In reply to 1poundSOCKS:
> But what does 'grade of the route' mean?
The grade the route is given in the guidebook/route description, which is for an onsight lead.
Personally speaking, whether it's onsight, or headpointed, or whether you've done it twenty times before, the grade is the grade.
To be perfectly frank, there is so much bollocks spouted about what constitutes an onsight, that life is just to short to get sucked into it.
As far as I'm concerned, an onsight is when you start at the bottom and finish at the top in one push, with no falls, having had no prior 'physical' experience of the route - e.g, you haven't done it before.
Whether you've seen someone else do it, whether you've been given forensic beta on every move and placement by your mate or UKC, whether you've spent 16 hours watching YouTube videos of it, whether there are chalk marks on it , or whether your mum has knitted you a sweater with a topo on it, if it's your first time on the route, it's an onsight.
But according to some folk, onsight means being taken blindfold to the crag after taking a Polygraph to prove you know nothing about the route, or haven't taken a sneaky peek at the guidebook beforehand, and that the route has been cleaned of chalk beforehand etc etc.
Seriously, unless you are putting up ground breaking new routes, it doesn't matter!!! It's a hobby for gods sake
Post edited at 12:04