Pre-1980s: The Early Roots of ECP Mountaineering

Prior to the 1980s, mountaineering instruction in the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh (ECP) took a variety of informal forms. ECP founder Ivan Jirak ran an outdoor club at Perry High School, where he taught in the late 1960s and early 1970s, introducing those students to the broader ECP. Alongside other early ECP pillars Ivan provided foundational, real-world mountaineering instruction. During this era Ivan led several trips to the Andes and three historic trips to Angel Falls in Venezuela, culminating in a successful ascent with club members George Bogel and John Timo. Ivan also led a massive, legendary expedition to Peru around 1969, bringing 33 club members into the high Andes. Throughout the 1970s, informal mountaineering instruction forged ahead, sustained by the active participation of climbers like George Bogel, Jay Hellman, Bruce Cox, and Jim Painter.

However, high-altitude climbing is an unforgiving teacher, and the late 1970s brought critical turning points for the club's safety philosophy. In 1977, Bruce McClellan participated in a major expedition to Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas. The expedition suffered tragic fatalities - a sobering reminder of the real dangers inherent to the high peaks that heavily underscored the need for rigorous, standardized training back home.

1981 to 1990: Formalization and the First Schools

Driven by the need for accountability and structure, Bruce McClellan stepped up to institutionalize a more formal Mountaineering School for the club, running it as director for the 1981 and 1982 seasons. While the group was proficient in rock and ice climbing, they recognized a critical need to teach and gain skills for big, snowy mountains. A strict, mandatory pre-qualification process was implemented where prospective students had to complete formal classroom sessions, pass rigorous skill tests, and survive a mandatory checkout at McConnels Mill State Park before being officially accepted into the program.

Bill Brose recalls, “When I was just starting to rock climb around that time, Bruce bluntly told me I didn’t have enough experience to even take the school! While I never actually went through the curriculum as a student, it wasn’t long after, in 1983, that I went on my first true mountaineering trip, led by Bruce to the Mexican Volcanoes. That expedition culminated in a successful ascent of Pico de Orizaba, the third-highest peak in North America, alongside club members Bruce Cox, Joe and Linda Perry, and Charlie Kennedy.”

The initial school size was approximately 12 students with 4-6 instructors. Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (FOTH) was firmly established as the primary source text with Climbing Ice by Yvon Chouinard as an additional reference.

This era also marked the school's very first international graduation trip: an expedition to Mexico to climb Popocatépetl, where the team split their objectives between the standard route and the technically demanding harder routes (based upon experience and ability).

The core instructional protocol remained largely consistent from 1983 through 1990, though the school’s intensity briefly fluctuated. The momentum surged again in the late 80s under fresh leadership. Blake Ward, a Canadian climber, took the reins as director in 1989, and Rick Huggins ran the school in 1990 alongside Bernd Bruegge. In 1988, Blake led the club’s inaugural expedition to the Canadian Rockies - a rugged destination that quickly became a club favorite for rock, ice, and alpine objectives. Bill Brose and Rick Huggins were both on that foundational trip. The technical progression of the club's leadership was highlighted in 1989 when Blake Ward, Bernd Bruegge, and Rick Korf successfully climbed the notoriously difficult West Rib route on Mt. McKinley (Denali). 

1991 to 1995: The Ecuador Expeditions and Seneca Grunts

In the winter seasons of 1991 through 1994, Bruce McClellan returned to co-direct the school with Chip Kamin and Bob Cenk. Chip brought world-class elite experience to the table, including a high-altitude ascent of Ama Dablam in the Himalayas that earned formal recognition from the American Alpine Club. Chip’s focus was fitness and conditioning, including training at the Cathedral of Learning and on other outings.

Under this leadership group, the school grew, running larger student classes that required full-sized tour buses for ground transportation once on location. Graduation trips morphed into intensive, two-week international expeditions to Ecuador to climb Mount Chimborazo (20,548’ elevation) reserved strictly for qualified students.

The preparation to get students ready for a 20,000-foot peak was legendary, particularly during the school’s intense training outings at Seneca Rocks. A typical Seneca weekend was an exhausting gauntlet:

• A caving outing followed by grueling endurance marches along the North Fork Trail or grinding up and down steep utility cuts.

• Because there was no pedestrian bridge over the river at the time, teams of three had to forge the rushing currents out and back. They used long, heavy tree branches held in unison to anchor one another against the flow, keeping the lead team member positioned upstream to break the current.

• Once on the actual rocks, training culminated in advanced ropework, including rigging and using a Tyrolean traverse between Seneca's peaks and executing simulated rescue evacuations from the summit using a heavy Stokes litter.

These schools produced a fiercely resilient generation of mountaineers, including Tom Brooks, B.J. Miller, and Tim McKivigan. The grit of this era was proven during the 1992-1993 Ecuador trip: despite a severe wave of illness that left the majority of the team violently vomiting at the Cotopaxi hut, B.J. Miller, Steve Downing, Ralph Melocchi, and Tim McKivigan pushed through the sickness to successfully stand on the summit of Chimborazo.

1995 to 2005: Revival and Technical Standardization

The school languished for a brief window until Bill Brose revived it in the fall of 1995. His own climbing experiences heavily shaped his view of what the school could be: in 1995, Bill summited the North Face of Mt. Athabasca in the Canadian Rockies with Tom Brooks, Rick Huggins, and Mike Brown, and in early 1996, he traveled to the Peruvian Andes with Tom, Tim McKivigan, and Dave Kahley for a serious attempt on Huascarán.

Bill directed the school for three consecutive seasons, striving to build a structured, modern framework. Reviewing archives from Bruce McClellan and Chip Kamin, he formalized comprehensive schedules, applications, and requirements. He updated the technical curriculum, pairing Freedom of the Hills with Andy Selters’ Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue to standardize haul systems, node checks, and rescue physics.

Admissions required basic rope, knot, belay, and rappel proficiency, tested at an opening outing, alongside a 10-minute Cathedral stairs fitness benchmark. Mid-season, students tackled 12 stair repetitions to simulate 5,000 feet of ascent. Lectures covered conditioning (given by Bill or Chip) and mountaineering medicine (by Bob Coblentz).

Hands-on training was continuous. Rope teams marched across park fields to practice crevasse falls and self-arrests, while Z-pulley rescues were simulated by hauling sleds up snowy hills. Bill emphasized axe and crampon execution, including French technique practiced on local icy slopes, ditches, and frozen streams.

Outings featured a winter backpacking trip to Dolly Sods prior to graduation. To guarantee steep ice experience, Bill shifted the graduation trip from Mount Washington’s snowfields to the Adirondacks.

Some students from those years went on to lead the school in ensuing years: Aaron Bennett, David Micklo, Bill Molczan, Paul Tompkins, Shawn Klimek, Donna Ruff, and Jason DeChicchis.

The Turn of the Century

The leadership structure continued to formalize as the school grew into a highly organized institution.

• 1999–2000 Season: David Micklo and Aaron Bennett stepped up as co-directors to run exceptionally solid schools. This period marked the school's vital transition into the digital age, shifting all logistics and communication over to email and listservs. They also returned the graduation trip back to its traditional mountaineering roots on the high, wind-scoured ridges of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

• 2000–2002 Seasons: David Micklo continued his leadership run, serving as co-director alongside Tom Prigg for two consecutive terms. The technical dividends of this continuous training paid off in 2003 with Dave Micklo, Jason DeChicchis, Paul Tompkins, and Shawn Klimek summitting Denali.

• 2002–2004 Seasons: Tom Prigg ran the school as director, with John Hrizo taking over the reins late in the second winter. During this era, dedicated avalanche safety blocks were officially added to the curriculum, driven by several instructors completing weekend avalanche certifications in the White Mountains. Fitness tracking and strict student conditioning guidelines were also introduced, a natural reflection of an instructor cadre heavily involved in competitive adventure racing. Just weeks before writing the original draft of this history, Tom and Dave Micklo made a successful ascent of the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome in Yosemite, joining the  handful of big-wall aid climbing achievements by ECP club members.

• 2004–2005 Season: John Hrizo took charge as director, flanked by Dan Tenant and Brian Wolovich as assistant directors. To streamline oversight, David Micklo transitioned to serve as the School Committee Chair across both the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 terms.

2006 to Present: Modernization and Standardization

From 2006 onward, the Mountaineering School embraced a modern, highly collaborative leadership paradigm. The traditional single-director model shifted permanently to co-directorship fully supported by an active committee of veteran volunteers. Former school students continued to rack up expeditions to the Himalaya, Andes, the seven summits, and the poles. Don Wargowsky went on to make his career in professional mountain guiding.

2006-2007

• Leadership: David Micklo and Sid Wiesner (Co-directors).

• Highlights:

• • Ambitious Presidential Traverse graduation trip in the White Mountains, NH.

2007-2011

• Leadership: Brian Ottinger (Chair 2007-2008, Co-director 2009-2011); Ron Edwards (Chair 2008-2011, Co-director 2007-2008); Sid Wiesner (Co-director 2007-2008); Eliot George, Joe Stahovic Jr, and Don Wargowsky (Co-directors 2009-2010); Sam Taggart, Dave Martin, and Rick Goodwill (Co-directors 2010-2011).

• Highlights:

• • Re-implementation of stringent physical and technical pre-checks and stair training tracking.

  • The graduation trip transitioned to an invitational model.

  • Formation of the first four-person directorial team in 2009-2010.

  • Graduation trips held at Mt. Washington (2008-2012).

2011-2015

• Leadership: Felix Duvallet (Chair 2011-2013); Chris Ciesa (Chair 2014-2016); Dave Martin and Derek Stuart (Co-directors 2011-2012); Derek Stuart and Jamie Billings (Co-directors 2012-2013); Shane Shin and Jamie Billings (Co-directors 2013-2014); Shane Shin, Martha Gray, and Greg Buzalencia (Co-directors 2014-2015).

• Highlights:

• • Publication of the first digital Student Handbook in 2013.

  • FOTH remained the primary reference with additional materials transitioning from the Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue (GTCR) book to Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take you Higher.

  • Institution of a Structured Committee Model with dedicated roles ("Gear," "Stairs," "Advertising").

  • Overhaul of gear inventory and replacement planning.

  • Graduation trips to Mt. Whitney (2013-2014) and the Great Range Traverse (2014-2015).

2016-present

• Leadership: Jamie Billings (Chair 2016-2027, a dedication to the role that is unsurpassed); Paul Toth (Co-director through 2018); Bowen Lee (Co-director through 2019, and 2019-2020); Jim Laird, Ryan Taylor, and Stacy Sckellough (Co-directors 2019-2020); Abilash Subbaraman, Amanda Dahm, and Ergin Ozkucur (Directors 2023-2024); Abilash Subbaraman and Steevo Cummings (Directors 2024-2025); Tony (Director 2025-2026); Lindsey Waugaman (Director 2025-2027); Julia Buffalini (Director 2025-2026); Scott Corl and Anusha Sinh (Directors 2026-2027).

• Highlights:

• • Return to Mt. Whitney for graduation trips (2022-2023, 2024-2025).

  • Continued standardization of technical objectives and director rotations.

  • Review clinics implemented for instructors prior to Self Rescue and Cravesse Rescue.

Alongside these leadership rotations in the past decade came critical infrastructure upgrades. Communication migrated cleanly from old listservs to Google Groups, and the school’s independent web presence was fully integrated into the modern, centralized ECP website. Gear caches have been consistently updated with modern alpine equipment, curriculum guidelines are adjusted yearly to match shifting industry safety protocols, and textbook editions are updated dynamically. Yet, through all this modernization, our oldest and most faithful traditions remain fully intact, including the legendary conditioning grunts up and down the concrete stairs of the Cathedral of Learning.

Conclusion

The heart of the ECP Mountaineering School is its community. The enduring devotion of volunteer instructors, all drawn from past decades of graduates, creates an endless cycle of mentorship to pay it forward, keeping the school humming along and preparing future, competent, self-reliant mountaineers right here in Pittsburgh. Every fall and winter, a brand-new class of students and a dedicated crew of veteran graduates step up to carry on this proud tradition - stepping out of our humble, hilly little steel town and marching upward into the high places on earth.

Composed by Bill Brose, Bruce McClellan, and Ron Edwards.