Michael Hoyt

Michael Hoyt, a long-time mountaineer, has been one of the major contributors to the world's most popular mountaineering website, Summitpost.org. His extensive on-line writing includes mountain descriptions, route guides, trip reports, and "how-to" articles about photography and the use of pictures on web pages. An immigrant to Montana, he spent most of his life in Indiana where he attended Indiana University. For the past 10 years, he has lived in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, a location which provides unparalleled views of his beloved Bitterroot Mountains.

Hoyt considers himself to be a life-long "outdoors nut" who believes the long-term survival of wilderness lands is possible only if more people feel they have a vested interest in their preservation. To encourage more people to visit and develop a connection to the wilderness, Hoyt authored Hikes and Climbs to Bitterroot Mountain Summits. His stated goal for his first guidebook was, "to inspire more people to go off-trail and visit selected summits in Montana's Bitterroot Mountains with the hope that they would gain a fuller appreciation for those glorious peaks and increase the probability that pristine environment would continue to be protected and preserved."

His latest book is, Ranger, a novel for young adults. It is a gripping tale of magic, wolves, ravens, compassion, and empathy in the wilderness of Montana's Bitterroot Mountains.

When not hiking, climbing, or skiing in the Bitterroot Mountains, Hoyt continues to write books, short stories, and articles about the subjects he loves.