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Redpoint (climbing)
In rock climbing, a redpoint is a successful free-climb of a climbing route performed by a lead-climber.
The climber can use their rock-climbing equipment only for their protection, not as an artificial aid to rest or climb. The climber can have attempted or practised the route many times beforehand, such as by headpointing or by top roping.
When performed on the first attempt, a successful redpoint is typically called onsight (without prior knowledge about beta), or flash (with beta provided by others). Typically, climbers will try to redpoint a route after having failed to onsight or flash it.
Regardless of the number of attempts required to perform it, the first successful redpoint of a climbing route is recorded as the first free ascent (FFA) of that route.
In contrast to an onsight or flash attempt, for a redpoint ascent it is not relevant whether the climber had previously failed on the route, or practiced any of the individual movements required to climb it. It is also acceptable to undertake prior inspections of the route to learn its beta, for example by abseiling down the route.
If the lead climber falls during an attempted redpoint ascent and thus ends up in a position of hanging from their rope so that bodyweight is being held — even partly — by the rope, then they must return to the very bottom of the route, pull their rope free of the route (e.g. free from any climbing protection), and completely re-start their redpoint ascent from scratch. Pulling the rope free before re-starting is also known as "climbing a route clean" but this should not be confused with the broader topic of clean climbing.
Climbers can pause and rest during a redpoint ascent but they cannot use the rope—or any other artificial aids—to hold their bodyweight while they rest. Unaided resting techniques such as the kneebar and the bat hang are allowed. Hangdogging is where the climber rests on the rope after falling but then restarts climbing without returning to the ground—this is not allowed for a redpoint. The first climber to redpoint a route, in the absence of any prior onsight or flash of a route, has made the first free ascent (FFA) of that route.
Where quickdraws are pre-placed into the fixed protection bolts on sport climbing routes, so that climber is just clipping the rope into the quickdraws as they ascend, it is called a "pinkpoint" — in practice, most ascents of extreme sport climbing routes are done as pinkpoints, as are ascents in modern competition climbing, so the term "pinkpoint" is no longer used in these instances. However, due to additional significant challenge of placing climbing protection while ascending traditional climbing routes, traditional climbers continue to differentiate on whether their first free ascent was a pinkpoint (e.g. as Swiss traditional climber Didier Berthod did on making the first ascent of The Crack of Destiny in 2023) or a full redpoint.
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Redpoint (climbing)
In rock climbing, a redpoint is a successful free-climb of a climbing route performed by a lead-climber.
The climber can use their rock-climbing equipment only for their protection, not as an artificial aid to rest or climb. The climber can have attempted or practised the route many times beforehand, such as by headpointing or by top roping.
When performed on the first attempt, a successful redpoint is typically called onsight (without prior knowledge about beta), or flash (with beta provided by others). Typically, climbers will try to redpoint a route after having failed to onsight or flash it.
Regardless of the number of attempts required to perform it, the first successful redpoint of a climbing route is recorded as the first free ascent (FFA) of that route.
In contrast to an onsight or flash attempt, for a redpoint ascent it is not relevant whether the climber had previously failed on the route, or practiced any of the individual movements required to climb it. It is also acceptable to undertake prior inspections of the route to learn its beta, for example by abseiling down the route.
If the lead climber falls during an attempted redpoint ascent and thus ends up in a position of hanging from their rope so that bodyweight is being held — even partly — by the rope, then they must return to the very bottom of the route, pull their rope free of the route (e.g. free from any climbing protection), and completely re-start their redpoint ascent from scratch. Pulling the rope free before re-starting is also known as "climbing a route clean" but this should not be confused with the broader topic of clean climbing.
Climbers can pause and rest during a redpoint ascent but they cannot use the rope—or any other artificial aids—to hold their bodyweight while they rest. Unaided resting techniques such as the kneebar and the bat hang are allowed. Hangdogging is where the climber rests on the rope after falling but then restarts climbing without returning to the ground—this is not allowed for a redpoint. The first climber to redpoint a route, in the absence of any prior onsight or flash of a route, has made the first free ascent (FFA) of that route.
Where quickdraws are pre-placed into the fixed protection bolts on sport climbing routes, so that climber is just clipping the rope into the quickdraws as they ascend, it is called a "pinkpoint" — in practice, most ascents of extreme sport climbing routes are done as pinkpoints, as are ascents in modern competition climbing, so the term "pinkpoint" is no longer used in these instances. However, due to additional significant challenge of placing climbing protection while ascending traditional climbing routes, traditional climbers continue to differentiate on whether their first free ascent was a pinkpoint (e.g. as Swiss traditional climber Didier Berthod did on making the first ascent of The Crack of Destiny in 2023) or a full redpoint.