Crossword Genius

Considers sounding out routes to the summit (6,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

weighs up

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'routes to the summit' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'considers sounding' is the wordplay.
'considers' becomes 'weighs' ('weigh' can be a synonym of 'consider').
'sounding' becomes 'up' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'weighs'+'up'='WEIGHS UP'

'out' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for weighs up that I've seen is " judges".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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