Brian Ottinger

Brian's interest in the outdoors began as a child, having adventures in the ravine behind his house and climbing trees, and later got into caving in the southern part of his home state of Indiana. Moving to Pittsburgh after graduating from Purdue University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Brian worked at Westinghouse Electric and met colleagues who introduced him to outdoor adventures with the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh (ECP).

His involvement with the ECP began with a month-long cave exploration and mapping expedition of vertical caves in Costa Rica in 1982. Later that year, Brian took the ECP Rock Climbing School and immediately moved into traditional lead climbing, finding that besides being a great outdoor hobby and sport, the creative aspects of route finding, gear placement, and anchor construction appealed to the engineering side of his mind.

After several years of rock climbing, Brian got married, bought a house, had two great kids, and found after a while that he’d somehow gotten out of climbing. But as his kids became older, the entire family began enjoying rock climbing, and Brian has been actively involved in rock climbing ever since.

In about 1997, Brian’s love of rock climbing broadened to include teaching in the ECP Rock Climbing School every year. His favorite topics for the school include instilling good belaying technique, building good habits, and maintaining a rigorous approach to safety while still having a lot of fun. Since 2004, Brian has served as Chairman of the ECP Rock Climbing School Committee. Besides climbing at local crags, Brian has enjoyed rock climbing at Seneca Rocks, WV; Red Rocks, AZ; Stone Mountain, NC; the Bugaboos, BC; and the Tetons, including doing The Grand Teton in a day (up and down).

In 1999, Brian wanted to take his outdoor activities to another level and was a student in the ECP Mountaineering School. While climbing is a frequent aspect of mountaineering, both rock and ice climbing, Brian likes the broader aspects of mountaineering. These include surviving and enjoying wild weather conditions, dealing with complex logistics of mountaineering travel and navigation, and the training and working hard necessary to travel to some of the most beautiful places on earth. Brian has been on mountaineering and ice climbing trips to Mt. Washington, Mt. Marcy, the Adirondacks, and the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains, NH; Ouray Ice Park and vicinity, CO; Mt. Whitney (in one day), Mt. Russell (solo, in one day), and White Mountain (in one day), CA, and Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina. Brian led a two person, self-guided and planned trip to Aconcagua and attempted the Polish Glacier Route very late in the season. While the lateness in the season resulted in weather severe enough to keep them from summiting, it also meant they were the only two people on the mountain, making it an extremely wild experience. Brian has served for the past several years as a member of the ECP Mountaineering School Committee and is an instructor with the school.

Brian also enjoys some solo outdoor activities and the required self-reliance to do them. In addition to the solo climb of Mt. Russell mentioned before, he’s also done a solo backpacking trip at the Grand Canyon, AZ, going rim-to-rim in a day, followed by the return rim-to-rim in two days so he could sightsee a bit. He also did a one month, solo bicycle trip in Europe following graduation.

A developing interest for Brian that came from his mountaineering training is long distance trail running. He’s participated in the 34.9 miles in one day Rachel Carson Trail Challenge three years in a row, is signed up for the 24.9 mile Bald Eagle Mountain MegaTransect in September, and hopes to run the 70.5 mile Laurel Highlands Ultra next year.

Travel of all kinds has always been exciting for Brian and he’s traveled in about 16 countries, having adventures through work, family, with his wife, and solo travel.

Outdoor Training:

• Rock Climbing School (1982), Explorers Club of Pittsburgh
• Mountaineering School (1999), Explorers Club of Pittsburgh
• Wilderness First Responder (2007), CDS Outdoor School, Pittsburgh, PA

Teaching Experience and Volunteer Work:

• Rock Climbing School Committee Chair for the Explorer’s Club of Pittsburgh (volunteer) (2004-Present)
• Mountaineering School Instructor for the Explorer’s Club of Pittsburgh (volunteer) (2000-present)
• Rock Climbing School Instructor for the Explorer’s Club of Pittsburgh (volunteer) (1997- present)

Significant Outdoor Experience:

• Presidential Traverse (winter, Feb.), North Conway, NH (2007), 18 miles, 9 summits
• Mt. Russell (14,086 ft), Lone Pine, CA (2006), Solo ascent in a day from Whitney Portal via East Arête
• Mt. Whitney (14,496 ft), Lone Pine, CA (2006), Ascent (Mountaineer’s Route) and descent (Whitney Trail) in a day
• White Mountain Peak (14,256 ft), Bishop, CA (2006), Trail to summit in a day (acclimatization trip). White Mountain Peak, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Russell, and a failed attempt at Mt. Russell (weather), were all done in a 5 day period.
• Cerro Aconcagua (22,841 ft), Mendoza, Argentina (2005), Late fall trip (only 2 people on the mountain). Polish Glacier Route: turned back at 19,351 ft due to extended bout of bad weather.
• Grand Canyon, Arizona (2004), Solo backpacking: Rim-to-rim in a day, followed by rim-to-rim in 2 days
• Grand Teton (13,770 ft), Wyoming (2002), Ascent/descent in a day via Upper Exum route from Climber’s Ranch, via Garnet Canyon and Lower Saddle. Additional rock climbing: Symmetry Spire, Guides Wall
• Bugaboos, British Columbia, Canada (2001), Rock climbing in an alpine environment
• Pico Duarte (10,200), Dominican Republic (2000), One day ascent (~7,000 vertical feet), 1 day descent
• Mt. Washington (6,288 ft) (winter ascents), New Hampshire (Numerous Trips), Winter mountaineering and ice climbing, multiple ascents
• Mt. Marcy (5,344 ft), Adirondacks, NY (3 winter trips), Ascent/descent in a day (3 trips)
• ECP Caving Expedition, Barra Honda National Park, Costa Rica (1982), Vertical caving, mapping, and exploration from a base camp in the jungles of Costa Rica
• Solo Bicycle Trip, 1 month, Europe (1979)