Born in Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, Lesley McKenna grew up in Aviemore and in the Cairngorm Mountains and is one of the defining figures of British snowsport. She spent five years on the British alpine ski team before making the switch that would shape her career, turning first to alpine snowboarding and snowboard cross and then to freestyle snowboarding and free-riding. She competed in three Olympic Games in snowboard halfpipe and at the same time continued to develop her backcountry snowboarding and skiing skills and qualifications.
Her influence extends well beyond her own competitive record. Lesley coached the Roxy Snow Team (ski and snowboard) and managed the GB Park and Pipe Team, mentoring a generation of British riders and skiers, before founding Wandering Workshops CIC, where she guides people ski touring and splitboarding through the Scottish winters. An ISTD ski and snowboard instructor and an SSS Snowsport Mountain Leader, she moves fluently between the discipline of coaching and the freedom of riding and skiing in the backcountry.
For Lesley, action sports are as much a subject of inquiry as a way of life. She has appeared in the Patagonia snow film Thrawn and Warren Miller's Sno-ciety, and recently completed a PhD at Leeds Beckett University in action sports culture and ethics, proposing the risk-aesthetic framework that provides a new way of understanding the relationships action sports athletes develop with the environment, themselves and their communities and how this impacts on skill, risk, decision-making and meaning.
Collaboration with SCARPA is a natural fit: a shared belief that mountain craft is built on precision, curiosity, and a lifelong pursuit of deeper understanding through outdoor experiences.
