Alex Huber

Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968) is a German rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of rock climbing. Huber came to prominence in the early 1990s as the world's strongest sport climber after the passing of Wolfgang Güllich. He is the second-ever person to redpoint a graded route by ascending ''Om'' in 1992, and has come to be known as the first-ever person to redpoint a graded route from his 1996 ascent of '.

For a decade following the mid-1990s, Huber, often partnered with his brother Thomas, also came to be regarded as the strongest big wall free climber of his generation, with groundbreaking first ascents in Yosemite (''El Nino'' in 1998, and ''Zodiac'' in 2003), the Karakoram ( Latok II in 1997, and ''Eternal Flame'' in 2009), and in other notable big wall locations around the world. Huber’s 1995 ascent of the ''Salathé Wall'' in Yosemite was the first-ever redpoint of an graded big wall in history. His 2001 ascent of ' in the Dolomites was the first-ever redpoint of an graded big wall in history.

Huber is also known as one of the greatest free solo climbers for both big wall and sport climbing routes. In 2002, he free soloed the first-ever grade big wall in history, the 580-metre ''Brandler-Hasse Direttissima'' in the Dolomites. In 2003, he free soloed the second-ever grade sport climbing route in history with ''Der Opportunist'' in Austria, and in 2004, he became the first-ever person in history to free solo an graded sport route with ''Kommunist'', also in Austria.

Early life and education

Huber was born in Trostberg in Bavaria, the second of three children. His father Thomas, a climber who had ascended the north face of Les Droites, and his mother Maria, took the children mountaineering from a young age. By 1986, aged 18, Huber and his brother Thomas climb ''Utopia'' (VIII+, 7a+) on the Wartsteinwand, and in 1988, they ascend ''Vom Winde Verweht'' (X−, 8a+) on Scharnstein in the Berchtesgaden Alps.

By 1992, Huber trained as a fully qualified UIAGM mountain guide. In 1997, Huber graduated with a Master's in Physics and received a post-graduate position as an assistant at the Institute for Theoretical Meteorology in the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. In 1998, Huber decided to become a full-time professional climber, one year after Thomas; the pair are known as the "Huberbuam" (Huberboys).

Climbing career

Sport climbing

Huber came to prominence as a sport climber in the early 1990s, at a time when Wolfgang Gullich was considered the world's strongest sport climber. Huber attributes the initial conservative grading of Gullich's famous 1991 route, '' Action Directe'', which persisted for many years until it was eventually shown to be a "hard 9a", for suppressing the grades of Huber's own routes such as ''Om'', ''Weisse Rose'', and '' La Rambla''. In 2008, when Adam Ondra made the first repeat of Huber's 1996 route ' and graded it , that the climbing media began to realize that Huber was probably the first-ever person to climb at that grade, several years before Chris Sharma's groundbreaking ascent of '' Realization'' in 2001. Huber felt that ''Open Air'' was his limit, and he decided to focus on big wall climbing.

Big wall climbing

From the mid-1990s onwards, Huber (often partnered with Thomas), began to focus almost exclusively on big wall climbing in which he would become one of the most important big wall free climbers in history. In 1995, Huber became the first person to lead all 36-pitches of the ''Salathé Wall'', and thus became the first-ever person to redpoint a big wall route at the grade of . Over the following decade, Huber made the first free ascent (or partial free ascent with minor aid), some of the most iconic big wall routes in Yosemite, including ''El Nino'' (5.13c A0, 1998), ''Golden Gate'' (5.13a, 2000), '' El Corazon'' (5.13b, 2001), and '' Zodiac'' (5.13d, 2003). Huber's most famous Yosemite route was his easiest, his 1998 ascent of '' Freerider'' (5.12d/5.13a), a route which is only second in popularity to '' The Nose''. The Huber brothers set several Yosemite speed records including a speed record for ''The Nose'' of 2:45.45, in 2007.

In 2001, Huber made the first free ascent of ' through the huge roofs of the north face of Cima Ovest in the Dolomites (the birthplace of big wall climbing), which was the world's first-ever big wall route at the grade . In 2005, Huber freed the famous ', the hardest big wall route in the French Alps at the time at , and in 2007, he returned to the Cima Ovest to free the route ', also at . During this period, Huber also made important big wall ascents in the Karakoram (''Tsering Mosong'' on Latok II, 1997), in Patagonia (''Golden Eagle'' in 2006 and ''El Bastardo'' in 2008, on Fitz Roy (''Sound of Silence'' on Ulvetanna Peak, 2008), and on Baffin Island (''Bavarian Direct'' on Mount Asgard, 2012). In 2009, Huber and his brother Thomas freed the famous high-altitude big wall route, ''Eternal Flame'' (5.13a), on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan.

Free solo climbing

Huber has made some of the most important free solo climbing ascents in history. In 2002, Huber free soloed at 17-pitches of the 580-metre ''Brandler-Hasse Direttissima'' (5.12a) on the Cima Grande in the Dolomites, which was the first-ever free solo of a graded big wall route in history. In 2003, he free soloed the sport climbing route, ''Der Opportunist'' in Austria, which was only the second-ever free solo of an graded route in history. In 2004, Huber free soloed ''Kommunist'' in Austria, which was the first-ever free solo of an graded route in history; Huber called this solo a "search for my limits". Huber said that after his 2008 free solo of the multi-pitch 280-metre route ''Locker Vom Hocker'' , he largely stopped doing free solo climbs at very extreme grades saying: "You mustn't forget that free soloing is very, very risky indeed. Even for the best climbers who seemingly have everything under control".

Notable climbs

Sport climbing

Huber was considered one of the world's best sport climbers.

* 1991 – ''Shogun'' , Karlstien, Bavaria, first ascent, and Huber's first grade .
* 1992 – ''Om'' , Triangel, Bavaria, first ascent, and second-ever in history.
* 1994 – ''Weisse Rose'' , Schleierwasserfall, Austria, first ascent.
* 1994 – '' La Rambla'' (35-metre version) , Siurana, Spain. first ascent; the route was extended to 40-metres and graded in 2003; Huber maintains his original route was the same difficulty.
* 1996 – ' , Schleierwasserfall, Austria, first ascent; in 2008, Adam Ondra made the first repeat and proposed , making ''Open Air'' the first 9a+ in history (several years before Chris Sharma's '' Realization'').

Big wall climbing

For a period in the late 1990s, Huber dominated big wall free climbing in Yosemite Valley, as well as in the Alps:

* 1995 – ''Salathé Wall'' (5.13b, VI, 36-pitches), El Capitan, Yosemite, first-ever redpoint at the grade (Skinner and Piana co-led the FFA in 1988).
* 1998 – ''El Nino'' (5.13c, VI, A0, 30-pitches), El Capitan, first (almost free) ascent bar a down-abseil on pitch-13 (A0); was the third route to be freed on El Capitan and the first on the ''North America Wall''. In 2019, Sonnie Trotter avoided the down-abseil to create the ''Pineapple Express''.
* 1998 – '' Freerider'' (5.12d/5,13a, VI, 30-pitches), El Capitan, first free ascent, and in 15:25 was the first El Capitan route inside 24 hrs. Huber discovered it on the Salathe; it became a classic that Huber called the "Astroman of the new millennium"; free soloed by Alex Honnold 2017.
* 2000 – ''Golden Gate'' (5.13a, VI, 41-pitches), El Capitan, first free ascent; a combination of the ''Salathé Wall'' and ''Heart Route''.
* 2001 – ' (10-pitches, 500-metres), on the Cima Ovest, Dolomites, Italy, first free ascent through the huge roof; first-ever big wall route at 8c; Huber later discovered subsequent climbers had "treated" some holds to soften grade.
* 2001 – ''El Corazon'' (5.13b, 35-pitches), El Capitan, first free ascent; combination of ''Salathé Wall'', ''Albatross'', ''Son of Heart'' and ''Heart Route''.
* 2003 – ''Free Zodiac'' (5.13d, VI, 16-pitches), El Capitan, first free ascent of the overhanging 1972 aid route; with the famous "Nipple pitch".
* 2004 – ''Zodiac'' (5.8, A2+, 16-pitches), El Capitan, speed record on the 1972 aid climbing version of ''Zodiac'' in 1:51:34 (fastest route on El Capitan).
* 2005 – ' (16-pitches, 450-metres), on Grand Capucin, Mont Blanc, first free ascent of famous 1997 route.
* 2007 – ' (9-pitches, 450-metres), the Cima Ovest, first free ascent; starts per ''Bellavista'' but breaches roof.
* 2007 – '' The Nose'' (5.9, A1), El Capitan, Yosemite, speed record with Thomas Huber on the aid climbing version of ''The Nose'' in 2:45:45.

* 2008 – ''Sansara'' (6-pitch, 200-metres, east face Grubhorn), and ''Feuertaufe'' (7-pitches, 250-metres, south face Sonnwand), FFAs at .
* 2012 – ''Nirwana'' (200-metres), Sonnwendwand, Austria, first free ascent of one of the hardest multi-pitch rock climbs in the world.

High-altitude climbing

Huber took part in several expeditions to famous big wall climbing locations including the high-altitude walls of Trango Tower, the stormy towers of Patagonia, and the extreme-cold of Ulvetanna in Antarctica; climbing usually with his brother Thomas, but also often part of a larger climbing team in an alpine style approach:

* 1997 – ''Tsering Mosong'' (VII 5.10c A3, 26-pitches), on the 1,000-metre west face of Latok II, Karakoram (starts at 6,100-metres), first ascent with Thomas Huber, Conrad Anker and Toni Gutsch.
* 1998 – ''Tichy Route'', northwest ridge of Cho Oyu (8,188-metres), Himalaya, Nepal, Huber climbed the eight thousander by the "standard route" to understand effects of extreme altitude.
* 2002 – In Patagonia, ascends: Cerro Torre (via ''Compressor Route'', V A1), Fitz Roy.
* 2006 – ''Golden Eagle'' (5.11, V, A1, 800-metres), southwest face Aguja Desmochada, Fitzroy, first ascent.
* 2008 – ''El Bastardo'' (5.11, V, A1, 500-metres), south face Aguja de la Silla, Fitzroy, Patagonia, first ascent.
* 2008 – ''Eiszeit'' (VII+, A4, 24-pitches, 750-metres), west face, and ''Skywalk'' (VII−, 10-pitches, 450-metres), north pillar of Holtanna, both first ascents, in Antarctica.
* 2008 – ''Sound of Silence'' (VIII-, 5.11a, A2, 20-pitches, 800-metres) on the west pillar of Ulvetanna, in Antarctica, first ascent.
* 2009 – ''Eternal Flame'' (5.13a, 24-pitches, 650-metres), Nameless Tower, Pakistan, FFA of the historic 1989 Güllich, Albert et. al. route.
* 2012 – ''Bavarian Direct'' (5.13b, 28-pitches, 700-metres), on Mount Asgard, Canada, first free ascent of the 1997 aid climb with Thomas Huber.

Free solo rock climbing

Huber was one of the few climbers to free solo extreme grades in both single-pitch and big wall routes.

* 2002 – ''Brandler-Hasse Direttissima'' (5.12a, 17-pitches, 580-metres) of Cima Grande, Dolomites; the first-ever big wall solo at grade .
* 2003 – ''Der Opportunist'' (18-metres), Schleierfall, Austria; the second-ever free solo of an graded route.
* 2004 – ''Kommunist'' (22-metres), Tyrol, Austria; the first-ever free solo of an graded route; Huber found his "limit".
* 2004 – ''Mescalito'' (20-metres), Karlstein, Drugwall, Germany, first free solo of route; Huber found it his scariest solo (starts at 50m).
* 2006 – South Face of Dent du Géant (200-metres), Mont Blanc; first free solo of the route.
* 2008 – ''Swiss Route'' (up and down) on Grand Capucin (400-metres), Mont Blanc; first free solo, which Huber also downclimbed.
* 2008 – ''Locker Vom Hocker'' (8-pitches, 280-metres), Schüsselkarspitze, Germany; Huber's last extreme-level free solo.
* 2009 – ''Tour Muriciana'' (8-pitches, 285-metres), on Mallo Pison, Mallos de Riglos, Spain; first free solo of the route.

Bibliography

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Filmography

* Speed climbing ''The Nose'':

See also

*List of grade milestones in rock climbing
*History of rock climbing
*Barbara Zangerl, Austrian female big wall climber

References

Further reading

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External links

Official WebsiteVIDEO: Alexander Huber free solo of Kommunist (2004)
Bergsteigen (2007)
VIDEO: Alexander Huber free solo of Brandler-Hasse Direttissima (2002)
''Gripped Magazine'' (2021)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Alexander
1968 births
Living people
People from Traunstein (district)
Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria
German rock climbers
German mountain climbers
Free soloists
German male non-fiction writers
21st-century German non-fiction writers
Mountain guides
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Climbing and mountaineering writers