AKU-Botschafter

Alessandro Ruffi

Alpine Guide - Helicopter Rescue Technician

Mountaineering is my profession

I live in the upper Tuscan - Emilian Apennines at the foot of Mount Cimone.
As a kid I couldn't stop asking my parents to take me hiking in the mountains . I was literally overwhelmed by the attraction that the adventurous dimension of the mountains had on me. At 14 I climbed my first 4,000m, the Gran Paradiso , together with an Alpine Guide.
At that moment I understood what I wanted to do when I grew up : I wanted to make mountaineering my profession .
Over the next 20 years I had the opportunity to participate in highly demanding non-European expeditions, such as the solitary ascent of the Polish Glacier Direct Route on Aconcagua 6,996 m which I climbed at just 22 years old. I have done mountaineering and ski mountaineering expeditions in Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina.
I love the Mountain in all its forms. I work as a full-time Alpine Guide and Helicopter Rescue Technician. In winter I like to work with winter mountaineering and ski mountaineering on my beloved Apennines and in summer on the great mountains of the Alps.

“There is nothing more beautiful and satisfying than seeing the joy of the person you are accompanying to the summit , seeing their shiny eyes light up full of emotion .”