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.
Andrew McLean's Latest Posts
Little Cottonwood Canyon – Hurry Up & Wait
This line of stopped cars heading up Little Cottonwood Canyon road looks, smells and feels like a traffic jam, but there’s far more to it than just that. At the heart of the problem is that the Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) road is a narrow, winding, steep, two-lane mountain road which is threatened by 36+ […]
Look Who’s Back…
Winter! A very intense and unusual storm rolled through the Wasatch today and delivered a much-needed blast of new snow. In the Park City area, it started at about 9:00am, and by the end of the day I had snow-blown my driveway three times to clear it all off as the precipitation rates and wind […]
Cleanwaste Waste Bag Kit Review
The only thing more exciting than actually using these is the golden opportunity to write a crappy internet review about a product that, when properly used, is full of shit. I originally bought a 12-pack of these as “wag bags” were a required item for a river trip, and in that regard they command immediate […]
How to Skin Argenta
… in 3,246 not so easy steps. I think I enjoy skinning up Argenta almost as much as skiing down as it’s a fun challenge and a very efficient way to gain vertical. With the track shown below, I start out with no climbing pegs, immediately go to high peg, stay that way for a […]
Baffin Maple Boot
Baffin Maple Boots – I bought these boots as a replacement for some ancient Sorrels and now wish I’d done it years ago. The true beauty of the Baffin Maple is that you can leave it loosely tied and wide open such that you can slip your foot into it like a slipper, then go […]
Black Diamond Redux
After a seven year hiatus, I am back working with Black Diamond Equipment in Salt Lake City. But, unlike 1991 when I started there as a gear designer, this time I’m involved as a ski mountaineer, which in itself shows how far the company and industry has come. Twenty-two years ago the idea of being […]
Tuning Bench Tie Down
Most of my hasty ski tuning jobs end up resembling a Quentin Tarantino movie with lots of blood, slow-mo howls of pain and severed appendages. Even though I have ski vises, they have a hard time clamping onto skis with narrow profiles, tapered sidewalls, rocker or extra width, which covers about 95% of the current […]
Wasangeles Silver Lining
The silver lining of touring in a popular area and competing for first tracks is that there are also a lot of potential rescuers around if things should go wrong, as happened yesterday. As we were coming around for a second lap in Silver Fork, we saw a major debris pile and crown line right […]
Enlightening Avalanche Video
Ideally, the first thing you would do in an Avalanche Level One class would be to go out and have everyone get caught & carried in a big slide. Assuming there were any students left alive afterwards, you’d then have their full and undivided attention. If you can live through it, there is no better […]
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