the ...

and her daughter,

Brooke Raboutou Brooke Raboutou (born April 9, 2001) is an American professional rock climber. At age 9, she ticked a and became the youngest female to climb a . At 10, she sent a and became the youngest female to climb . At 11, she became the youngest female ...

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.

Rock climbing

Coaching

She founded the climbing gym ABC Kids Climbing in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

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. Two of the four American athletes who qualified for the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in sport climbing,

and

Colin Duffy Colin Duffy (born 1968) is an Irish republican, described by the BBC as the most recognisable name and face among dissident republicans in Northern Ireland. He was cleared of murder charges in three court cases involving police and army killings. ...

, were both members of Team ABC, which also produced

, the first woman to climb a route, and

Natalia Grossman Natalia Grossman (born June 22, 2001) is an American professional rock climber who specializes in competition climbing. She represents the United States at IFSC Climbing World Cup in competition bouldering and competition lead climbing. She won ...

, the 2021 bouldering world champion. In 2018 she was inducted into the Boulder Sports Hall of fame.

Personal life

Erbesfield married French rock climber in 1993, and their two children,

and

Shawn Raboutou Shawn Raboutou (born April 19, 1998) is an American rock climber. In 2022, he became the first person to climb the bouldering grade of on more than one occasion. Early life Shawn Raboutou was born in Boulder, Colorado on April 19, 1998. He is t ...

, are themselves, accomplished rock climbers.

Rankings

Climbing World Cup

Climbing World Championships

Number of medals in the Climbing World Cup

Lead

Notable Climbs

Redpointed

: :* ''Welcome to Tijuana'' - Rodellar (

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

) - July 2012 - Her first 8c, at age 49 becoming the oldest American to climb the grade : :* ''Ixeia'' - Rodellar (

) - June 2012 :* ''Tripa de Conejo'' - Rodellar (

) - June 2012 :* ''God's Own Stone'' -

Red River Gorge The Red River Gorge is a canyon system on the Red River in east-central Kentucky. Geologically it is part of the Pottsville Escarpment. The gorge lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest and was subsequently designated the Red River Gorge G ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

) - April 1, 2012 - At age 48 :* ''Bad Attitude'' -

Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (; oc, Sent Antonin) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Having played an influential and somewhat bellicose role in the history of the region from the 12th to the 1 ...

(

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

) - August 27, 2008 - At age 45 :* ''Attention vos Regards'' - Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val (FRA) - 1993 :* ''Silence Vertical'' -

Troubat Troubat is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. File:Troubat église vue depuis château comtes Comminges (3).jpg, File:Plan de la grotte de Sainte Araille.png, File:Entrée de la Grotte de Troubat - Vallée d ...

(

) - 1993 - World's third-ever female ascent of an 8b+ route.

On-sight NOTOC This glossary of climbing terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon related to rock climbing and mountaineering. The specific terms used can vary considerably between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases d ...
ed

: :* ''Overdose'' -

Lourmarin Lourmarin (; oc, Lormarin) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Lourmarinois''. Geography Lourmarin is located in the French region of Provence, at ...

(

) - 1993 - World's first-ever female onsight of an 8a/+ route. : :* ''Ramponeau'' -

(

) - 1992

Bibliography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erbesfield-Raboutou, Robyn American rock climbers American female climbers Living people American sportswomen 1963 births 21st-century American women IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists IFSC Climbing World Cup overall medalists American competition climbers