Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968) is a Germanrock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in thehistory of rock climbing. Huber came to prominence in the early 1990s as the world's strongestsport climber after the passing ofWolfgang Güllich. He is thesecond-ever person toredpoint a9a (5.14d) graded route by ascendingOm in 1992, and has come to be known as thefirst-ever person to redpoint a9a+ (5.15a) graded route from his 1996 ascent ofOpen Air [de].
For a decade following the mid-1990s, Huber, often partnered with his brotherThomas, also came to be regarded as the strongestbig wall free climber of his generation, with groundbreakingfirst ascents inYosemite (El Nino in 1998, andZodiac in 2003), theKarakoram (Latok II in 1997, andEternal Flame in 2009), and in other notable big wall locations around the world. Huber’s 1995 ascent of theSalathé Wall in Yosemite was thefirst-ever redpoint of an8a (5.13b) graded big wall in history. His 2001 ascent ofBellavista [it] in theDolomites was thefirst-ever redpoint of an8c (5.14b) graded big wall in history.
Huber is also known as one of the greatestfree solo climbers for both big wall and sport climbing routes. In 2002, he free soloed thefirst-ever grade7a+ (5.12a) big wall in history, the 580-metreBrandler-Hasse Direttissima in the Dolomites. In 2003, he free soloed thesecond-ever grade8b (5.13d) sport climbing route in history withDer Opportunist in Austria, and in 2004, he became thefirst-ever person in history to free solo an8b+ (5.14a) graded sport route withKommunist, also in Austria.
Huber was born inTrostberg inBavaria, the second of three children. His father Thomas, a climber who had ascended the north face ofLes Droites, and his mother Maria, took the children mountaineering from a young age. By 1986, aged 18, Huber and his brother Thomas had climbedUtopia (VIII+, 7a+) on the Wartsteinwand, and in 1988, they ascendedVom Winde Verweht (X−, 8a+) on Scharnstein in theBerchtesgaden Alps.[1]
By 1992, Huber trained as a fully qualifiedUIAGM 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 theLudwig 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).[1]
Huber came to prominence as asport climber in the early 1990s, at a time whenWolfgang Gullich was considered the world's strongest sport climber. Huber attributes the initial conservative8c+ (5.14c) 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 asOm,Weisse Rose, andLa Rambla.[2] In 2008, whenAdam Ondra made the first repeat of Huber's 1996 routeOpen Air [de] and graded it9a+ (5.15a), that the climbing media began to realize that Huber was probably thefirst-ever person to climb at that grade, several years beforeChris Sharma's groundbreaking ascent ofRealization in 2001.[3][4] Huber felt thatOpen Air was his limit, and he decided to focus onbig wall climbing.[2][5]
From the mid-1990s onwards, Huber (often partnered with Thomas), began to focus almost exclusively onbig wall climbing in which he would become one of the most important big wall free climbers in history.[6][7] In 1995, Huber became the first person tolead all 36-pitches of theSalathé Wall, and thus became thefirst-ever person to redpoint a big wall route at the grade of8a (5.13b).[8][9] 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 inYosemite, includingEl Nino (5.13c A0, 1998),Golden Gate (5.13a, 2000), El Corazon (5.13b, 2001), and Zodiac (5.13d, 2003).[6] Huber's most famous Yosemite route was his easiest, his 1998 ascent ofFreerider (5.12d/5.13a), a route which is only second in popularity toThe Nose.[8][9] The Huber brothers set several Yosemite speed records including aspeed record forThe Nose of 2:45.45, in 2007.[8]
Huber has made some of the most importantfree solo climbing ascents in history.[23][24] In 2002, Huber free soloed at 17-pitches of the 580-metreBrandler-Hasse Direttissima (5.12a) on theCima Grande in the Dolomites, which was thefirst-ever free solo of a7a+ (5.12a) graded big wall route in history.[24][25] In 2003, he free soloed the sport climbing route,Der Opportunist in Austria, which was only thesecond-ever free solo of an8b (5.13d) graded route in history.[26][23][27] In 2004, Huber free soloedKommunist in Austria, which was thefirst-ever free solo of an8b+ (5.14a) graded route in history;[26][23][24] Huber called this solo a "search for my limits".[24][27] Huber said that after his 2008 free solo of the multi-pitch 280-metre routeLocker Vom Hocker7a+ (5.12a), 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".[24][8]
1994 –La Rambla (35-metre version)8c+ (5.14c),Siurana, Spain. first ascent; the route was extended to 40-metres and graded9a+ (5.15a) in 2003; Huber maintains his original route was the same difficulty.[2]
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 theNorth America Wall.[9] In 2019,Sonnie Trotter avoided the down-abseil to create thePineapple Express.[29][30]
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 byAlex Honnold 2017.[8]
2000 –Golden Gate (5.13a, VI, 41-pitches),El Capitan, first free ascent; a combination of theSalathé Wall andHeart Route.[31][32]
2001 –Bellavista [it]8c (5.14b) (10-pitches, 500-metres), on theCima Ovest,Dolomites, Italy, first free ascent through the huge roof;first-ever big wall route at 8c;[10] Huber later discovered subsequent climbers had "treated" some holds to soften grade.[33]
2001 –El Corazon (5.13b, 35-pitches),El Capitan, first free ascent; combination ofSalathé Wall,Albatross,Son of Heart andHeart Route.[34]
2003 –Free Zodiac (5.13d, VI, 16-pitches),El Capitan, first free ascent of the overhanging 1972 aid route;[35] with the famous "Nipple pitch".[36]
2004 –Zodiac (5.8, A2+, 16-pitches),El Capitan, speed record on the 1972aid climbing version ofZodiac in 1:51:34 (fastest route on El Capitan).[37]
Alexander and Thomas on the summit ofMount Asgard, 2012
Huber took part in several expeditions tofamous big wall climbing locations including the high-altitude walls ofTrango Tower, the stormy towers ofPatagonia, and the extreme-cold ofUlvetanna in Antarctica; climbing usually with his brother Thomas, but also often part of a larger climbing team in analpine style approach:[7]
1997 –Tsering Mosong (VII 5.10c A3, 26-pitches), on the 1,000-metre west face ofLatok II,Karakoram (starts at 6,100-metres), first ascent withThomas Huber,Conrad Anker and Toni Gutsch.[14]
1998 –Tichy Route, northwest ridge ofCho Oyu (8,188-metres),Himalaya,Nepal, Huber climbed theeight thousander by the "standard route" to understand effects of extreme altitude.[2][43]
2002 – InPatagonia, ascends:Cerro Torre (viaCompressor Route, V A1),Fitz Roy (viaFranco-Argentina, VII), and later Cerro Standhardt (viaExocet, 6b, winter ascent); in 2008,Torre Egger.
2006 –Golden Eagle (5.11, V, A1, 800-metres), southwest face Aguja Desmochada,Fitzroy, first ascent.[15][16]
2008 –El Bastardo (5.11, V, A1, 500-metres), south face Aguja de la Silla,Fitzroy,Patagonia, first ascent.[17]
2008 –Eiszeit (VII+, A4, 24-pitches, 750-metres), west face, andSkywalk (VII−, 10-pitches, 450-metres), north pillar ofHoltanna, both first ascents, inAntarctica.[18][19]
2008 –Sound of Silence (VIII-, 5.11a, A2, 20-pitches, 800-metres) on the west pillar ofUlvetanna, inAntarctica, first ascent.[18][19]
2004 –Kommunist8b+ (5.14a) (22-metres), Tyrol, Austria; thefirst-ever free solo of an8b+ (5.14a) graded route;[26] Huber found his "limit".[23][27][24]
2004 –Mescalito8a (5.13b) (20-metres), Karlstein, Drugwall, Germany, first free solo of route; Huber found it his scariest solo (starts at 50m).[24]
Carrel, François (2017).Alexander und Thomas Huber: zwei Brüder, eine Seilschaft (two brothers, one rope team) (German ed.). Malik Verlag.ISBN978-3-89029-483-4.
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