Backcountry Skiing Legend Arrested for Theft

In what can only be described as a bizarre news story, backcountry skiing legend and guidebook author Andrew McLean and his wife were arrested on felony charges of theft of some hunting equipment in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Both were caught on a game camera removing a pair of deer stands and a separate game camera.

The first time I’d ever heard of Andrew was when watching the seminal ski documentary Steep. His Iceland segment was particularly intense as he and his crew were caught in an on camera avalanche. It’s probably one of the most memorable ski segments I’ve watched.

As with all criminal cases, Andrew and his wife are both innocent until proven guilty and I am sure the motives for theft will come out as the case proceeds. I’ll be following this with interest in the future. In the meantime here’s an excellent instructional ski mountaineering video from Andrew on skiing the steeps.