Scientific Proof

Yes ladies and gentleman, I am now in the possession of scientific proof that technique and footwork are not important in climbing. What IS important is the force with which you PULL the handholds. Allow me to demonstrate.

Given below in Newton's third law of motion:

"Whenever a particle A exerts a force on another particle B, B simultaneously exerts a force on A with the same magnitude in the opposite direction. The strong form of the law further postulates that these two forces act along the same line. This law is often simplified into the sentence, "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Let A be the climber and B the handhold that he/she is pulling on. From the above law, we have that whenever A will pull on B from the wall towards himself/herself, B will pull A in the opposite direction, thus pulling A into the wall. Hence, no matter how you step and what you hold and so on, provided that you pull at your handhold with enough force, the handhold will pull you back into the wall.

Q.E.D

Corollary: Mr. Pan's "Crimp harder, step harder!" can now be replaced with "Pull harder, pull harder!"