Ryuichi Murai has made a swift ascent of Monkey Wedding 8C in Rocklands, South Africa.

Having arrived in Rocklands last week, Murai's 8C ascent is the hardest in what is already shaping up to be an impressive ticklist. In just six days, he has made ascents of The Book Club (V14), Ménage à Trois 8B+, and Monkey Wedding (V15).

First climbed by Fred Nicole in 2002 and graded 8B+, Monkey Wedding was left unrepeated for eight years until an in-form Paul Robinson came along to make the second ascent. Since then, the grade has been confirmed at 8C, with ascents from a mix of climbers including both top-end boulders such as Daniel Woods, Shawn Raboutou, and Aidan Roberts, as well as climbers more typically associated with sport climbing, such as Adam Ondra and Alex Megos.

Murai on Ménage à Trois, 8B+

Starting from sitting, the overhanging boulder follows a thin rail up to a sharp left hand pinch. Thereafter, a high right foot allows the climber to shift their weight to the right and move their right hand through yet more tiny crimps, out to a sloping edge at almost full span. Finally, an extended lock off with the right hand allows the left to cross through to a decent edge (relatively speaking) which leads to easier climbing.

Alternatively, some climbers elect to bypass the 'lock off and cross through' approach by instead working the left foot into a high heel hook and finishing with a dynamic right hand throw to the lip. Whilst this changes the second half of the boulder quite significantly, both approaches are considered 8C.

Murai on The Book Club, 8B+

Murai first tried Monkey Wedding during his last trip to Rocklands at the end of 2016, when he had only recently climbed his first 8C. In the seven years since, Murai has established himself as Japan's best outdoors boulderer, and as one of the best in the world, with three 8C+ repeats, and three 8C+ first ascents, none of which have seen repeats.

Sharing news of his ascent on social media, Murai said:

'Yesterday I managed to send one of the main goals of this tour. Seven years ago I couldn't do the full reach crux at all, but this time it felt easy - though I had a hard time [holding the move] due to my finger skin problems'.

'I'm glad that the range of moves I can perform has definitely increased compared to before. Time to try highballs'.