Fritz Sticht and Hermann Huber invented the Sticht Plate and filed for a patent in late May 1969. They received German Patent DE1927155A1, "Braking device for a rope, especially for mountaineers," in late November the following year. Salewa started producing Sticht plates around this time. Günther Gabriel's GAB factory in Germany made these Sticht Plates for Salewa. GAB later made Sticht plates under their own label, GAB.

The Sticht Plate soon acquired considerable popularity in the climbing community. Apparently not considered in the U.I.A.A. Committee on Belaying Methods Bulletin 50 (June 1972)[1], their June 1974 report[2] included the Sticht Plate. I'll not summarize their conclusions, as the state of the art has evolved somewhat since those days.

Sticht Plates came in several variations. Some had one slot, some had two. Some slots were sized for 9 mm. rope, some for 11 mm. Early plates came in several shapes, but Salewa soon settled on a fairly standard arrangement of a 66 mm. diameter, 10 mm. thick aluminum plate. In 1973, Salewa introduced improved versions incorporating a spring that helps the plate release under load. With the former "clean climbing" ethic giving rise to climbers carrying many slung chocks, the springs' tremendous capacity for entanglement proved disadvantageous.

Many companies copied and offered variations of Salewa's Sticht. Although Sitcht Plates are still readily available, they are no longer as common as they once were. When Black Diamond introduced the Air Traffic Controller, the days of the Sticht Plate were numbered, at least over here. Weighing next to nothing (but, despite what one of my friends said, still weighing more than a pop tab from a can of Miller), the ATC soon pushed the Sticht plate out of favor among the masses.

Although I have quite a few variations of the Sticht Plate, I do not have the three variations illustrated on the instructions that came with the first Salewa plate that I acquired. I would greatly appreciate any assistance in acquiring these for this museum.

[1] I do not have this report, but am drawing my tentative conclusion from Walt Fricke, August 1973. "The report of the U.I.A.A. Belaying Methods Committee." Off Belay, #10, pp. 2-5.

[2] Again, I do not have this report. I am drawing my tentative conclusion from Jurgen Meyer-Arendt, October 1974. "Report of the U.I.A.A. Belaying Methods Committee." Off Belay, #17, pp. 15-19.