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
2011/12 Wasatch in Review Video
If you have 20 minutes, Trent Meisenheimer and Craig Gordon have put together an excellent video review of the 2011-12 Wasatch snow, avalanche and accident season. Not only does it have some great skiing, riding and music, but the avalanche footage is stunning. Last year all you had to do was cross your eyes to […]
Wasatch BC Skiing Map
Have you ever wondered where Oingo Boingo, Hoop’s Crotch, Room of Doom or Toot to Boot is? Wonder no more, as Steve Achelis has put together the be all, end all of Wasatch backcountry skiing maps, appropriately titled “Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Map.” The map, and it’s even more powerful accompanying website, document over 1,000 named […]
Jail & Sue-age
It’s a sign of the times when you attend an avalanche workshop and the topics include getting thrown in jail and/or sued for backcountry skiing. Both of these topics, and a few others, were presented at the 2012 Utah Snow & Avalanche Workshop last Saturday. The getting thrown in jail part obliquely had to do […]
Utah Snow & Avalanche Workshop – Nov 3rd
The Utah Avalanche Center is hosting its 4th annual snow & avalanche workshop this upcoming weekend and given how dicey last year was, there should be some good fodder for discussion. The workshop starts with a brief description of what made the conditions so dangerous and then goes into individual accident scenarios including the infamous […]
AK Fundraiser Shows Oct 25th & 26th
I’ll be up in Alaska this week giving two shows for local avalanche forecast fundraising events. The first is this Thursday, Oct 25th at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub and will be a presentation on four trips up to the Wrangell-St.Elias range in SE Alaska.
River of Return – TR
This was one of the funnest non-skiing trips I’ve ever been on and is an instant Wilderness adventure classic. Named “The River of Return” as it starts and finishes at the same spot in the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness area, this trip was the brainchild of Forrest McCarthy from Jackson Hole. […]
Back From the Land of White Death
I like soft, white landscapes, but not when it comes to blank screens on websites. For the past few weeks StraightChuter.com has been the victim of a self-inflicted wound to its central operating system which resulted in the dreaded “White Screen of Death.” I now know more about this symptom than I ever wanted to […]
Roundtrip River Running
At what elevation do deer turn into elk? Is there always snow on Everest? Do you finish at the same place you start on this river? These are all excellent questions, and in the case of an upcoming packrafting trip, yes, you do start and finish at the same point on this river. This reminds […]
Pentax WG-II Review
Shopping for a new rugged camera is an exercise in frustration as instead of finding the best one, you are left trying to find the one which sucks the least. Two and three star reviews are the norm and almost every review leaves you hanging with a teaser like, “this is a horrible camera and […]
SkiLink Update
Like rust, SkiLink never sleeps – it just gets covered up with a new coat of spray paint or a greasy press release. Nothing new has happened on the congressional bill side of things, and for that matter, nothing is expected to happen on that front until after the November elections. More on that in […]
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