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
Ski Mountaineering Partners – Intro
Superficially, ski mountaineering is an individual sport. You do not need a partner to make turns, enjoy deep powder and appreciate a mountain setting; yet having one transforms the experience into something even greater. Partnerships are at the core of the sport, and without them ski mountaineering would barely exist. Reto & Hombi from Switzerland. […]
Sunday Photo – Tasman Glacier Icefall, New Zealand
This classic photo by Chris Figenshau has a funny background to it. Steve Romeo, Chris Figenshau and I flew down to New Zealand to do some skiing in the Mt. Cook National Park with Kiwi local, Grant Guise. We were flown into the Tasman Saddle hut and as we were shuttling our gear to the […]
Spare Gear
Skins and beacons are popular items to forget, which shuts down a tour before it even begins. It’s almost a physical impossiblity for a person booting through deep snow to keep up with a group on skins, and forgetting a beacon not only means you won’t be able to find them, but they also won’t be […]
Field Repairs
Field tuning ski gear is less than ideal, but often times necessary if you go on an extended trip with endless icy or gloppy conditions. As with most expedition situations, inspiration is more important than perfection and the goal is to make due with what you have rather than packing extra gear. Edges Sharpening It is […]
The Ten Minute Tune – Technique
Once the vise, bench and basic tools are acquired, it is time to hit the stopwatch and start a ten-minute tune. It is better to do the tunes as a matter of routine before you put the skis away so you don’t blow it off in the excitement of the moment when you are ready […]
The 10 Minute Tune – Tools
Tuning backcountry skis is important, but doing a good job at it is not. Backcountry skis take such daily abuse that you could easily spend more time tuning them than skiing on them if you insist on a perfect World Cup racing tune. It is a matter of quantity, not quality, and the secret to […]
Vise Squad
Tuning (or trying to tune) a pair of skis without a bench and a vise is almost worse than not tuning them at all. The skis fall over, you slice your hand, the wall gets scratched and the tune comes out marginal at best. The backbone of a good tuning system is a solid bench […]
Preventative Maintenance
Most backcountry ski equipment will live a long, happy life if treated with care. When used as intended, it’s possible to get many seasons out of a pair of skis, boots or bindings. When not used correctly, it can break on the first day, which explains why Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are well known […]
Sunday Photo – Baffin Island Iceberg Camp
Editors Note: Sundays are meant for skiing, climbing, riding and almost anything but sitting in front of a computer. Still, the Internet never sleeps and Sunday’s are a good time for ski mountaineering photos and the story behind them. Baffin Island Iceberg Camp – 2002 While watching a Mike Libecki slideshow on Big Wall climbing […]
Love Thy Bases & Bindings
Skis and bindings have a hard enough life without getting sandblasted by road salt, grit, acid rain and polluted snow while riding naked in a roof-top car rack. Ski bases can be cleaned off, but road grime is especially damaging to bindings, and much harder to clean. Transporting your skis inside the vehicle is the […]
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