Brooke Raboutou has made the second female ascent of Box Therapy, V16/8C+, and has proposed a downgrade to V15/8C.

Brooke's ascent comes just over a month after Katie Lamb released news of her own ascent of the boulder. 

Late last year Brooke's brother Shawn shared in a video that Brooke had tried Box Therapy, and almost climbed it in a single day. At the time, Shawn shared that both he and Brooke thought the climb was 'probably more V15... but still, a hard V15'.

'One of the most magical days!' Brooke shared on Instagram 'Last weekend I rallied the family and we ventured out into the depths of Wild Basin. Shawn and I managed to do the ultimate dream: sibling send of Box Therapy, same day, back-to-back tries'.

'To have our parents behind us shuffling pads and videoing was the cherry on top. I first touched this boulder in September 2022 and have not stopped dreaming about it since that day. It took me a whole year to get back on it, but in a few sessions, I was able to stand atop one of the most beautiful climbs I've ever done'.

'Shout out to Tommy Caldwell for finding the boulder and putting up the stand, Daniel Woods for the FA, and Katie Lamb for recently doing the FFA and inspiring me to get back up there'.

As for the grade, Brooke had the following to say:

'Grades are tricky because they truly are subjective and can feel different for everyone. 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'.

As Brooke says above, her proposal of V15/8C is just one of many opinions on the grade of the boulder, and is far from a consensus.

However, whilst Daniel Woods, Drew Ruana, Sean Bailey, and Katie Lamb all initially reported their ascents at 8C+, Daniel and Drew have since stated that they can see Box Therapy being 8C.

Shortly after Brooke's downgrade, Drew stated that in the time since climbing Box Therapy he has gained more experience in the 8C-8C+ region, and now sees Box Therapy as 'solid' 8C, whilst Daniel said that he believes that Box therapy 'fits into the V15 category'.

Even if the grade of Box Therapy does eventually settle at hard V15/8C, Brooke's ascent would still be one of the five hardest boulder ascents ever done by a woman.

Speaking on Instagram, Katie Lamb said that it was when climbing with Brooke, Natalia Grossman, Ashima Shiraishi, and Alex Puccio in 2020 that she realised 'this is how we can get to the next level'.

'This is evidence of that level' she said of Brooke's ascent, describing it as 'a manifestation of where women's bouldering has progressed to'.