Founder Profile
Alenka Mali.
Founder of LUX Life. Professional snowboarder, base jumper and climber, and aspiring mountain guide. Slovenian-born, Squamish-based, and quietly stubborn about the idea that women deserve the whole mountain.
The founder
A rider and climber who built the week she wished existed.
Alenka Mali grew up skiing the Julian Alps in Slovenia and spent a decade snowboarding, base jumping and climbing in the Coast Range of British Columbia before founding LUX Life. She is a professional snowboarder, base jumper and climber, and an aspiring mountain guide working toward her certification, with seasons logged from Patagonia to Hokkaido to the fjords of Finnmark.
She built LUX Life around one belief: that women deserve a week in the mountains that is both rugged and genuinely comfortable. No concessions on the objectives, no concessions on the care. The same guide who reads the avalanche bulletin in the morning makes sure the lodge is warm and the dinner is real that night.
"I wanted to find more women to ride the backcountry with, so I started organizing trips. What started as a one time experience in Patagonia quickly grew into a global community."
Alenka Mali · Founder, LUX Life
The journey
From the Julian Alps to the Coast Range.
A girl in the Julian Alps
Born in Slovenia, Alenka learned to ski before she learned to question it. The Julian Alps were the first range she called home.
Riding the Coast Range
A decade snowboarding, base jumping and climbing in the mountains around Squamish and Whistler. Avalanche operations training, and winters chasing the line between risk and reward while working toward her mountain guide certification.
The first LUX week
Alenka founded LUX Life around one belief: that women deserve a week in the mountains that is both rugged and genuinely comfortable. The first retreat ran in Patagonia.
The LUX Life Foundation
A scholarship program funded by a portion of every booking, opening the backcountry to women with the drive but not the means.
Beyond snow
LUX Life expanded to surf and climbing weeks in Mexico and Norway, balancing time on the mountain with time by the ocean.
Field work
A life on the mountain.
Freeride competition, powder seasons in Japan, and remote expeditions from Alaska to Patagonia · the riding that shaped LUX Life.
Credentials
Trained for it.
Alenka has over a decade of experience in mountain hospitality and is currently working towards her full mountain guide certification. She personally vets every certified guide who joins the team and every week she designs.
- Professional snowboarder
- BASE jumper
- Climber
- Aspiring mountain guide · in training
- CAA Level 1
- 80 hs WFR
- Swift Water Rescue