Onsight, flash and redpoint: the ascent styles

The grade says how hard, the style says how

Two people climb the same 7a. One sets off without knowing the route and gets through on the first attempt. The other worked it out over three weeks, practised every move separately and succeeds on the eighteenth go. Both have climbed 7a — and yet done something entirely different.

That is exactly what ascent styles are for. They record the conditions under which an ascent came about, and turn a number into a statement. Anyone who does not separate them in their logbook is later adding up things that do not measure the same thing.

The terms, one by one

Onsight — first attempt, no prior information

You set off without knowing where the holds are and get through without falling and without hanging on the rope.

Flash — first attempt, with prior information

Everything as with an onsight, but you know the beta: someone told you, you watched a video or you watched somebody climb it.

Redpoint — lead without falling, any number of prior attempts

You may practise the route beforehand, work out the moves and lower off. Only the run that goes from bottom to top without a fall and without resting on the rope counts.

Pinkpoint — like a redpoint, but with the draws pre-hung

The quickdraws are already on the bolts and you only clip as you pass.

Headpoint — lead after practising on toprope

Above all in climbing with removable protection: the route is first practised on toprope and then led.

Toprope — the rope runs from above

Not a lead and therefore not a redpoint ascent — the term redpoint is expressly defined for leading.

Onsight, flash and redpoint are the three that matter day to day. You will come across pinkpoint and headpoint mainly in reports of first ascents and in climbing with removable protection.

Where the red dot comes from

The term is German and can be dated fairly precisely. Kurt Albert (1954–2010) visited Saxon Switzerland in 1973, where climbers had been climbing free since the late 19th century — that is, without pulling up on pegs or standing in aid slings. Back in the Northern Frankenjura he began free-climbing the routes there that had been done with technical aids.

From 1975 he marked every route he had managed free with a red dot at the start. The first was the Adolf-Rott-Gedächtnis-Weg on the Streitberger Schild, until then a route done with technical aids. His definition still holds today: leading a route without falling and without resting, using only natural holds and footholds.

The red dot — Rotpunkt — became “redpoint” internationally, one of the few cases in which a German climbing term shaped the English vocabulary rather than the other way round.

The rule that makes redpoint strict

Redpoint allows any number of attempts — but every attempt starts from zero. If you fall or hang on the rope, the run is over. For a valid redpoint you have to go back to the start, pull the rope out of the route and begin again from the bottom.

That sounds pedantic, but it is the whole point. Without this rule every route would eventually be “climbed” if only you worked through it in sections often enough. With it, a statement remains that means something: you got up this route in one go.

Why you should keep three numbers instead of one

Your onsight level, your flash level and your redpoint level are three different values, and they develop differently. The redpoint level rises with strength and endurance; the onsight level rises above all with how well you read unknown moves on the fly and how calm you stay in unclear situations. Anyone who notes only their highest grade never sees these two developments separately.

No rule of thumb reliably tells you how far apart the values are. The figures in circulation do not stand up to scrutiny — the gap depends on route length, on the area and on how much experience you have leading unknown routes. The number only becomes solid for you personally, and only if you record both styles separately over a longer period.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between onsight and flash?

Only the information. Both mean: first attempt, no fall, no hanging on the rope. With an onsight you know nothing about the route; with a flash you know the beta — because someone explained the moves, you watched a video or you watched somebody climb. Once that information exists, an onsight is no longer possible, however assured the ascent looks.

Where does the term redpoint come from?

From Kurt Albert. From 1975 he free-climbed routes in the Northern Frankenjura that had until then been climbed with technical aids, and marked every route he completed with a red dot at the start. The first was the Adolf-Rott-Gedächtnis-Weg on the Streitberger Schild. His definition: leading a route without falling and without resting, using only natural holds and footholds. The German word Rotpunkt became “redpoint” internationally.

Does an ascent still count as a redpoint if I fell once?

No. After a fall, or after hanging on the rope, the attempt is over. For a redpoint ascent you have to return to the start, pull the rope out of the route and begin again from the bottom. That rule is exactly what separates a redpoint from simply getting up a route with rests on the rope.

Is toprope climbing worth less?

It is something different, not worth less. Redpoint is expressly defined for leading, so a toprope ascent is not a redpoint ascent. For training, for getting started and for routes where you are still learning the moves, toprope is nevertheless useful. The important thing is not to mix the two in your logbook — otherwise you will later be comparing numbers that do not measure the same thing.

How much harder is my redpoint grade than my onsight grade?

There is no solid general figure for that, and this page therefore gives none. That the gap exists is not in dispute: redpoint allows any number of attempts, onsight not a single one. How big it is for you depends on route length, on the area and on how well you read unknown moves. The number only becomes reliable once you record both styles separately over a longer period.

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