(c) Helmut Schulze

Today, 100 years ago, the Bohemian-Saxon climber Emanuel Strubich made it to the seventh UIAA grade or the eighth Saxon grade. So he was able to climb in the war year 1918, the about 60 meters long western edge of the ‚Wilder Kopf‘ in the Elbsandsteingebirge (Germany)  without permanently installed bolts, so-called rings, together with Arno Sieber and Kurt Eisold. The route is an exposed wall and friction climbing that is still a challenge today despite the two additional rings. If one considers then that only 60 years later, the seventh grade was officially established, which highlighted the power of Strubich. The route itself might well have been the heaviest climbing route in the world at the time. Almost four years later, Emanuel Strubich died at the age of only 35 when an avalanche took place at the rear Karlesspitze (2636 m) in the Tyrol. He was, as so often, on his own and was recovered one day later.