hard – which is why metal pitons had been hammered into the rock as an aid in the first place – until it could be climbed in one clean push (i.e. no falls, and any falls required a full re-start), and without any artificial aids. Because these routes were already established aid climbing routes, Albert could not remove the pitons (that would happen in later decades), however, his Rotpunkt laid down a mark to other climbers that the route could be free climbed without the use of the metal aids, and thus became an important moment in the development of free climbing. Eventually, Albert's Rotpunkts became associated with the development of sport climbing in the 1980s, as many of these aids were on routes that had no possibility of even natural traditional climbing protection (e.g. no cracks), and thus bolts would be needed for protection (but not aid). Notable redpoints Notable redpointed climbs are chronicled by the climbing media to track progress in rock climbing standards and levels of technical difficulty; in contrast, the hardest traditional climbing routes tend to be of lower technical difficulty due to the additional burden of having to place protection during the course of the climb, and due to the lack of any possibility of using natural protection on extreme sport climbs. As of December 2022, the world's hardest redpointed route is Silence at a proposed grade of , which was climbed by Adam Ondra in 2017; it has yet to be repeated. There are a number of routes with a grade of , the first of which was Change by Ondra in 2012, and the second of which was La Dura Dura, also by Ondra and Chris Sharma in 2013. As of December 2021, female climbers Angela Eiter, Laura Rogora, and Julia Chanourdie have redpointed established routes at , and Rogora's ascent of Erebor is considered to be the first potential female redpoint of a . See also History of rock climbing References External links Watch Alex Megos Red Point Film Rotpunkt, a 2020 film by Alex Megos on the history of the "Rotpunkt" (Gripped Magazine, February 2020). Types of climbing Climbing techniques