Redpoint (climbing)
- See Red Point (disambiguation) for other uses of that name.
- See RedPoint for the alcoholic beverage.
In sport climbing, the term redpointing refers to free-climbing a route, while lead climbing, after having practiced the route beforehand (either by leading with frequent rests on the rope - for which the term "hangdogging" arose - or by top roping).[1] Many climbers will frequently try to redpoint a route after having failed to onsight or flash it; although occasionally a climber will forego an onsight attempt if they suspect that the route is so difficult that an attempt would be pointless.[1] The term differs from headpoint, in that it is exclusive to sport routes with protection equipment fixed into the rock at regular intervals.
The English term "redpoint" is derived from the German Rotpunkt (point of red) coined by Kurt Albert in the mid 1970s at Frankenjura. He would paint a red X on a fixed pin that he could avoid using for a foot- or handhold. Once he was able to free climb the entire route, he would put a red dot at the base of the route. In many ways this was the origin of the free climbing movement that led to the development of sport climbing ten years later.
Modern sport climbing ethics do not consider it a redpoint if you successfully climb a route on toprope without using or weighting the gear or rope, though leading with preplaced quickdraws is allowed in some circles. Leading with pre-placed draws is also referred to as a pinkpoint.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Berry, Adrian (2006). Sport Climbing + (1 ed.). Rockfax Ltd. ISBN 1873341865.
- ^ Pesterfield, Heidi (2007). Traditional Lead Climbing: A Rock Climber's Guide to Taking the Sharp End of the Rope (2 ed.). Wilderness Press. ISBN 0899974422.
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