Alix von Melle was the third of four children born to a school teacher and businessman in
Ahrensburg. After high school, she studied geography in Hamburg and in 1992 transferred to
LMU Munich. It was while studying in Munich when she fell in love with the mountains and discovered her passion for climbing and
ski mountaineering. In Munich, she also met
Luis Stitzinger, who would become her partner in ski mountaineering and in life. In 2001, she joined her partner on an expedition to
Aconcagua that he was leading as a
mountain guide. On that trip, she would become the first German woman to climb Aconcagua when she reached the summit via the south face. The experience led her to want to climb more. She climbed
Muztagata the next year. After university, she spent a decade managing the Bavarian regional office of the
German Alpine Club while Stitzinger was a mountain guide. Over twenty-five years together, the two became Germany's most high profile mountaineering couples, and would climb many of the world's highest peaks together. In 2004, von Melle climbed
Ama Dablam via the southwest ridge, as well as
Huascaran Norte. In 2005, she reached the summit of
Denali. In 2006, alongside Luis, von Melle summitted her first eight-thousander,
Gasherbrum II. The next year, she reached the summit of
Lenin Peak. Later she managed the press and public relations department of Globetrotter, a German sporting goods retailer before becoming a self-employed PR consultant. In 2014, after an unsuccessful summit of
Makalu, due to altitude sickness, she climbed
Kilimanjaro to recover. == Notable ascents ==