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

My Most Valuable Piece of Avalanche Safety Gear

My Most Valuable Piece of Avalanche Safety Gear

| December 29, 2010 | 4 Comments

Without a doubt, solid partners are the A-#1 best piece of avalanche gear out there.  This doesn’t mean partners who can dig you out quickly, but more partners who are less likely to get you or themselves buried in the first place. Good partners come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, sexes, speeds and ability […]

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To Probe or Not To Probe

To Probe or Not To Probe

| December 28, 2010 | 20 Comments

I’ve been called a moron for not carrying a probe, but in truth, I’m only a 3/4 moron as I do carry one occasionally, namely on expeditions or when skiing with a large group of people. I like them for expeditions as they serve many uses – marking caches, anchoring tents, probing for crevasses or […]

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Wasatch Tweet #4

Wasatch Tweet #4

| December 27, 2010 | 1 Comment

Plenty of powder if you know where to look.  ;)

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Wasatch Tweet #3

Wasatch Tweet #3

| December 23, 2010 | 0 Comments

Tricky skiing today – lower elevations are still not filled in and it was hard to get up much speed on low angle terrain in the deep, heavy snow, but if you went steeper, there was a good chance of triggering an ugly avalanche.  It should get better in a day or so.

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Enlightenment – Step 2

Enlightenment – Step 2

| December 23, 2010 | 18 Comments

Ahhh, I can feel the pounds falling away.  Tomorrow is my first day out with my lighter set-up and I can’t wait/weight. As mentioned in the last post, I am keeping my heavier Safety Pack and assembling a light one as well. Things that got the outright chop: Goggles – I use wide sun glasses […]

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Enlightenment – Step 1

Enlightenment – Step 1

| December 22, 2010 | 9 Comments

The process of reducing my total backcountry skiing equipment weight is harder than it seems. First, there are times when I definitely DO want the full-monty of safety gear and creature comforts, but it is hard to say exactly when that is.  For instance, during the past few days the avalanche danger in the Wasatch […]

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Wasatch Tweet

Wasatch Tweet

| December 19, 2010 | 0 Comments

Gushing rain in biblical proportions all the way up to 7,500′ at night.  Grim.

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A Frame vs. Diagonal Ski Carry

A Frame vs. Diagonal Ski Carry

| December 17, 2010 | 19 Comments

Few topics get the fur flying among backcountry skiers more than discussing the merits of A-frame vs. diagonal ski carrying modes on backpacks. Blood will be spilled.

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OutDry Testimonial

OutDry Testimonial

| December 14, 2010 | 5 Comments

Growing up skiing at Alpental in the Pacific Northwest, I have one word for any garment aside from rubber which claims to be waterproof – bullshit.  (okay, maybe that is a hyphenated compound word, but still…).  I was an early adopter to the GoreTex kool-aid and spent many soggy hours denying that I was wet […]

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New Year’s Resolution – Lose Weight

New Year’s Resolution – Lose Weight

| December 13, 2010 | 26 Comments

The last couple of times I’ve been out skiing I’ve been moaning and groaning about the weight of my overall backcountry skiing kit and today I decided to do something about it.  As soon as I got home from a great day of skiing, I stripped off everything I used  and weighed it.  Hats, gloves, […]

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