I am into my 7th year of tree climbing. During that time I have been fortunate enough to have trained under and climbed with some of the best people in the world. I was self taught for about a year and a half. By then I was hooked on the sport but realized that I needed more training. I received instruction under Abe Winters and Joe Maher at Tree Climbing USA. After that I took the Arbormaster class taught by Rip Tompkins. Next I took both of the Rope Tech courses and the Vertical class taught by Bruce Smith at On Rope 1. This is a great bunch of guys and I highly recommend them.

I was invited to attend the inaugural 2004 Rainforest Tree Climbing Expedition to Panama. Here I met Tim Kovar who helped me refine my single rope technique. At the time, Tim was an instructor at the Tom Brown School of Tracking. Coincidently, I had recently begun to read Tom Brown's series of books. Tom's philosophy has had a major impact on my respect for the trees, which, in turn, has drastically changed my technique. Now my goal on every climb is to attempt to leave the tree without a trace.

Shortly after returning from Panama I got a call out of the blue from a group of professional arborists from Minnesota. Bruce Smith had told them about me. They wanted to know if I would accompany them to northern California and help hang a full size trampoline up in the redwoods. The trampoline would be for staging climbs, running a zip line and sleeping. Took me all of 2 seconds to say "Yes!" to that invitation. Another great group of people and an experience that I will never forget.

I own a 35 acre forest surrounding my home on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I climb here 3 plus days a week, year round. I have spent years developing my own style of climbing. I consider myself a "software" climber; meaning, I use the least amount of hardware that I can. I like to keep the system as simple as possible. This allows you to travel lighter and costs less to get started. My method is simple and efficient. I look forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge with new students.

See you in the trees!

P.S. Please note, my email address has changed to bxwray@gmail.com.