Head point

In climbing, head pointing a trad climbing route essentially means "leading the climb after top-roped practice". It is the style of ascent that has been used for the first ascent of the hardest routes yet climbed, and in the case of the very hardest, the only style of ascent yet achieved.

The term is a pun on the sport climbing term red point.

It is sometimes considered a modern development, but in fact the hardest bold routes of any era were usually headpointed before the first ascent -- a famous example being Brown's Eliminate at Froggatt Edge, first climbed back in 1948.

Many climbers do not consider the grade of a route to be confirmed until it has been on-sighted -- a point of view which means that the grades of routes like Equilibrium at Burbage South (usually given E10 7a) are, and are likely to remain, something of a guess.

(note: this is written from a UK perspective. The story behind this concept in the US is a little more complicated and is a subject of stylistic controversy.)