I reckon your spot on there Pickles. No one really cares putting draws on in sport climbing because generally it doesn't make much difference. Having beta on how to do the crux or where the secret hold is gives way more advantage than having the draws on already. The whole challenge of onsighting is having to figure out the moves as you go, where to stop and shake out and where to just go for it, and if you chose the wrong sequence its game over. I reckon you can pinkpoint onsight, top rope onsight, aid climb onsight or even abseil onsight I guess.
But the 'no down climbing' thing I just don't get.
I could be half way up a route, get to the crux and not sure what to do, down climb two metres to a no hands rest knee bar, shake out and have a think about it, pick a sequence and then bust through the crux.
Or I could be 3 metres off the ground, check out the crux and climb back down to reassess my options. Or I could boulder the first 4 metres to check out the crux before I even tie in. I really dont see any difference.
The other day I did a climb where you could actually turn around and sit down just before the crux, which I took full advantage of, and still consider it an onsight.
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