Mathieu Ternant ticks Monkey Wedding (8C)

Mathieu Ternant has during a one month trip to Rocklands sent six 8B’s, Get Railed (8B+) and Monkey Wedding (8C).

Can you tell us more about your trip and Monkey Wedding?
I’ve been living on Réunion Island for a year now, and I mostly climb alone all year and mainly do first ascents (FAs), so I wasn’t really sure about my level. This trip was a good opportunity to see if the FAs I did were at the right grade.

About "Monkey Wedding"—I started trying it after some sessions on the rope in Get Railed (8B+). I did three short sessions (about 1 hour each) just to try the different sections. After sending "Get Railed", I could focus more on the project and spend some real sessions just working on the boulder. I was still trying other really nice problems between sessions on "Monkey Wedding", because there are just too many boulders to focus on only one...

After one very good session on the project where I managed to optimize all the sections, I felt like I could send it. But it was near the end of my trip, so I started to feel a bit of pressure.

I took three rest days in Cape Town and came back with good skin and full power. I spent three days in a row on the boulder—my last three days of the trip. On the first day, I was too stressed. On the second, I got really close and fell on the last move... On my last day, after a quick warm-up, despite bad skin and feeling tired, I sent it on my second go. What a feeling—I was so happy! It was more of a mental battle than a power one. But... last day, best day? 🤘

All in all, 7 sessions to send it. Really happy to have sent this masterpiece by Fred Nicole. Not the most beautiful line, but definitely a super interesting one.

Can you tell us more about living on Reunion and your FA’s?
I moved here for work, surfing, and to follow my girlfriend, who lives on the island. There are still a lot of boulders to discover—they’re just waiting to be climbed... and I’m trying to find some of them. I really love this part of climbing. I’m psyched to search for new rock, figure out the moves, and climb it… not just consume! It’s such a pleasure to climb something new every session, and it’s a real challenge.

But I have to admit—I also love consuming! Being here in Rocklands and trying hard problems that are already established is also super nice. This trip was a great opportunity to compare, to see if the grades of my FAs were accurate, and to evaluate my own level—because I don’t have many benchmarks on the island. That’s what makes it so challenging, too.