Andrew McLean

Andrew McLean lives in Park City, Utah and is a gear designer, writer, photographer, ski mountaineer, climber, Mountain Unicycle rider and father of two very loud little girls.

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Andrew McLean's Latest Posts

Gear List Blowout

| March 22, 2013 | 29 Comments

As I was packing up my gear for a two-stage trip to Alaska, I decided to shoot photos of it for future gear lists on StraightChuter. I’ll have to see how long it takes me to get around to the actual list and details, but in the meantime, here’s some/most of what I take on […]

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New Spring Skiing Setup

| March 21, 2013 | 7 Comments

Not that there is any snow in the Wasatch to actually use them, but I just finished mounting, skinning and tuning my latest ski mountaineering ski set-up today and can’t wait to get out on it. If nothing else, it is a very sexy looking little rig in a 124/80/108 mm kind of way. I […]

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Stocks, Rocks and Crocus Shock

Stocks, Rocks and Crocus Shock

| March 14, 2013 | 3 Comments

Seeing the front-page news of stocks hitting a new high only reminded me of the miserable performance of my personal tracking index – the Wasatch Snow Depth Fund (NASDAQ – WDSUX) which is tracking towards a record low. As a measure of intense personal displeasure (IDP), the recent heat wave and lack of new snow […]

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Accidental Activist Presentation – Friday, 3/8 SLC @ 6:30pm

Accidental Activist Presentation – Friday, 3/8 SLC @ 6:30pm

| March 6, 2013 | 3 Comments

I’m not sure how it happened, but over the last year or so, mutual friends have been introducing me to others as an “Environmental Activist.”  Like most of my various careers, this was accidental and came about as a result of doing something I was/am passionate about, namely helping preserve the Wasatch Mountains.  I will […]

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Black Diamond Glop Stopper Skin Wax

Black Diamond Glop Stopper Skin Wax

| March 4, 2013 | 0 Comments

Nothing is as frustrating as going out for a ski tour and having your skins glomm up. Hateful, hateful, hateful. It kills the glide of the skins, adds tons of weight, gets worse with each step and just comes back immediately after you clean it off. Luckily, there is a simple solution – BD Glop […]

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%&!@#ing Glomming

%&!@#ing Glomming

| March 4, 2013 | 13 Comments

Arrrg.  ‘Tis the season for skin glomming, and what a hateful time that is. Nothing zaps your power-meter quite like an eight pounds of snow stuck to the bottom of each ski, especially when it is hot and sunny out. Whenever I’m getting really beaten down by glomming, I always smile remembering an outing with […]

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Cranium Cam

| March 2, 2013 | 5 Comments

I like everything about helmet cams, except the helmet part. Most recently, I’ve been doinking around with a Contour, which after about a year of experimenting, is finally working pretty well. It took a lot of web research for figure out the right settings for snow, as well as a UV lens, but now now […]

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First Ever Public SkiLink Meeting Recap

| March 1, 2013 | 9 Comments

I’m not sure what prompted this meeting, but I was secretly hoping that Mike Goar of the Canyons was going to use it as an occasion to admit he had made a horrible mistake with SkiLink, retract the proposal, and offer everyone a free ski and/or bikini waxing at one of the resort’s empty facilities.  […]

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Adding a Tip Hole to Your Skis

Adding a Tip Hole to Your Skis

| February 27, 2013 | 7 Comments

Step 1 – Void your manufacturer’s warranty. Step 2 – Be brave.  Don’t fear the drill. There are a lot of advantages to having a tip hole in your touring skis, and while not every manufacturer adds one, they are easy to retrofit.  Tip holes are traditionally thought of as haul points for emergency sleds, […]

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Last Night Race and a First SkiLink Open Forum Discussion

| February 26, 2013 | 0 Comments

Tonight, Tuesday Feb 26th at 7:00pm, is the last night of the season to get yer suffer on at Brighton as part of the Wasatch Citizen Series ski mountaineering races. These events have been a great source of low pressure fun and even in the worst conditions 40-50 people have been showing up for them. […]

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