Monkey Wedding (8C) by Austin Hoyt, 19,

Austin Hoyt, who previously has sent six 8B+, has done Monkey Wedding (8C) in Rocklands.

”All in all Monkey Wedding took me about eight days to piece together on this a little more than a month long trip. I tried it the second day I climbed in Rocklands for the first time, I quickly unlocked all but two moves in a short session. The second day on it was the same situation just working through moves again, finally on the third session I found a sequence that worked for me did all the moves! I ended up going with the original beta that Fred, Paul, and Daniel all do with a little extra small left hand to slide into. On session four and five I managed to fall on the last move four times! Slowly it became more of a mental battle. Come session eight, my last fresh day trying the boulder and I managed to send it! Couldn’t have done it without Bryce Viola!”

What is your climbing background?
I began climbing about 11 years ago at High Exposure Climbing in Northvale New Jersey, and I still climb there today! Ever since starting I’ve been obsessed and likely climb five days a week. Training mostly focuses on board climbing, weight lifting, and a lot of projecting! Luckily I’m here in Africa with long time friend and training partner Adam Shahar, he’s insanely strong and going to rack up an insane tick list himself! We’ve pushed each other since day one, without the very friendly competition I don’t know if either of us would ever be where we are now.