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Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968) is a German rock climbing 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 Huber, also came to be regarded as the strongest big wall free climber of his generation, with groundbreaking in Yosemite ( El Nino in 1998, and Zodiac in 2003), the Karakoram (Latok 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.
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).
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), in Antarctica ( 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 Trango Tower in Pakistan.
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 climbing 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.
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 climbing.
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:
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 Peak in Antarctica; climbing usually with his brother Thomas, but also often part of a larger climbing team in an alpine style approach:
Free solo rock climbing
Huber was one of the few climbers to free solo extreme grades in both single-pitch and big wall routes.
Bibliography
(2025). 9780715311783, David & Charles. ISBN 9780715311783
(2025). 9783763375110, Bergverlag Rother. ISBN 9783763375110
(2025). 9783763375134, Bergverlag Rother. ISBN 9783763375134
(2025). 9783835405943, Bergverlag Rother. ISBN 9783835405943
(2025). 9783894057756, Frederking & Thaler. ISBN 9783894057756
(2025). 9783939499114, Berg & Tal. ISBN 9783939499114
Filmography
See also
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1968 Births, Living People, People From Traunstein, 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
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