Introducing AHS Ambassador Michael Lanza

American Hiking Society is thrilled to welcome Michael Lanza to the Ambassador Program of AHS- where he hopes to inspire families to discover the powerful emotional payoff and bond achieved through sharing outdoor experiences.

Michael Lanza is the creator of The Big Outside, where he blogs about his outdoor adventures, including many with his wife and children. The Big Outside has made numerous top blog lists, including USA Today’s Readers Choice list of Top 10 Hiking and Outdoors Bloggers in 2014.

Michael was the Northwest Editor of Backpacker magazine for 11 years and continues to write for the magazine. His book Before They’re Gone—A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks, winner of a National Outdoor Book Award honorable mention, chronicles his wilderness adventures with his wife and their young son and daughter in national parks threatened by climate change. An avid backpacker, climber, backcountry skier, and cyclist, he has hiked and climbed extensively in the U.S. West and Northeast and published stories in numerous magazines about adventure travels on four continents. His articles about global warming helped Backpacker earn a National Magazine Award for general excellence in 2008. He was previously a magazine editor, co-hosted a call-in radio program on New Hampshire Public Radio, and syndicated a weekly outdoor column in about two dozen New England newspapers.

Michael lives with his wife and their two teenagers in Boise, Idaho, where they frequently get out on local trails and explore Idaho’s mountains and rivers.

Read our #HikingMakesMe Interview with Michael.

Learn more about American Hiking Society’s Ambassadors, HERE.