Thomas Huber

Last updated

Thomas Huber
Thomas Huber01.jpg
Personal information
Born (1966-11-18) 18 November 1966 (age 57)
Palling, Bavaria, West Germany
Relative Alexander Huber (brother)
Website www.huberbuam.de
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known for
Updated on 15 December 2022

Thomas Huber (born 18 November 1966) is a German rock climber (and especially big wall climbing) and mountaineer (and especially alpine climbing). He lives in Berchtesgaden with his family. His brother and regular climbing partner is Alexander Huber, and the two are called "Huberbuam" (Huberboys) in the Bavarian dialect; [1] they were the subject of the 2007 film To the Limit. In 2001, Huber won the 10th Piolet d'Or award with Iwan Wolf for their ascent of the direct north pillar of Shivling.

Contents

Early life and education

Thomas Huber was born 18 November 1966, in Palling, Bavaria as the first child of Thomas and Maria Huber. [2]

His father was a climber known for early speed ascents of now classic climbs.[ citation needed ] He took him and his brother Alexander Huber, 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. [2] In 1982, he climbed the Rebitsch Crack 5.10/A0 on the Fleischbankpfeiler in the Wilder Kaiser with the youth climbing team. [2]

In 1983, he and his brother spent their first climbing vacation without their father. [2] They started at the little village of Ellmau, and spent a week at the Gaudeamushütte in the Wilder Kaiser to pursue routes on the east face of Karlspitze or the Bauernpredigtstuhl. [2] Towards the end of the holidays, they went for their first ascent, starting out at the Reiter Alpe for the Wagendrischelhorn south face. Their route was named Rauhnachtstanz, 5.10. [2]

Career

Since 1992 Huber has been a state-certified mountain and skiing guide. He is most famous for climbing big walls in the Himalaya. [3]

In 1997, Huber, his brother Alexander, Toni Gutsch, and Conrad Anker went to climb Pakistan's Latok II, in his first trip to the Karakoram. At the time, Huber felt he was still inexperienced, but credits his strong team and good weather for the successful ascent, which encouraged him to become a professional mountaineer. [1]

On 31 May 2000, Huber and Swiss climber Iwan Wolf climbed Shiva's Line, a 1500m route of the North Pillar of Shivling, considered one of the most challenging routes in the Himalayas, with an overhang graded at A4/VII. For the accomplishment, the pair were awarded the 2001 Piolet d'Or. [4]

The 2007 documentary To the Limit shows him and his brother speed climbing. [5] [6]

In 2014, Huber and his brother committed to climbing Latok I's north face, one of the last unclimbed problems in the Himalayas. [7] He would commit the next decade to climbing Latok over the course of several expeditions. The next year he returned for another unsuccessful attempt, where he and his brother were nearly scraped from the mountain by an avalanche. Huber described the experience as follows: “It is clear to me that the north face of Latok I is so incalculably dangerous that I feel no more motivation to tackle it. I’m looking for other difficult goals without this incalculable risk.” [8]

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. [9]

In August 2016 he recovered enough to go on the next expedition, once again to Latok I. [10] [11] The attempt was unsuccessful. In 2019, he once again attempted the north face of Latok I, but was unsuccessful, [12] but returned for another attempt in 2024. [13]

Personal life

Huber lives in Berchtesgaden 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 two months afterwards he felt weakened. [14]

Notable achievements

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Huber</span> German rock climber

Alexander Huber 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 9a (5.14d) graded route by ascending Om in 1992, and has come to be known as the first-ever person to redpoint a 9a+ (5.15a) graded route from his 1996 ascent of Open Air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasherbrum IV</span> Mountain in Pakistan

Gasherbrum IV, surveyed as K3, is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan, as well as the highest independent mountain under eight thousand meters in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trango Towers</span> Granite spires in mountains in Pakistan

The Trango Towers are a family of rock towers situated in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, in the northern part of Pakistan. The Towers have some of the world's largest cliffs and offer some of the most challenging big wall climbing opportunities. Each year, climbers from around the world embark on expeditions to the Karakoram region to climb these granite faces. The Trango Towers are situated to the north of the Baltoro Glacier and are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, which is a sub-range within the Karakoram mountain range. The highest point within the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower at 6,286 m (20,623 ft), the east face of which features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Scott</span> English mountaineer and author (1941–2020)

Douglas Keith Scott was an English mountaineer and climbing author, noted for being on the team that made the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest honours, the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award, his personal style and his climbs were described as "visionary".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piolets d'Or</span> International mountaineering award

The Piolets d'Or is an annual mountaineering and alpine climbing award organized by the Groupe de Haute Montagne (GHM), and previously with co-founder Montagnes Magazine, since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual winners at a weekend awards festival based on their achievements in the previous year. It is considered mountaineering's highest honor and is referred to as the "Oscars of mountaineering".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latok group</span> Mountain group in the Karakoram range

The Latok group is a cluster of large and dramatic rock peaks in the Panmah Muztagh, part of the central Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan. They lie just to the east of the Ogre group, dominated by Baintha Brakk. To the immediate south of the Latok group lies the Baintha Lukpar Glacier, a small tributary of the Biafo Glacier, one of the main glaciers of the Karakoram. On the north side, lies the Choktoi Glacier.

Wojciech Kurtyka is a Polish mountaineer and rock climber, one of the pioneers of the alpine style of climbing the biggest walls in the Greater Ranges. He lived in Wrocław up to 1974 when he moved to Kraków. He graduated as engineer in electronics. In 1985 he climbed the "Shining Wall," the west face of Gasherbrum IV, which Climbing magazine declared to be the greatest achievement of mountaineering in the twentieth century. In 2016, he received the Piolet d'Or for lifetime achievement in mountaineering.

Michael Fowler is a British rock climber, ice climber, mountaineer and climbing author. He is internationally noted for his alpine climbing and was awarded the Piolet d'Or three times, with Paul Ramsden, in 2003, 2013, and 2016, for alpine-style first ascents of faces in the Himalayas. Fowler was one of the first British rock climbers to free an E6-graded traditional rock climbing route, and the first ice climber to free a consensus grade VI mixed Scottish winter route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big wall climbing</span> Type of rock climbing

Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long multi-pitch routes that normally require a full day, if not several days, to ascend. In addition, big wall routes are typically sustained and exposed, where the climbers remain suspended from the rock face, even sleeping hanging from the face, with limited options to sit down or escape unless they abseil back down the whole route, which is a complex and risky action. It is therefore a physically and mentally demanding form of climbing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Destivelle</span> French rock climber and mountaineer

Catherine Destivelle is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important female climbers in the history of the sport. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s for sport climbing by winning the first major female climbing competitions, and by being the first female to redpoint a 7c+/8a sport climbing route with Fleur de Rocaille in 1985, and an 8a+ (5.13c) route with Choucas in 1988. During this period, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world along with Lynn Hill, however, in 1990 she retired to focus on alpine climbing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Honnold</span> American rock climber (born 1985)

Alex Honnold is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a climb described in The New York Times as "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever". Honnold also holds the record for the fastest ascent of the "Yosemite Triple Crown", an 18-hour, 50-minute link-up of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome. In 2015, he won a Piolet d'Or in alpine climbing with Tommy Caldwell for their completion of the enchainment of the Cerro Chaltén Group in Patagonia over 5 days.

Kazuya Hiraide from Fujimi, Nagano Prefecture, is a Japanese ski mountaineer, Alpine climber, and professional mountain cameraman. Hiraide has won the Piolet d'Or mountaineering award on three occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpine climbing</span> Type of mountaineering

Alpine climbing is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes in an alpine environment. While alpine climbing began in the European Alps, it is used to refer to climbing in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and in Patagonia. The derived term alpine style refers to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small lightly-equipped teams who carry their own equipment, and do all of the climbing.

Hayden Kennedy was an American rock climber and mountaineer who made difficult ascents in North America, Patagonia and in the Himalaya. He died by suicide in 2017 after the sudden death of his partner. He was the son of renowned writer and mountaineer Michael Kennedy and he won the Piolet d'Or for his ascent of The Ogre in 2013, and for Light Before Wisdom in 2016.

Aleš Česen is a Slovenian climber, mountaineer, mountain guide and entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marek Holeček</span> Czech mountain climber

Marek Holeček is a Czech mountaineer, explorer, author and documentary filmmaker. Holeček has received the 2018 Piolet d'Or award for his successful full ascent on the southwest face of Gasherbrum I with Zdeněk Hák, which he achieved in Alpine style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Lowe (climber)</span> American rock climber and alpinist

George Henry Lowe III is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for his alpine style ascents of difficult and infrequently repeated routes, and his development of traditional climbing routes in the Western United States. He pioneered winter ascents in the North American Rockies along with cousins Jeff Lowe (climber), Mike Lowe, and Greg Lowe. He is also known for his technically difficult ascents of mixed climbing faces in the Himalayas including the North Ridge of Latok I and the first ascent of the East Face of Mount Everest, where the "Lowe Buttress" bears his name. Lowe is currently a resident of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hansjörg Auer</span> Austrian mountaineer (1984–2019)

Hansjörg Auer was an Austrian mountaineer, noted for his free solo climbs, and particularly of Fish Route in the Italian Dolomites, the first-ever big wall solo at 5.12c (7b+). National Geographic described him as "one of the boldest and best climbers in the world", and he won the 2019 Piolet d'Or for this free solo ascent of the Lupghar Sar West. He died in an avalanche while climbing on Howse Peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Richard Frank "Rick" Allen was a Scottish mountaineer. Allen summitted six eight-thousanders and was the first British climber atop some of Tajikistan's biggest mountains. He had over 40 years experience climbing in the Himalayas at the time of his death.

References

  1. 1 2 "ThomasHuber - In Another World - A Personal Climbing Journey". COMMON CLIMBER. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Our Milestones Thomas and Alexander Huber. retrieved 20 November 2017
  3. "Thomas Huber". Mammut/Gore-Tex European Outdoor Film Tour. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  4. "Piolet d'Or awarded to Thomas Huber and Iwan Wolf". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  5. "Thomas Huber Filmography". Fandango. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  6. Keogh, Tom (22 August 2008). ""To the Limit": Extreme climbing — and sibling rivalry". The Seattle Times.
  7. Nestler, Stephen (2 April 2014). "Huber brothers try to climb Latok I North Face". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  8. Magazine, Gripped (13 November 2015). "The Huber Brothers and Their Latok 1 Dreams". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  9. "Thomas Huber: "Danke, dass ich leben darf!" – Interview". Abenteuer Sport. DW.com. 19 July 2016.
  10. "Thomas Huber: "Ich fahre mit lachendem Herzen"". Abenteuer Sport. DW.com. 13 August 2016.
  11. "Thomas Huber: a ground fall, Latok I and the gratitude for being alive". PlanetMountain.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  12. Routen, Ash (21 June 2019). ""Goodbye, Life": Huber Returns to Latok's Legendary North Ridge » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  13. Benavides, Angela (17 July 2024). "Thomas Huber Back to Latok I » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  14. So gewann ich den Kampf gegen den Nierentumor, tz, 21 July 2011, retrieved 20 November 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Thomas Huber Biography www.bergfieber.de, n.d. (In German)
  16. 1 2 "Endstation Eiszeit". huberbuam.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013.
  17. 1 2 Interview: Bei minus 46 Grad in der Wand, Alexander und Thomas Huber, Ostfriesische Nachrichten, 24 January 2009, p 28.
  18. Extremklettern – Die „Huberbuam“ in der Antarktis Spiegel Online Video, 19 March 2009.