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.

[5] Brinton's early activities were in conjunction with the Ski Mountaineers section of the Sierra Club Los Angeles chapter,[6] which along with Walter Mosauer and George Bauwens he helped found in 1935.

[11][12] 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.

[24] 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).

Unsuccessful attempts to climb Monument Peak in Arizona with Glen Dawson in October 1937[27] and Shiprock in New Mexico with Glen Dawson and Bill Rice on January 8, 1938,[28] finally led to success on June 5, 1938, when the threesome pioneered a route up the Sentinel in Zion National Park in Utah.

[30] After an extended period of inclement weather, the group was able to climb the Bugaboo Spire by the Kain Route on August 20.

A first ascent of the West Ridge of Crescent Spire was achieved by Brinton, Homer Fuller and Howard Gates on August 28, 1938.

[30] Finally, during the time that Brinton spent at Northwestern University in the war years (see below), he was associated with the Chicago Mountaineering Club.

It is said that during the first ascent, the renowned climber Fritz Wiessner backed off an attempt and then "Brinton climbed to this high point, devised a traverse, and stamped his name on the classic-of-all-classics at Devil's Lake".

[34] Brinton had a comedic role (uncredited) as "Herman from the Bronx" in the MGM short film "Three on a Rope", written and directed by Willard Vander Veer and narrated by Pete Smith.

[35] The movie stars Brinton, LaVere Daniels, Bill Rice, Jim Smith, Howard Koster, and Art Johnson.

[39] And in March 1939, Brinton, Chet Errett, and Lloyd Warner made the first winter ascent of Banner Peak.

[40] Again, this achievement is memorialized in the Los Angeles Times: "Three Men on Skis Make First Winter Climb of Sierran Peak".

[41] In early 1942, Brinton and Chester L. Errett, with the help of Glen Dawson, held a class at Belmont High School in Los Angeles to recruit members for the 87th Infantry Regiment (United States) of the U.S. Army, and then led a six-week training course.

Baldy ski hut was built in the fall of 1935; it involved the human transport of all building materials from 7100' to 8300' on a three-mile trail.

[49][50] Later wartime work focused on the distribution pattern of various non-persistent war gases under actual field conditions, with testing in Kentucky, Florida, Panama; at the end of the war, Brinton served as a technical field observer in the Southwest Pacific Area (Australia, New Guinea, Philippines).

[48] Brinton began his professorial career at the University of California, Davis, in 1948; his research focused of photochemistry and chemical kinetics, and he had a special expertise in laboratory design (glass blowing, machining, and electronics).