In reply to JPM71:
I read through some of the actual paper they are reporting on here. Here is the Abstract:
"We studied which physiological and kinanthropometric
characteristics determine climbing performance
in 16 high-level sports climbers aged 29.9 ±
4.9 years. Body composition parameters were measured
with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scanner. We also
measured kinanthropometric and physical fitness parameters.
The sex-specific 75th percentile value of onsight
climbing ability was used to divide the sample into expert
(75th) and elite (C75th) climbers. All the analyses were
adjusted by sex. The 75th percentile value of onsight
climbing ability was 7b in women and 8b in men. There
were no differences between expert and elite climbers in
the studied variables, except in climbing time to exhaustion
and bone mineral density. Elite climbers had a significantly
higher time to exhaustion than the expert group (770.2 ±
385 vs. 407.7 ± 150 s, respectively, P = 0.001). These
results suggest that, among climbers with a high level of
performance, as those analysed in this study, climbing
time to exhaustion is a major determinant of climbing
performance."
Vanesa España-Romero, Francisco B. Ortega Porcel, Enrique G. Artero,
David Jiménez-Pavón, Ángel Gutiérrez Sainz, Manuel J. Castillo Garzón y Jonatan R. Ruiz. "Climbing time to exhaustion is a determinant of climbing performance in high-level sport climbers". European Journal of Applied Physiology (2009) 107:517-525, noviembre de 2009.
Variables they looked at included grip strength / body mass, grip strength endurance and body mass.