Barney McLean started out as a ski jumper but switched to alpine skiing. After winning the 1935 US Class B ski jumping championship, an injury prevented him from making the 1936 Winter Olympic team, and he switched to alpine, eventually winning almost every alpine race in North America, including the US downhill, slalom, and combined, and the Harriman Cup in 1942, the US combined in 1946, and the Roch Cup combined in 1947. McLean enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and served at the Arctic Survival School in Edmonton, Alberta. After the 1948 Olympics, he worked for the Groswold Ski Co. in Denver, in charge of quality control and ski design, but this caused the FIS to declare him a professional and ended his high-level competitive career. McLean later became an Assistant Director at the Sun Valley Ski School, and a rep for various ski companies. He continued racing in masters races through the late 1950s. McLean is a member of the US Ski Hall of Fame (1959), the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame (1978), and the International Legends Skiing Hall of Fame.