Many of you might be wondering where the name Redpoint comes from. A ‘redpoint’ (Rotpunkt) refers to a style of ascent of a ‘sports’ climb i.e. a climb that relies exclusively on bolts for protection. The term is an interesting one as it has its origins in free climbing traditionally aided routes in the 1970’s rather than the genre we now call ‘sports climbing’ which developed a decade later.
Redpointing (Rotpunktgedanken) was born out of German free climbing in the limestone Frankenjura area by a group of climbers led by Kurt Albert. Kurt and his mates brought the free-climbing spree into German climbing in the early seventies and challenged the orthodoxy of climbers who took rests on pegs or ring bolts used for protection for the hardest grade VI routes. Kurt and his followers began by free climbing the routes in one push without resting on the gear. To mark their achievements they painted a small dot of red paint at the foot of the route. The first route to receive this treatment was a climb called Rott-Gedächtnisweg VI+ in 1975.
The climbing scene in the UK at the time was equally infected by the free climbing bonanza led by climbers like Tom Proctor in the Peak District, Ron Fawcett in Yorkshire and Gabe Reagan in Wales.
In Europe at least, ‘redpointing’ became briefly synonymous with free climbing but tended to be limited to German speaking countries - so when fully bolted routes became popular it was adopted into the lexicon of sports climbing jargon and this is where it rests today.
A ‘redpoint’ is a successful ascent where the climber has completed the route from the ground up, without a rest or a fall, having practiced (‘worked’) the route after several attempts. These attempts might have been spread over several hours, days, and even years in some cases. In the original conception of the term, a redpoint would mean that a successful ascent included carrying the quickdraws and clipping into the bolts during the ascent. If the quickdraws were pre-placed this was called a ‘pinkpoint’. Little distinction these days is made between pinkpointing and redpointing and the former has dropped out of use in favour of the latter.
If a route is climbed on the first attempt without practice but with some prior knowledge - such as having watched someone climb the route or a hot tip about a hidden hold - this is known as a ‘flashed’ ascent. If the route is climbed without any prior knowledge this is known as an ‘onsight’ ascent and it it’s purest form it includes not even knowing about the grade!
The terms ‘flash’ and ‘onsight’ equally apply to traditional climbing as they do to sports climbing styles. In recent years we have seen the development of ‘headpointing’ a term coined by British climber Nick Dixon for use in trad. climbing where, for the very hardest grades E8-E11, a climb is practiced by top rope or on a GriGri first before a successful ascent placing traditional protection (wires, cams etc) on lead.
Reference. Rock Stars: The Worlds Best Free Climbers by Heinz Zak, Rother (1996).