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
Antarctica 2014 – The Time is Now
I know… it just seems like the snow has just melted and now next season is already sneaking up. Or in the case of Antarctica, the 2014 ski season is finally catching up to the northern hemisphere. November in Antarctica is like April in Utah – the days are getting longer, the temperatures are warming […]
Headiing to the Slotterhouse
After two years of dreaming about this area and then another six or so months of putting the actual trip together, we are finally heading out to one of the most beautiful ski venues in the world today. Excitement is very high! Code named “The Slotterhouse” due to the endless number of perfect slot-like couloirs, […]
The Beginner’s Guide to Fighting in the Wasatch
Welcome to the Wasatch. Now pick a side – pave it or preserve it. There’s a lot to be said for the Wasatch Mountains, especially from a skiing/boarding standpoint. They are very riding friendly, have easy access, are close to a major metropolitan city, close to an airport, have seven major ski resorts and also […]
Anti-Glomming Tutorial Video
I had my first serious springtime glomming session over the weekend, which prompted this 3:36 minute video on how I remedy this wretched malady while on a tour. I wrote a post about glomming almost a year ago to the week and it is one of those things where doing a half-assed repair job usually […]
SkiMo Mishaps and Fond Memories
The 15th Annual Wasatch PowderKeg ski mountaineering race went off last weekend, and as far as I know, nobody got hurt, lost, died, or filed a lawsuit, but that has not always been the case. The early days of ski mountaineering (SkiMo) races in North America were a comedy of errors and I’m thrilled to see that […]
Wasatch Backcountry Conditions – March 9
Although the Wasatch is still draggin’ ass on snow depth, skiing in the upper elevation backcountry areas has been pretty good. Last weekend we had a slight 2-4″ graupel refresher on top of a supportable crust, which made for some fun, fast powder skiing. I’ve seen a few photos of people getting after some of […]
Black Diamond Carbon Series Skis
For 2014/15, Black Diamond Equipment has added three new carbon-infused skis to their line – the Carbon Aspect, Carbon Convert and Carbon Megawatt. BD has had carbon offerings in the past, but this year the carbon skis are not only being built in their own factory, but also have special construction details which make them […]
Greg Hill Marches On
After climbing and skiing 50,000′ in 24 hours, then one million vertical feet in a year and then upping it to two million in a year, Greg Hill of Revelstoke, BC is working on a new project to ski 100 vertical kilometers (100,00m / 328,000′) in a single month. He started a few days ago […]
WWA Backcountry Film Festival – Park City, 3/6
This Thursday, March 6th, the Winter Wildlands Alliance will be presenting the critically acclaimed Backcountry Film Festival at the Jim Santy Auditorium in Park City starting at 7:00pm. This collection of films celebrates the human powered backcountry experience and is also a fundraiser for the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance. Due to the overwhelming amount of local […]
Kick Turn Fun & Games
After many thousand kick-turns, sometimes it’s fun to throw some challenge into a few of them. This was a good one. Starting out in your high pegs (of course…) after 2,800′ of breaking trail, surmount a wind-lip and insert your Whippet into a woodpecker hole in an old growth tree. Pull up on the Whippet […]
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