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
Avalanche Beacons – My Personal Preference
Picking the right avalanche beacon is trickier than it may seem. I’ve used Pieps, Barryvox, Ortovox and BCA Trackers over the years and am not wedded to any particular brand, but instead look for the best beacon available at the time when I decide to upgrade. I hold onto my beacons for 2-4 years because […]
Super Cluesday – Answer & Winner
Matthieu Chesaux of Boulder, Colorado is the winner! While contemplating a pair of K2 Mt. Baker Superlights, Matt said: As for finding the final clue, I thought about your earlier post mentioning “popular watering holes…places to stay”. It seemed pretty quickly that a hut was too obvious, and on a travel webpage for the area […]
K2 SUPER CLUESDAY! Win’em, ski’em – Conquer the Earth.
Our story begins after you have been magically transported to the top of the peak identified (hopefully) in Clue #4… It’s late afternoon and you have no headlamp, compass or topo map, but, pffft – who needs ‘em? Use the force Luke and just start skiing. Stepping into your bindings, you cruise along a ridgeline […]
Super Cluesday – Coming at 10:00am
Tune in at 10:00am Mountain Standard Time for a chance to win a pair of K2 backcountry skis…
How to Win Those K2 Skis…
Yes, tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, at 10:00am Mountain Standard Time is the moment we have all been waiting for – Super Cluesday. As I type, the skis are being FedEx’ed, wrapped in velet and hand-carried in the dark of night by special agents who are sworn to secrecy. Like most of my skiing related schemes, this […]
Sunday Photo – The Caroline Face
It is one thing to read about the Caroline Face on the east side of Mt. Cook, but nothing beats standing at its base and trying to pick out a ski line down it. The stunning Caroline Face on Aoraki (Mt. Cook), New Zealand In 2006, I took a trip down to this region of […]
Pick Your Poison – Methods of Ascent (part II)
Learning to skin is like learning the alphabet-something you have to do before you start spelling words or linking tours together. It’s a lot like walking, but a bit different. Booting is walking, but unless you are on firm snow, your range will be severely limited as nothing saps your energy like post-holing in deep […]
Pick Your Poison – Methods of Ascent
For ski mountaineering, there are three main methods of traveling over snow; skinning, booting or snowshoeing. Of these three, skinning is by far and away the most efficient and versatile. Booting works well when there is an existing boot track, or when the going gets steep. Snowshoes are better than crawling, but not by much. […]
Grand Teton – Skiing Topo
It took me three attempt to finally ski the Grand Teton, but it was well worth it. Part of the beauty of skiing this peak is that there is no one particular crux to it, but it is more a sum of all of its parts. There is some great skiing on it (as well […]
The Law of Luggage
The Law of Luggage states: “The amount of gear you carry will expand to fit your luggage.” This is closely related to the idiom that nature abhors a vacuum – if there is extra space in a pack, duffle bag or sled, it will be filled with extra gear whether you need it or not. […]
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