redpoint means to free-climb (a route), while lead climbing, after having practiced the route beforehand. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why “redpoint” is a great word
REDPOINT — [Verb] To lead-climb a route from start to finish without falling or resting on gear, after having practiced its specific movements. From red + point, as a calque of German Rotpunkt (literally "red point"), coined by climber Kurt Albert in the mid-1970s in the Frankenjura region of Germany, who marked routes he had climbed free with a red dot. Unlike an "onsight" (a clean ascent on the very first attempt, blind) or a "flash" (a clean first attempt with prior beta), a redpoint is the consummation of a protracted, intimate struggle. It is the muscle memory of a crux move finally wired, the ghost-echo of a past fall at a specific clip, and the triumphant slap for a hold that once felt impossibly distant—the transformation of a vertical puzzle into a personal, physical truth.
verb
- To free-climb (a route), while lead climbing, after having practiced the route beforehand.