2003 World Champion Bernd Strasser, known as "Beddes" by friends, has been climbing for 14 years. Since 1994, he has been competing at the chapter and international levels. Strasser has finished with two 2nd and four 1st place rankings in the last six years of European Masters' Challenges. He owns the tree climbing team Baumkletterteam, which specializes in seed collecting, research facilitation, and pruning. Strasser gives worldwide workshops on advanced climbing techniques, aerial rescue, and rigging. He is a certified European tree worker, a certified instructor for chainsaw use in trees, and an instructor for several German seed institutions. Strasser has a 12-year-old son, Silas, and enjoys every minute he can spend with him. In his spare time, Strasser enjoys "pretty much every summer and winter outdoor activity." You'll often find him paragliding, snowboarding, cross-country touring, hiking, canoeing, running, and especially climbing trees.

2004 European Champion Mark Bridge is a 14-year veteran of the arboricultural profession. He is a co-founder of Baumpartner, a tree care cooperative founded in 2000 and based in Basel, Switzerland. Today, Baumpartner serves both northwestern Switzerland and southern Germany. Bridge resides in Basel with his wife and their three daughters.

With 12 years of competitive experience in the Atlantic Chapter, Danny LeBlanc is in his ninth year of international competition. The ISA Certified Tree Worker has worked in all sectors of the arboricultural industry as a private, utility, and municipal arborist during his 17 years in the profession. He is the father of three daughters-Jessica, 12; Zoee, 10; and Charli, 9-and his outside interests include curling and beer.

Australia Chapter member Brett Hamlin enters this summer's competition with three years of international climbing experience. Hamlin, who has been climbing 16 years, has been competing at the chapter level for seven years. He holds a certificate in arboriculture and has been a self-employed arborist in Kingscliff, New South Wales for eight years. A married man, Hamlin enjoys surfing, bushwalking, and snowboarding.

After competing for two years at the chapter level, Sebastian Slovik participated in his first international competition this year in Maastricht. Slovik will compete in Pittsburgh with ten years of climbing experience behind him. He began his arboricultural career in Canada a decade ago with ArborCARE in Calgary, Alberta. An ISA Certified Arborist, he has been spending his summers as a self-employed arborist and his winters as a forester for the past eight years. Slovik is a native of Austria and has two daughters, Viktoria and Helene, with his wife, Michi. He enjoys travel and spending time with his family.

Andes Rommerdahl represents the Denmark Chapter in his first ITCC competition. With nine years of climbing experience, he has been competing at the chapter level for eight years. His fastest reported 40' footlock time is 25 seconds.

After six years of climbing and competing at the chapter level, Chris Meitner enters his second year of international competition. Meitner has been in the tree industry for six years, working as top climber for Scotts Tree Service, Inc. in Fort Pierce, Florida for the past five. Christopher and his wife, Tiffany, have four children-Stephen, Austin, Nathaniel, and Julia. The ISA volunteer's interests include church, fishing, and helping family and friends.

Michel Schneider, a climber of eight years, enters this year's competition with four years of international experience. Schneider has been an arborist for nine years, specializing as a contractor, supplier, and state forestry officer. He and his partner, Saffre, have four children-Camille, Cassandre, Clément, and Simon. Schneider resides with his family in Roussas, France and his interests include fishing, sail boarding, and hang gliding.

With six years of climbing experience, Ronny Epple is a four-time international competitor. In 1999, Epple completed his three-year forestry education and started his own company. He is now a self-employed arborist and four-year member of the Baumkletterteam-a tree climbing team in Gomadingen, Germany. He credits teammate Bernd "Beddes" Strasser for teaching him most of his climbing skills. Epple lives in a custom-made RV and spends his free time snowboarding, hiking, and traveling.

Jason Diehl is employed by Davey Tree Expert Company in Burr Ridge, Illinois. His fastest reported 40' footlock time is 20.5 seconds.

Gary Brough returns this year for his second consecutive ITCC competition. With eight years of climbing experience, Brough is a foreman and safety coordinator at Bartlett Tree Experts in Indiana. He and his wife, Christina, have been married nine years and have a son, Garrison. In his spare time, Brough can be found either spending quality time with his family or hunting, fishing, and rope splicing.

Tamil Verhagen travels from his home in Culemborg, the Netherlands to represent the KPB Dutch Chapter at this year's ITCC competition. With an education in sylviculture and an enthusiasm for field training, Verhagen entered the tree care business four years ago. In 2002, he began working as a "tree surgeon" for Bleekemolen Trees in Huizen, the Netherlands. He is still with the company today and says he is "having a great time!"

ISA Certified Arborist Chris O'Bryan makes his second appearance as an international competitor this summer. O'Bryan earned his bachelor's degree in forestry from the University of Kentucky in 1999. In the years that have followed, he has climbed for a number of tree companies as well as the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho. O'Bryan is now employed as an arborist for Williams Tree Service as he pursues his Masters of Forest Resources at Clemson University. O'Bryan and his partner, Amanda, have one daughter, Nina. When he isn't spending time with his daughter, O'Bryan can be found "tinkering and building wooden benches."

Vincent Kowalski, a climber of 18 years, enters his second ITCC competition this summer. Educated in the field, Kowalski began his career as a tree trimmer in Georgia. After returning to his home state of Michigan, he did trimming for a small company and later worked in line clearance. Three years ago, Kowalski started his own trimming company, A Christian Tree Service, in his home of Flint, Michigan. He and his wife, Andrea, have five children-Ryan, Nicholas, Ashley, Joseph, and Caitlyn. He is a member of the Michigan Chapter and has volunteered as a tech for their past aerial rescue events. Kowalski's outside interests include work and church.

A climber of eight years, David Booth has two years of international competitive experience and has been competing at the chapter level since 1999. Booth entered arboriculture with a background in wildlife education and has worked for The Care of Trees in Dulles, Virginia for the past nine years. Today, he is a regional trainer for the company and an ISA Certified Arborist. Booth and his wife Tracy have two children-Kaitlyn, 5, and Taryn, 2. His outside interests include family, fishing, hunting, and river trips.

With nine years of climbing experience, Noel Boyer will be entering his third international climbing competition. Boyer, who graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a bachelor's degree in psychology, began his career in tree work in 1995 at Plant Health Care in Springfield, Missouri. Since then, Boyer has worked as a climber, crew leader, and landscape department manager for the company. In 2003, the ISA Certified Arborist became the company's plant health care manager. Boyer and his wife Myria reside in Springfield with their daughters Mary, 3, and Lily, 1. In his free time he enjoys camping, fishing, landscaping his home, and eating.

Chad Brey is a second-time international competitor at this summer's ITCC. Brey began his professional climbing career in 1997. Today, he is a member of Tree Climbing Team USA and the Canopy High Club. In his spare time, Brey enjoys recreational tree climbing and "just playing in the outdoors." He is looking forward to meeting up with old friends, as well as making new ones, at this year's competition.

Mike Jerome, an ISA Certified Arborist, makes his fourth ITCC appearance this summer. Jerome, who has been climbing 21 years, began competing after completing the Arbor Master training program eight years ago. With bachelor's degrees in economics and psychology, he worked for Bark Busters Tree Service in Weston, Massachusetts for four years before purchasing the company in 2003. Jerome lives in Westwood, Massachusetts with his wife, Laurie. His interests include extreme skiing, the beach, and books.

Mark Chisholm began his climbing career 21 years ago while working for his family's business, Aspen Tree Expert Co., Inc. Now a 14-year veteran of international competition, Chisholm continues to climb as the company's co-owner. Outside the family business, Chisholm is a consultant and spokesperson for Stihl, Inc. and New England Ropes. An ISA Certified Arborist, he serves as a trustee for ISA's New Jersey Chapter and lives in Freehold, New Jersey with his wife, Annie, and their children Ricky, Lexi, and Libby. Chisholm plays in a men's hockey league three nights a week and likes watching New Jersey Devils hockey games on T.V.

With little more than 15 years of climbing experience, Trevor Hall competes for the first time at ITCC this summer. After earning a bachelor's degree in urban forestry from the University of Maryland, Hall began his career in arboriculture with A & A Tree Experts in Baltimore, Maryland. Three years later, he transferred to Bartlett Tree Experts in Baltimore. Since then, he has worked for Bartlett's Annapolis, Maryland and Manhattan, New York branches. After 12 years with the company, he is currently a representative and foreman for Bartlett in Elmsford, New York. The ISA Certified Arborist has a two and a half year old son, Quentin.

Ten-year climber Andrew Harrison is returning to ITCC in his fourth year of international competition. Harrison, who holds an advanced certificate in arboriculture, has climbed for several arboricultural companies in New Zealand in the past. He manufactures "Harrison Rocket" throw bags and is now in his fifth year as a self-employed arborist. He and his wife, Alison, have two daughters, Ruby and Mirie. Harrison spends his free time collecting seeds from Giant New Zealand Kauri trees, some of which are more than 2,000 years old.

Martin Kjølås travels to Pittsburgh from his home Sætre, Norway for his eighth ITCC competition. Kjølås, a 13-year climber, was educated as a landscaper and arborist. He began his arboricultural career 16 years ago and has been self-employed for the past decade. He now divides his time at work between landscaping and climbing. "I love my work, even when it rains and when it's snowing," says Kjølås. He has an 11-year-old daughter, Ida Benedicte. As for free time, Kjølås says, "I have a daughter and a nice dog, a house, and a car, and that takes all my time." When he does find a spare moment, Kjølås enjoys boating in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Ohio Chapter member Richard Hattier appears for the first time as an international competitor this summer, after three years of chapter competition. After entering arboriculture in 1991 as a climber, Hattier became an ISA Certified Arborist in 1994 and an ISA Certified Tree Worker/Climber Specialist in 2002. For the past five years, he has owned and operated Applied Arbor, LLC in South Euclid, Ohio. Hattier and his wife, Toni Lynn, have three sons-Copper, Harley, and Bentley. When he isn't climbing, he enjoys rock climbing, floor hockey, and perennial gardening.

John Ransom makes his fourth appearance as an international competitor with eight years of climbing experience. Ransom has owned and operated Lorax Tree Service in St. Catharines, Ontario for the past five years. An ISA Certified Tree Worker, he is also a climbing instructor for ArborMaster and has served on the ISA test committee.

In his 18 years as a climber, Dan Kraus has acquired five years of international and 15 years of chapter competitive experience. After earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kraus lived and worked in Hawaii, climbing the "amazing" island trees until relocating to Seattle, Washington six years ago. Since then, he has been working as a foreman for Seattle Tree Preservation. Kraus and his wife, Justina, are the proud owners of a dog named Bark. The ISA Certified Arborist says he spends his free time rescuing stranded cats from trees for their concerned owners.

Four-time Penn-Del champion Jim Roach returns to ITCC this summer for his third year of international competition. After starting out in the arboricultural profession with a small company, Roach transferred to the John B. Ward Co. 13 years ago. Roach, an ISA Certified Arborist, remains with the company today as an arborist. He and his wife, Debbie, live in Turnersville, New Jersey with their sons Jimmy, Patrick, and Christopher. Roach's outside interests include family and computers.

Frank Chipps, reporting a 40' footlock time of 12 seconds, is in his first year of international competition. An arborist of 12 years and a climber of seven, Chipps is now owner and chief executive officer of Chipps Treecare in Tofield, Alberta, Canada. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and volunteer for the Prairie Chapter's Arbor Day celebrations. He and his wife, Cynthia, have two children-Wyatt, 3, and Georgia, 2 months. In his free time, Chipps likes to "climb a bit, fish a bit, hunt a bit, climb a little bit more, and then hunt some more."

With seven years of climbing experience, this marks Richard Aubé's third year as an ITCC competitor. In 2002, Aubé finished fifth at ITCC in Seattle. In his professional life, Aubé brings past experience in line clearing and private arboriculture to Service d'arbe Marabel, a tree service he owns and operates in Longueuil, Québec. Aubé's outside interests include snowboarding and ice motocross.

After four years of competition in the Rocky Mountain Chapter, Luke Glines will make his first appearance as an international competitor this summer. Glines, who holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in theology, began his career in arboriculture doing power line clearance. For the past seven years, Glines has owned and operated Luke Glines Tree Experts, a tree service specializing in climbing. The business is located in Eaton, Colorado, where he also lives with his wife Debbie and their daughter Hannah, 10. When the ISA Certified Arborist isn't up in the trees, you'll find him spending hours in the bookstore, drinking coffee, watching bull riding competitions, and relaxing with his "great family."

With five years of climbing experience behind him, Alistar Magee appears in his second consecutive ITCC competition. During his two years of arboricultural training, Magee worked as a part-time climber. After earning a national certificate and a national diploma in arboriculture, Magee worked as a climber in Holland, Amsterdam, and eventually Sweden. For the past two years, Magee has been employed by Hartill Träd Expert. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, climbing, and kite surfing.

With one and half years of climbing experience, Miguel Pastenes will represent the Texas Chapter as a first-time international climbing competitor. Once a ground man, he is now a climber for Arborilogical Services, Inc. In his free time, Pastenes enjoys soccer and music.

Gavin Rodenhurst has been a self-employed climbing arborist for ten years. Now in his second year of international competition, Rodenhurst has been competing at the chapter level for eight years. Now a contract climber based out of Wrexham, England, the ISA Certified Arborist has done tree work in London, Dublin, New York, and Melbourne. Rodenhurst is a member of ISA's UK/Ireland Chapter and has volunteered for the chapter's climbing workshops. He resides today in Wrexham with his partner of six years, Katharine Rose. Aside from arboriculture, Rodenhurst's outside interests include mountain walking, windsurfing, camping, gardening, and charity fundraising.

Mike Minardi, a climber of four years, will be competing for the first time at the international level this summer. Shortly after beginning his career in arboriculture in Wisconsin, Minardi suffered a near-fatal fall. After recovering, Minardi moved to Utah where he has been an arborist for ArborCare-Arborscape for three years. An ISA Certified Arborist, Minardi returns to Wisconsin every winter for two to three months to improve his arboricultural skills. In his free time, Minardi enjoys rock climbing, hiking, sailing, attending poetry readings, and watching movies.

Western Chapter member Kenny Rawe competes at ITCC for the first time this summer, with three years of chapter-level experience behind him. Rawe began his career in tree work six years ago at Grover Tree Service in Modesto, California. For the past three years, he has been an arborist for Redwoods to Roses Tree Service in Chico, California. Rawe's first love was "being around nature." He now spends the bulk of his free time playing outdoor sports (especially basketball), participating in water sports, and climbing for recreation.

Mike Stanonik arrives in Pittsburgh as a first-time international competitor after competing three years at the Wisconsin Chapter level. Stanonik, an ISA Certified Arborist, has a bachelor's degree in urban forestry from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. For the past three years, he has been an arborist for the city of Appleton, Wisconsin. With five years climbing experience, Stanonik teaches climbing and rigging techniques to students at Midstate Technical College part-time, and tree and shrub identification to students at Fox Valley Technical College. Stanonik resides in Appleton with his wife, Rebecca. An outdoor sports enthusiast, he enjoys camping, hiking, and biking.