Thomas Huber, the Fabio of climbing, and I have been pen-pals for years. I came into contact with him when I was writing a profile of John Middendorf years ago. Tom had worked with John testing his portaledge in parts of the world that sane folks would not dare to tread.
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I found Tom to be a kind and spirited person. He speaks nothing but praise for others and is totally psyched with climbing, his family, the mountains, and rock. Not just the rock you and I love, but ROCK MUSIC. The guy is a groover, heading his own band between expeditions. His newly released biography, FREIHEIT breaks this Rock God wide open and what you find inside, well, this review will give you a tickle but the read itself, whoa. It’s a climbing ballad and Tom is the bard. 

Even before I had read it, I knew, from my relationship with Thomas, that his book would be appreciated by the English-speaking world. His time in the anti-establishment Yosemite crew (The Stone Monkey’s) and his ascents (often with his brother, Alex) has endeared him to many and I knew his story would be one that many Stateside, and globally, would appreciate.​

I suggested as much to Tom and set him up with Di Angelo Publications in LA. With them he could have his biography translated and they would work with him personally so as nothing was lost in the translation. As they say, the rest is history. FREIHEIT is excellently translated from Thomas’s native German and is now ready for the English-speaking world. 

In FREIHEIT, Thomas Huber tells his life story, and it is like a speed train that is close to derailing. Each page kept me thinking, how does this dude keep his engine coaled up and his carriages buckled in, while proceeding with furious velocity up that mountain track he so often finds himself on? Thomas has swung ten lifetimes of ice axes, unfurled that BASE canopy, survived more rock fall, seen more tragedy, burned up more frequent flyers, and danced with transcendence, more than most intrepid folks do in one lifetime.  AND HE LIVES AMONGST US, STILL.

Thomas Huber really has had an adventurous life. Indeed, he has committed himself to just that. You don’t find revelation in the centre of anywhere, you gotta go to the edge. As boys, he and his brother Alex were taught this by living in the Bavarian Mountains and having parents that taught them the freedom of the hills. The stories in FREIHEIT that Thomas tells of his and his brother’s childhood and adolescence reads like a Boys Own Adventure Book.

Their hunger for climbing grew as their parents let their leash go bit by bit, but each of those bits were significant ascents of crags in Germany and the wider Alps of Europe. Indeed, their backyard was one hell of a playground for the Huber Brothers. As a reader you will feel that youthful psyche and the want for Thomas and Alex to prove themselves amongst the alpine community. This is a fraternity that Thomas has deep respect for, as he does with the traditions of his people in the mountain villages.  

Even now, some can’t see Thomas (the older bro) and Alex (the younger bro) as separate. Indeed, for their formative years and into their rock god days of the 1990’s and beyond, they were almost always referred to as the HuberBuam (translates as Huber Boom). The siblings were tied by rope and conquered the mountains together. This relationship is examined by Thomas, and you can see its ebbs and flows as they grow into men, become professional climbers, and follow their own mountain paths as they proceed.

Today, at this stage of life, having a lifetime of climbing behind them, Thomas is able to reflect on their many successes and disagreements. You will read of their paring as climbing partners and their move into independence to follow their own goals but in the end, they come back together. Family, eh? They can be as nuts but also cherry. Give it enough time and you can make a cake out of that. Today the Huber Brothers have their cake and eat it together.

​HuberBuam aside, this is Thomas’s story. He tells of his feelings of growing up, of finding his way, of the people that influenced him, and of the experiences he has had. Having survived successful and sometimes calamitous ascents of Shivling, Latok, and The Orge, he talks about these experiences in ways we can understand and find empathy and awe in. ​

Dani Arnold on the last pitch on the Cerro Torre Westface (Patagonia). Thomas Huber took the photo, he said, "I had the best place to watch his adventure!" Winter 2013. (Photo Credit: Thomas Huber)

He salutes adventure in Antarctica, Patagonia, and of course Yosemite. It is in Yosemite that he really finds his karma, his people. Here he and Alex freed big walls and in October 2007, smashed the speed record on the Nose (2:48:30). They were on fire. Four days later they returned and did it again more than three minutes faster (2:45:45)!  Thomas tells this story like a kid kicking his first goal in footy and the reader will feel Thomas frothing over the excitement he and Alex felt.  You know? I reckon, Thomas still feels it.   

​Yosemite connected him with a crew of climbers that redefined big wall climbing, one being, Dean Potter. Thomas was in awe of his free spirit and daring-do. Dean introduced him to BASE Jumping and mentored him and his brother on speed techniques. In a way, Dean taught Thomas, how to fly. When Dean came crashing down so did many of his friends in the mourning of their brother. Throughout the book you see climbing hero’s rise and fall, all of them connected to Thomas’s life and all of them having an impact. The grieving process of Thomas was sad to read but beautiful in its sacrament. He almost always falls back to the mountains to find his spirit and connect with others who have passed. The reading also examines the weight of loss and of letting go.  ​

Thomas Huber on Bavarian Diretissima. In his words, "it was mostly very technical climbing up to 8a+" (Photo Credit: Timeline Production, 2012)

The relationship with Alex and his parents is documented kindly, but his relationship with his wife and children are respected in the writing. Saying this, he does not give too much away. The part where his little girl puts a pebble in his pocket before he embarks on an expedition is moving. She asks her dad to stay safe and come home and shares that the rock in his pocket is to remind him to do so. There is much love and a lot of give in the Huber family, it’s how they are forged I suppose.  As the read progresses you will see how in time Thomas jettisons some of the Raaaa and accepts more of the Mmmmm.

My review has not forensically covered the many sends and ascents Thomas has spent a lifetime on, or the people he has shared a rope with. That’s your job as a reader to discover through this book. I will say this. Thomas Huber is a stand-alone, dude. He is a proven Rock God with a swanky climbing resume, but the best part of Thomas - he is one of us. Thomas Huber is the sort of guy you would share a rope or a beer with and end up together, singing in the street. Even better, at the base of the mountain when the struggle is over and the rope is coiled, he’s that type of climber you’ll call, Brother.     
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Read FREIHEIT. You’ll get much from its pages but most of all, Thomas Huber, in the telling of his story, will refresh your spirit. BOOM!