Redpoint, Pinkpoint, Greenpoint, Bluepoint: All the Point Terms You’re Probably Saying Wrong

“Nice flash,” my husband Casey said as I untied my knot at Mt. Lemmon outside Tucson, Arizona.

“That wasn’t a flash,” I said, explaining that I’d hung on the rope twice, so it wouldn’t qualify as a flash, nor a redpoint.

For many climbers, the difference between an onsight, a flash, a send, and a redpoint—let alone a headpoint!—is confusing and obscure. And for most of us, using these terms properly really doesn’t matter when it comes to our day-to-day climbing. But for the pros—or...