| Alexander Rydén | |
| Nationality: | Swedish |
| Sport: | Climbing and skiing |
| Birth Date: | 9 December 1988 |
| Birth Place: | Edsåsdalen, Åre Municipality, Sweden |
Alexander Rydén (born December 9, 1988,[1] Edsåsdalen) is a Swedish former elite-level climber, gimbal operator, and filmmaker. Rydén is also known as a followcam skier, which involves skiing with a camera next to other athletes.[2]
Rydén was born and raised in Edsåsdalen, a small ski resort in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, northern Sweden. He started filming his friends as a teenager, eventually becoming a professional followcam skier.
Rydén's skiing career spans 30 years and includes multiple extreme ski descents.[1] His skiing highlights include steep skiing on the Chlyn Wendenstock and Marcelo Couloir,[3] as well as a famous 20m cliff jump in Sweden known as the Högsta, Östra Ravin.[4]
Rydén has been a rock climber for 18 years. He has performed in numerous first ascents and competitions at the Swedish elite level. His rock climbing highlights include a 7c+ onsight on Arugliopoulos, a 500m big wall on Presten,[5] [6] and a 7c+ first ascent on Via Burrata. He has achieved 40 first ascents between 6c and 7c+, 30 onsights graded 7b+ or harder,[7] and has completed 40 multipitch routes. Rydén has also completed a free solo ascent of Vit November, graded 6c+.[8]
In 2017, Alexander performed a rope swing stunt from Åre Kabinbana in Sweden. This stunt was a fusion of bungee jumping and a high-intensity playground swing and took place at a ski resort. With the help of an aerial circus technician, Rydén executed this massive rope swing from the resort's cable car.[9] [10]
Rydén works as a filmmaker and gimbal operator. As a filmmaker, he has collaborated with Moncler, Ford, Red Bull, GoPro, Thule, Discovery, Visa, Peak Performance, Sunrise, Cake, and others.
His filmmaking credits[11] include serving as a camera operator for the skiing documentaries Shades of Winter: Between (2016)[12] and Aksel (2021).[13]
Rydén is noted for being a followcam skier, which involves skiing with a camera next to other skiers.[14] He has followed athletes such as Shawn White, Marco Odermatt, Axel Lund Svindal, Henrik Windstedt, and Kristoffer Turdell with a camera, capturing their performances in sports documentaries and feature films.[15]