William Mathews Brooks is an inventor and the founder of Brooks-Range Mountaineering Equipment Co. Matt Brooks is an avid climber and alpinist and trained as a mountain guide.

WM Brooks is well renowned for his invention of the Brooks-Range rescue ski sled. While in guide training, William Brooks found that the rescue sleds was too bulky and heavy to carry and set out to find a better solution. The result was the highly acclaimed and widely used Brooks-Range Rescue Sled.

For more than 10 years, William Mathews Brooks has continued to engineer advancements and add features to the Brooks-Range sled. William Brooks now manufactures four unique rescue sled designs: the Backcountry Rescue Sled™, the Rescue Sled™, the UltraLite Rescue Sled™, and the All-In-One Rescue Sled / Tarp™.

William Mathews Brooks is also a world record holder pilot. On May 15, 2004, pilots Fred Lohden, Tim Weber, and Matt Brooks set the 'speed around the world' westbound record at 199mph.

In November 2006, Commander Matt Brooks and Pilot Alan Cirino set nine records (four World Records and Five National Records) for speed and distance in the weight class for their aircraft:

Matt Brooks 2006 World Aviation Records:
Longest distance on a single flight without stopping
Speed over a recognized course
Speed over a closed course without stopping (1000 KM)
Speed over a closed course without stopping (2000 KM)

Matt Brooks 2006 National Aviation Records:
Trans-continental speed record across the United States
Longest distance on a single flight without stopping
Speed over a recognized course
Speed over a closed course without stopping (1000 KM)
Speed over a closed course without stopping (2000 KM)

Aviation, mountaineering, climbing