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

Stella Arrives

Stella Arrives

| July 11, 2009 | 19 Comments

The latest family addition arrived the day before yesterday, 9 July 2009.  After a very brief but intense 4-5 hours of labor, Polly gave birth to Stella Rose McLean at 18:35.  Stella came out kicking and screaming, which is a good thing with babies and now both Mom and mini are doing fine. Like Mira, […]

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Alaska Range Fly Over

Alaska Range Fly Over

| July 9, 2009 | 2 Comments

Bush pilots might get use to it, but the thrill of flying over wild, mountainous terrain in a small plane is one of my favorite parts of going to places like Alaska. The video below captures a bit of what it is all about. This flight took place on the way out from the Kahiltna […]

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Straightchuter gets a summer tune up

Straightchuter gets a summer tune up

| July 6, 2009 | 2 Comments

StraightChuter.com has hit a few too many rocks and is in the process of getting a summer base cleaning, edge sharpening, hot waxing and binding check.  Updates will be sporadic while it is in the shop, but it will soon be back better than ever. Andrew

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Sultana Ridge Photo Trip Report

Sultana Ridge Photo Trip Report

| July 1, 2009 | 6 Comments

Photos and captions from the 2009 Swinging Sultana expedition to climb and ski the Sultana Ridge on Mt. Foraker, Alaska. http://straightchuter.com/am-content/sultana_webgallery/index.html

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Into the Lenticular…

Into the Lenticular…

| June 24, 2009 | 6 Comments

Lenticular clouds are a source of awe and terror for mountaineers.  Awe as they are so surreal looking that they have been mistaken for UFO’s and terror as they signify ripping summit winds. Courtney Phillips ponders his options as a lenticular cloud forms on the 12,800′ peak of Mt. Crossen. Patagonia is a contender for […]

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Kahiltna Glacier 2009 Scrabble Tournament

Kahiltna Glacier 2009 Scrabble Tournament

| June 22, 2009 | 6 Comments

 I can’t play Hearts or Poker to save my life and have yet to make it through a single crossword or Soduko puzzle, but I do like playing Scrabble and Cribbage.  For the sake of our marriage, I hardly ever get to play Scrabble as my main partner is my wife, Polly, who views it as a […]

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Back From Foraker/Sultana

Back From Foraker/Sultana

| June 19, 2009 | 7 Comments

Yow!  What a great ride that was!  Kip Garre, Fred Marmsater, Courtney Phillips and I ended up skiing off the tippy-top of Mt. Foraker (aka Sultana) in the Alaska Mountain Range on Monday morning, June 2nd.  We prepaid for our four-day window of good weather with two weeks of sitting in the tents in a […]

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Back to Civilization

Back to Civilization

| June 11, 2009 | 2 Comments

Last night I got the happy phone call directly from Andrew’s cell phone.   They are back in civilization!   They had a small window to get to the summit and back before the weather was going to change and they pushed and got it done and got back down safe and sound.   I am eagerly awaiting […]

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Back to base camp

Back to base camp

| June 9, 2009 | 9 Comments

Looks like they made it safe and sound!    Just got a “spot” that they are down back at base camp.    My guess is that they took down their camp on the top of Mt. Crosson and made it back down to their main base camp today.  Can’t wait to see the pics and hear about […]

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Top of the mother!!

Top of the mother!!

| June 8, 2009 | 5 Comments

I’ve been getting “SPOT” -we’re ok messages from andrew (posted below) and you can see how they have made it up to the top and are on their way down!   I also got a voice message from him last night – they were at the base of Foraker on the Sultana Ridge and were planning […]

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