He was born in 1958 in Huntsville, Alabama and moved to West Springfield, Virginia. At 13 he started rock climbing at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. In the spring of 1975 Jesse Guthrie placed the first bolt at Seneca Rocks, causing a controversy and subsequent critique of climbings future. After graduating high school in 1975 he climbed throughout North America in places like Boulder Colorado, Yosemite California and the Shawangunk Ridge, before becoming a professional bareback rodeo rider in 1978. In 1979 he won the Virginia state champion bareback riding belt buckle and award. In the following years he became one of the No. 1 ranked riders of the American Rodeo Association.