LOWA ACTIVE Team
Nina Ruhland
For a special and sustainable mountain experience
Nina Ruhland, founder and owner of Bergbegegnungen (Mountain Encounters), the first agency for sustainable mountain experiences, was born on 2 May 1980 in Kamen in the Ruhr area of Germany. It was her parents who instilled a love of hiking and nature in her from an early age. During weekend breaks at the family’s small holiday flat in a forester’s lodge in the Sauerland region, Nina spent many carefree and happy childhood days exploring the great outdoors: playing in the woods, learning the secrets of the forest with the ranger, jumping (or falling) into a stream for a swim almost every day, and lots and lots of hiking. The school holidays took them either to the North Sea or the Alps. And so the love for the mountains was kindled.
Nina’s second passion was writing. After graduating from grammar school, she completed an internship at a weekly newspaper, and subsequently went to the town of Münster in the north of Germany to study political science, communication studies and sociology. As if that wasn’t already far enough away from the mountains, Nina then moved to Hamburg to begin her career in journalism. There she worked for large publishing houses – among other things as an editor and a deputy head of department. In those days, Nina spent almost all her holidays in the mountains, and her free time climbing in the DAV hall of the German Alpine Club. At some point, Nina Ruhland realised that this no longer was the life she wanted to lead: big city, traffic, parties, noise, stress, the pomposity in the publishing house. At that time, a mountain guide friend told her about a new training course offered by the German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (VDBS) – to qualify as a mountain hiking guide. Nina quit her job in the editorial office, packed her bags and moved to Bavaria, where she worked as a freelance journalist and first completed her training as a mountain hiking guide and then as an international mountain leader. Since 2015, the Ammergau Alps have been Nina’s home. She lives there with her family in the pretty village of Bad Bayersoien. The mountains are always within view, and even on busy office days, a quick jaunt up the Hörnle can always be fitted in.
After many years of working as a guide for other mountain schools, Nina began to notice more and more that she actually wanted to do things differently. What she wanted, above all, was to make the experience in the mountains more sustainable. Not just for the guests, but also for nature and the people who live in the Alps. And so, without further ado, Nina founded “Bergbegegnungen” in 2021 – her own small mountain school, which she has been running with all her heart and soul ever since.