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
Charting Automated Weather Station Data
When it comes to forecasting avalanche conditions, an important element is looking at the data and trends of the last 24 hours. For this, automated snow stations, as discussed yesterday, are great, but they present you with an snoot-full of data that can be hard to decipher. Instead, what I like to do is have Excel […]
Alta Guard Station Automated Wx Station
The Alta Guard House automated weather station is the Gold Standard of automated snow sites in the Wasatch Mountains. I think it is one of the oldest stations around, plus it is right near the Department of Transportation (DOT) housing area, so if it ever goes down, it is fixed right away. It is also one of […]
The Eternal Tahoe Crew
I had the great pleasure of going to Tahoe yesterday as part of the Alpenglow Sports slideshow series. It was a blast. I always forget how many people I know there and it’s like having a party with 100 of your best friends and meeting fifty new ones. One of the highlights of the evening for me was […]
BeaconReviews.com
I found out about BeaconReviews.com through an odd coincidence – the webmaster, Steve Achelis, is a mountain unicycle rider and was suppose to go out on a ride with us today, but couldn’t as he was reviewing beacons. I’ve never met Steve, but the website is excellent. I’ll probably get sued for saying this (like […]
Worst Fall I’ve Ever Taken
In the name of exercise and fresh air, we skinned up the groomer at Alta this morning and once at the top of the Collins Chair, I looked over toward Mt. Baldy, which brought back memories of the worst fall I’ve ever taken. At the time, I was still kind of into resort skiing and […]
Point & Chute Photography
The past month has been like living in the Bob Dylan song “Everything is Broken” – broken boats, broken cameras, broken websites – everything is broken. Luckily there are no broken bones. The website is back up thanks to a ton of help from Valentin Secades who lives in the skiing hub of the world, Costa […]
StraightChuter is undergoing some maintenance…
Straightchuter.com is getting straightened out and may be erratic through the weekend. Utah has had a warm spell with some rain, so all the snow has melted anyway. Back soon, Andrew
My Camera is Finn-ished
My cameras have a history of dying with funny shots, and as sad as I am to see my trusty little Canon SD 850 go, it went out with style. As some background, this photo was taken on a recent trip to Ushuaia, Argentina where we were hoping to get on a boat and then […]
Black Diamond PowderKeg R.I.P.
It was great while it lasted, but after six years, two World Cup events and many exciting moments, the Black Diamond PowderKeg has become history and will not be held this year. Sigh. I was involved with the PowderKeg as the Course Setter & Technical Director and one of my favorite aspects of the race […]
Alta – Still One Bony Pony
I’m unofficially starting to worry about this year’s snowpack. The official worrying begins after Thanksgiving if there is still no new snow, but as of right now, the area around Alta is looking mighty bony and dry. Sigh. A “great” early season starts around Halloween and continues all year long. A normal one kicks in […]
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