Robert K. Brinton (January 9, 1915 – December 9, 1996) was a pioneer American rock climber and ski mountaineer. Along with his frequent climbing partner, Glen Dawson, he made numerous first ascents in California, British Columbia, and Utah in the 1930s and named a number of well-known routes.
Early life
As a youth, Brinton became a member of the Trailfinders, an outdoors club for boys. It was here that he met Glen Dawson and his brother Muir. Brinton graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1932. He undertook undergraduate studies at the University of California Los Angeles, receiving a BA in Chemistry in 1936. While at UCLA he participated on the ski team under the direction Dr. Walter Mosauer, a ski mountaineering enthusiast.
Climbing career
Brinton’s early activities were in conjunction with the Ski Mountaineers section of the Sierra Club Los Angeles chapter, which along with Walter Mosauer and George Bauwens he helped found in 1935. He also named the club’s newsletter, The Mugelnoos, which began publication in 1938. In 1936 he made an ascent on skis of Dunderberg Peak with Walter Mosauer during Easter break from UCLA.
After the “discovery” of Tahquitz Rock in the San Jacinto Mountains as a prime area for southern California mountain climbing by James Smith and a scouting committee of the Rock Climbing Section of the Sierra Club Los Angeles chapter, Brinton pioneered and named a number of the classic climbing routes. He followed on the first technical ascent of the rock, via “The Trough“ in August 1936 and in September of the same year was one of the first ascensionists of the more difficult “Fingertip Traverse” (class 5.4), along with Jim Smith and Art Johnson on September 19, 1936. It was followed shortly thereafter by “Piton Pooper” (class 5.7+), climbed by Brinton, Art Johnson, Bill Rice, and Jim Smith on August 20, 1936. "The Trough" (class 5.4) was first ascended by Brinton, Jim Smith, and Zene Jasaitis two days later on August 22, 1936. In September 1939, Brinton also made the first ascent of “From Bad Traverse” (class 4) with Homer Fuller. The name for this route is an “unspeakable pun by Bob Brinton”. Indeed, all of these routes were named by Brinton, known for his sense of humor; “Angel’s Fright” (class 5.6), while not a first ascent by Brinton, was a punning reference to Angels Flight, a funicular railway in downtown Los Angeles. The system for gauging route difficulty for climbs, the Yosemite Decimal System, had its origins in the rating of routes at Tahquitz.
Brinton also climbed in the Sierra Nevadas, with a number of first ascents in the Mt. Whitney region. In August 1936, Brinton established three new routes up Thor Peak. The first was the SE face of Thor Peak from Mirror Point (class 5.0), climbed by Brinton and Bill Rice on August 6 The next day, Brinton, along with Glen Dawson and Bill Rice, established “The Stemwinder” (class 5.4) up the SE Chimney. On the same day, Brinton, Rice, and Dawson also made the first descent of the "West Arête" of Thor Peak (class 2), and they accomplished the first ascent of Pinnacle Pass Needle (class 4). Perhaps the most notable of Brinton’s first ascents was of the East Buttress of Mt. Whitney. This route (class 5.7) was pioneered by Brinton, Dick Jones, Muir Dawson, Glen Dawson, and Howard Koster on September 5, 1937 and named the “Sunshine” or “Sunshine-Peewee” route”. At the top, the climbers were met by about 100 of their friends, who had climbed up the trail. In a personal letter, Dawson describes this as his “favorite climb”. The success of this climb was featured in a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times as well as in an article in the Los Angeles Herald and Express entitled “Triumph of Stout Hearts –LA Youths Climb – To ‘Roof of United States’”.
In Yosemite, Brinton and Bill Rice made the second ascent of Royal Arches (class 5.9) and Lower Cathedral Spire in May 1937 (and again in 1941). A climb up the North Palisade in July 1938 led to the rescue of three climbers who were unroped and inadequately equipped; after roping the climbers and assisting them to the top, the group spent an unanticipated and cold night on the mountain.