Thomas Huber (born 18 November 1966 in

Palling Palling is a municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and t ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

) is a German climber and

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

. He lives in

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...

with his family. His brother and climbing partner is

Alexander Huber Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968), is a German rock climber and mountaineer. He became a professional climber in 1997, and was widely regarded as the world's strongest climber in the late-1990s, and is an important figure in rock climbin ...

and the two are called "Huberbuam" (Huberboys) in the Bavarian dialect. They were the subject of the 2007 film ''To the Limit''.

Early life and education

Thomas Huber was born November 18, 1966, in

as the first child of Thomas and Maria Huber.Our Milestones
Thomas and Alexander Huber. retrieved 20 Nov 2017 His father was a climber known for early speed ascents of now classic climbs. He took him and his brother

, into the mountains. He has been climbing since he was 10 years old. In early April 1980, at 13 years of age, his father took them to climb their first 4000m peak, the

Allalinhorn The Allalinhorn () is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It lies between Zermatt and Saas-Fee in the canton of Valais, and is part of the Mischabel range, which culminates at the Dom (4,545 m). It was first climbed by London barri ...

. In 1982, he climbed the Rebitsch Crack 5.10/A0 on the Fleischbankpfeiler in the

Wilder Kaiser The Kaiser Mountains (german: Kaisergebirge, meaning ''Emperor Mountains'') are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps. Its main ridges – are the Zahmer Kaiser and south of it the Wilder Kaiser. The mountains are s ...

with the youth climbing team. In 1983, he and his brother spent their first climbing vacation without their father. They started at the little village of

Ellmau Ellmau is a municipality in the district of Kufstein in the Austrian region of Sölllandl. It lies 12 km southeast of Kufstein and 9 km west of Sankt Johann in Tirol. It is located at an elevation of 820 m above sea level. It was mentio ...

, and spent a week at the Gaudeamushütte in the Wilder Kaiser to pursue routes on the east face of Karlspitze or the Bauernpredigtstuhl. Towards the end of the holidays, they went for their first ascent, starting out at the

Reiter Alpe The Reiter Alpe (also ''Reiter Alm'' or ''Reither Steinberge'') is a mountain range of the Berchtesgaden Alps, named after the village Reit. it is located on the German–Austrian border in Bavaria, Germany, and Salzburg, Austria. Geography Major ...

for the

Wagendrischelhorn Wagendrischelhorn is a mountain of Bavaria, Germany. At 2251 metres in height, it is the third highest peak of the Reiter Alpe in the Berchtesgaden Alps after the Stadelhorn and the Großes Häuselhorn. The Wagendrischelhorn stands in the middle ...

south face. Their route was named Rauhnachtstanz, 5.10.

Career

Since 1992 Huber has been a state-certified mountain and skiing guide. He is most famous for climbing big walls in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. The 2007 documentary ''To the Limit'' shows him and his brother

speed climbing Speed climbing is a climbing discipline in which speed is the ultimate goal. Speed climbing is done on rocks, walls and poles and is only recommended for highly skilled and experienced climbers. Competition speed climbing, which takes place on a ...

. In July 2016, Huber had a sixteen-meter free fall while being filmed at a wall on the Brendlberg in the vicinity of Berchtesgaden and suffered a skull fracture; In August 2016 he was able to go on the next expedition.

Personal life

Huber lives in

with his wife and three children. In 2011, he was diagnosed with a kidney tumor, which was removed and turned out to be benign. For 2 months afterwards he felt weakened.

Notable achievements

*1994 First

redpoint Redpoint ( gd, An Rubha Dearg) is a small settlement in the north west of Highland, Scotland. It takes its name from Red Point, a low promontory to the south, which marks a turn in the coastline from facing west to south east as it becomes Loc ...

ascent of "The end of Silence" (5.13d/X+/8b+), one of the hardest

multi-pitch climbing Multi-pitch climbing is the ascent of climbing routes with one or more stops at a belay station. Each section of a climb between stops at belay stations is called a pitch. The leader ascends the pitch, placing gear and stopping to anchor themselves ...

routes in the world at that timeThomas Huber Biography
www.bergfieber.de, n.d. (In German) *1996 Free ascent of the route "Salathé Wall" on

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surroun ...

; Winter solo ascent of the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends a ...

north face *1997 First ascent of the route "Tsering Mosong" (VII+,A3+) on Latok II, 7108m, Pakistan. *1998 First ascent of "El Niño" on El Capitan, and "Free Rider", the first male free ascent of an El Capitan route in one day with

*1999 Second ascent of the south west wall of Latok IV (6445m), Pakistan. *2000 First ascent of the direct north pillar of the

Shivling A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

(6543m) with Iwan Wolf and winner of the

Piolet d'Or An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

*2001 First ascent of

Baintha Brakk __NOTOC__ Baintha Brakk ( ur, بائنتھا براک) or The Ogre is a steep, craggy mountain, high, in the Panmah Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range. It is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.This region is disputed, and is ...

III (6800m), second ascent of

I (7285m), Pakistan. *2003 First free ascent of "Zodiac" (5.13d/X+/8b+) on El Capitan with Alexander Huber *2004 Speed record on El Capitan, "Zodiac", in 1:52h *2007 Speed record on El Capitan, "The Nose", in 2:45,45h *2008 First ascent of the west wall of Holtanna in

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addit ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, together with brother Alexander and Stephan SiegristInterview: ''Bei minus 46 Grad in der Wand'', Alexander und Thomas Huber, Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 24 January 2009, p 28. *2008 Ascent of Ulvetanna in

, together with brother Alexander and Stephan Siegrist''Extremklettern – Die „Huberbuam“ in der Antarktis''
Spiegel Online Video, 19 March 2009. *2009 First free ascent with Alexander of ''Eternal Flame'', (5.13a), on Trango ("Nameless") Tower (6,239 m), Pakistan.

Publications

*Alexander Huber and Thomas Huber: The Wall. BLV, 2000, *Thomas Huber: Ogre - Gipfel der Träume, BLV, 2002,

References

External links

*http://www.huberbuam.de * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Thomas 1966 births Living people People from Traunstein (district) Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria German mountain climbers German rock climbers