Steve lives in Idaho with his wife, Amy, and their three amazing kids. He had the pleasure to grow up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, playing sports, roaming through the forests and working in a neighborhood restaurant. During his Army years in Europe and West Germany, Steve honed his culinary skills on willing soldier test subjects, sharpening his love of cooking from a hobby into proficiency. In 2006, a wake-up call in the form of a health scare gave Steve a new appreciation for the good things in life: his family, being the right side of the turf and being outside. Dusting off his rucksack and boots, he returned to his camping roots, where he quickly discovered the thrill of mountaineering. Hey, climbing thousands of feet in cold weather (and surviving) is a thrill! And he also discovered that backpacking food stunk. Most of the food that hikers and campers were packing into the wilderness lacked variety, nutritional value, and the basic carbs and proteins needed to keep people moving, and more importantly, to get them back down the mountain. Steve put his culinary skills to work along with his camping and mountaineering knowledge. He experimented with various dishes and recipes. The finished product was his first book, In The Wild Chef, a collection of easy, energy-sustaining, and most importantly--tasty meals for the trail.