About himself and his life at dizzying heights:
Alexander Huber, you are one of the most famous extreme mountaineers and are seen as a wild man with long hair and a seven-day beard. Do you like this image? Alexander Huber: Well, it's a nice compliment. Of course, I have muscles, as an athlete I am in good shape and automatically masculine. However, I earn my living as a mountaineer and speaker. It's not enough to just pull off wild actions in the mountains. One only becomes known when one can also talk about it. Do you have to be self-absorbed to reach the top? Alexander Huber: You definitely need a certain amount of selfishness. If I had listened to my parents at the end of my studies in 1997, I would never have become a professional mountaineer, but would have researched as a physicist in Antarctica, which was my childhood dream. Ultimately, I went through a long education, only to leave everything behind in the end and go my own way. Every successful person needs selfish and narcissistic traits. Mine are certainly more pronounced than others, but I am not a narcissist. Your brother Thomas Huber called you "Caesar" when you were late for an appointment. What about the rivalry between you? Alexander Huber: That was meant to be funny, on that day I just couldn't manage to get the kids to their grandma's earlier. Thomas is my big brother and I am the little one, that has always been the case, but essentially we are both dominant personalities. We have teased and goaded each other. In mountaineering, the older one naturally has the final say. I have to package my opinions well so that even Thomas is happy with them. We have been arguing since we were born, but stick together like glue. You now have a small family. How do you balance that with your sport? Alexander Huber: It is impossible to do competitive sports, study, earn money, and have a family at the same time. Sport demands 100 percent. Probably at 25 I would have been selfish enough to cut back on family, not on sport. But at mid-40s, it's time for children and family. When climbing, I already question whether certain actions are worth the risk. However, it's less about responsibility towards the family, but about aging. The expiration date for an athlete comes so quickly. I have exhausted about 95 percent of my potential as a mountaineer, had unforgettable experiences that I can no longer surpass, so I have to accept that. In 1996, when I was 28 years old and at the absolute top in sport climbing, I already knew that things were slowly going downhill. At my age, I am only active in the long distance. Big walls on big mountains are the goals for the future. In the year 2000, things suddenly went downhill rapidly. How did that happen? Alexander Huber: Everything became too much for me. I had turned my passion into a profession, but had put myself under immense pressure, I needed success because I had invested a lot of money in equipment. And then I stupidly broke two fingers while climbing and couldn't train anymore. An expedition failed, the lectures dried up, and my financial situation escalated. I was not at peace with myself anymore. The smallest criticism stressed me out, there was an adrenaline rush and sweat ran down my forehead. In the end, I withdrew extremely, I even reluctantly went to the bakery because I was afraid someone might ask me what was wrong with me. That's when I realized something was wrong with me. Actually, this realization was my greatest salvation. A friend referred me to a therapist who gave me small tasks and brought structure to my daily life. I had to relieve the pressure from my soul. I should have done that much earlier, but I ran away, which is of course a very stupid tactic because fears usually catch up with you when you are in a bad place. Everyone thought, Huber climbs everywhere, he is robust and invulnerable... Alexander Huber: I believed that too. In dealing with fear in the mountains, I am truly a professional, but in normal life, I was not. Fortunately, I did not fall too deeply. After a week, I was out of the worst. I learned important principles: "You don't have to be everybody's darling." One must always be clear about this: One is only a gain for others if one first gets along well with oneself, developing a healthy selfishness.Alexander and Thomas Huber, also known as the Huber Buam, can be found in our Top100 Speaker Catalog or Online!
Here: https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/alexander-thomas-huber-berg.html