[merizian]

Even if the out of place hold were used, would you then conclude it to be causal? I still wouldn't rule out coincidence. Many discoveries happen as a result of investigating spurious patterns.

Also the author rules out psychology, but I wouldn't, especially since there were multiple confirmed errors in the route preparation, which I expect could reduce one's trust in the fairness of the competition. In the moment, I might start to wonder, "If one hold was out of place, why not more? Is anyone even checking this?" even if untrue / unlikely.

[petsfed]

I’ve never been a competitive speed climber, but I do understand that part of the process of precision is having cues for e.g. body position. So the fact that it’s never actually touched is not necessarily the red herring it seems to be. Racecar drivers cue off of trackside landmarks to get their brake timing right, for instance.

Certainly, the rope feel is a much more significant factor, since the feel of the rope tugging on your harness is a non visual part of your body position feedback (maybe “I know that I’m going fast enough/pulling hard enough if I’m outracing the rope retraction rate”).