Andrew McLean
Andrew McLean lives in Park City, Utah and is a gear designer, writer, photographer, ski mountaineer, climber and Mountain Unicycle rider. He and Polly Samuels McLean are the parents of two very loud little girls.
Andrew McLean's Latest Posts
Contour “Start Up” Kids Touring Adapters
After many hours of modifying adult touring gear to work for for my kids, I recently found a much better solution; the Contour “Start Up” Touring Adapter. The basic idea is the same as the old BCA “Alpine Trekker” which is a hinged plate that clamps onto your alpine boot and then fits into your […]
Skiing Around Seitz Lake – Ruby Mountains, NV
I first heard of the Ruby Mountains in Nevada when Voile named a ski after them in the early 1990’s. When I asked Wally, the founder of Voile, why, he said “They’ve got the best powder on earth.” This said a lot coming from a voracious powder-hound like Wally who lives in the Wasatch. My […]
Skiing in the Ruby Mountains, NV – Seitz Lake Approach
One of the biggest cruxes of skiing in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada is access, as most of the range is surrounded by private ranches who don’t need no stinkin’ ski hippies crossing their land. Apart from Lamoille Canyon (home to the world famous Terminal Cancer couloir), getting deep within the range on foot is […]
Skiing and Snow Anchors
I doubt that most visitors to Park City will ever need to rappel during a ski descent while on vacation here, but rope work and anchors can come in handy for ski mountaineering descents. At times it might be a full-on rope stretching affair like skiing the Grand Teton in low snow, and at other […]
Antarctica & General Ski Mountaineering Gear List
In conjunction with Ice Axe Expeditions, I’ve put together an annotated gear list for skiing in Antarctica,although most of the items listed here are what I use or recommend for general backcountry skiing as well. ANTARCTICA ADVENTURE & SKI CRUISE – 2016 Gear List This is an extensive list that will allow for a participant to […]
2015 Antarctic Peninsula Trip Report
The 2015 Ice Axe Adventure Cruise is a wrap and I’m already excited to hear that they’ve already sold out the upper cabins for 2016 as well. Yippy! I love this trip for thousands of reasons, but from a mountain guide standpoint it is especially fun as I get to work with roughly 20 other […]
Antarctica in November
The leaves are just beginning to change here in Park City and the temps have dropped to more humane levels, which can only mean one thing is coming up: Antarctica! I’m very psyched to be heading down for my fifth outing as a ski guide on the Ice Axe Expeditions Antarctic Adventure Cruise as it […]
Via Ferrata – the Iron Way
“Are you sure America is ready for this?” asked my wife as she stepped onto a single strand of wire strung across a deep gorge. I’m a notorious bad judge of what American’s really want, but I’m definitely fired-up about Via Ferrata’s and recently had a chance to experience six of them in France under the […]
PC Ridgeline Meeting Recap
This was an interesting and nuanced meeting with a generally favorable outcome for backcountry skiers.* The main topic was should Summit County include roughly 600 – 900 acres of Forest Service land in a proposed Mountain Accord agreement where it would receive extra protection on top of what the Forest Service already provides. The land […]
Help Protect the Park City Ridgeline
This is a semi-complicated story (details below), but the fate of 600 acres of Forest Service land along the Park City ridgeline is being discussed on Wednesday, June 17th by the Summit County Council. If you care about areas like the Monitors, Dutch Draw and Murdock Peak, it is imperative that you make your voices […]
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