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

PackRaft Practice Outing

PackRaft Practice Outing

| June 5, 2010 | 9 Comments

After seeing an inflated PackRaft in Alaska Mountaineering & Hiking last year, it was love at first sight and I ended up buying one.  PackRafts are burly little personal rafts that are capable of carrying things like skis, bikes, packs or bloody chunks of moose on them.  Deflated and folded up, they weigh in at […]

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Cold Fusion and Warm Limestone

Cold Fusion and Warm Limestone

| May 31, 2010 | 6 Comments

Memorial Day in Utah goes a long ways toward easing the pain of triple digit temps here in Ahhhgust.  I can’t remember a Memorial Day with bad weather, but then again my memory is so bad that that’s not saying much. In any case, you can ski, climb, bike, hike, fish or mix & match […]

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Mt. Hunter Skiing Topo

Mt. Hunter Skiing Topo

| May 26, 2010 | 7 Comments

No, not the one in New York, but the lesser known one in Alaska.  I drew this topo a few years ago to see if I could still remember which end of a pen to use, and recently a couple of friends had been asking about skiing the peak, so here it is.  And a […]

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Bolted Rap Anchors for Skiing

Bolted Rap Anchors for Skiing

| April 5, 2010 | 11 Comments

Establishing rappel anchors on a ski descent is a labor of love and an art form.  On a first descent, you may have no idea what the route will require, so you bring along a selection of nuts, slings, cams & pitons and hope for the best.  Most skiing lines which require a rappel aren’t […]

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My Cook Kit

My Cook Kit

| March 30, 2010 | 9 Comments

Here is a blow-by-blow description of my cook kit.  I’ve developed this over many years and it is definitely geared towards melting lots of snow and cooking simple meals which don’t require simmering.

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Ruby Mountains, NV Trip Report

Ruby Mountains, NV Trip Report

| March 26, 2010 | 14 Comments

This was my second trip out to the Ruby Mountains in Nevada and it made me wonder why I don’t get out there more often.  It is about a 3.5 hour drive from SLC and the range itself is quite a bit like the Wasatch, except I think it has more steep skiing potential.  Like […]

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Beijing Trip Report

Beijing Trip Report

| March 11, 2010 | 2 Comments

This trip to Beijing reminded me of my first “business trip” in the outdoor industry about 18 years ago.  We were going on a ski testing outing to Mammoth, and since we were staying in a hotel, I didn’t bring anything but clothes.  Once we got there and all six of us moved into the […]

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Low Angle Circuits

Low Angle Circuits

| March 3, 2010 | 7 Comments

Due to the strange snowpack we have this year in the Wasatch, I’ve been skiing new, although not necessarily exciting, terrain.  I have yet to dig a pit as almost every time I go out I’ve felt collapsing, seen natural slides, triggered avalanches with ski cuts or dropped cornices, and/or seen shooting cracks.  Between that […]

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The Hash Pipe Couloir

The Hash Pipe Couloir

| March 1, 2010 | 7 Comments

It’s short, harsh, dangerous, leaves you dazed, your bases stoned, you’re likely to get burned, it smells like shit (mountain goat shit in this case) and is unrecommended, but it is also fun. I’ve stood at the top of this couloir roughly five times over the last ten years and yesterday Courtney Phillips and I […]

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Creek Crossings

Creek Crossings

| February 16, 2010 | 21 Comments

I first got into crossing streams with my skis on by accident when I was trying to cross over a slender snowbridge which collapsed and dumped me in the stream.  I was mainly worried about scrapping up my bases and edges, but on the other-hand, my feet stayed dry and it was fairly secure, so […]

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