Feature Authors

	Steve Westover

	Bio: Steve grew up and graduated from high school in Salem, Oregon. He enjoyed hiking and camping with the scouts in the Oregon mountains, but his least favorite campout was a snow camp on Mt. Hood that is now referred to as “Camp Hypothermia.” Instead of building a snow cave like he was taught, Steve and his friends dug a wide ditch and placed their sleeping bags inside, figuring the ditch would protect them from the wind. It did. But it didn’t protect him from the rain. His down sleeping bag became a freezing pile of mush, and by 9:00 p.m., he was warming his freezing body next to a small camp stove. “That camp was the longest night of my life,” Steve remembers. When exhaustion set in, Steve gave up the heat of the stove and found a small corner in his Scoutmaster’s snow cave where he huddled on the ice in a puddle of water with no blankets or sleeping bag. The Scoutmaster treated Steve for hypothermia, and the entire camp ended early the next morning when the Scouts cross-country skied out of camp and back to warmth. Steve now lives on a small farm with his wife and four children, chickens, dog, cats and a duck. Steve has officially retired from snow camping.
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	Books Published with Cedar Fort: Defensive Tactics (August 2010) Crater Lake: Battle for Wizard Island (March 2012) Gold Clash (December 2012)