A century ago, before 10,000 tourists a year threatened to drown out the sound of Emperor Falls, before weekly helicopter trips dropped wealthy sightseers onto the Robson Glacier, two men – a nationalist Reverend consumed with the peak and a 24-year-old who had never climbed a mountain in his life became the first two men to climb the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Almost.

For a period of four years, Reverend George Kinney and Don ‘Curly’ Phillips were credited with the first ascent of Mount Robson, which was later dismissed. The duo came within about 50 metres of the actual summit. However the scope of Rev. Kinney and Phillip’s journey has kept their story alive, thanks to the efforts of historians and family members.

“The family didn’t talk that much about it. Rev. Kinney died when I was 11, so I was too young to think of asking the right questions. But I started researching and am now doing a biography,” said Maureen Hoode, Rev. Kinney’s granddaughter.

“They did not get to the top, but from where they were, they thought they were on the summit because of the mist and clouds,” said author Chic Scott. “There was no malice, they just thought they were on the top.”

(The actual summit of Mount Robson is flat – large enough for a grocery store, Scott said.)
It’s a story that nearly disappeared due to decades of in-fighting and personal prejudices within the climbing community. Then Alpine club of Canada president Arthur Wheeler, who was planning his own ascent of Mount Robson, was allegedly upset by Kinney’s summit.

“Wheeler treated Kinney so poorly. He didn’t trust or believe him because he wasn’t one of them. At the time, the alpine club was a snobbish club, and Rev. Kinney was a man of the people, not an upper crust snob,” Scott said.

Recently, the descendents of the pair gathered at the Robson Campground to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the duo’s climb. About 40 members from both families gathered for the event, with some travelling from Australia and New Zealand for the event. Scott, historian Zack Robinson and geologist Chas Yonge also spoke at the event, and several of Rev. Kinney’s original slides were put on display as part of the event.

Rev. Kinney originally attempted to summit Mount Robson in 1908 with the Coleman brothers, however the trip was marred by three weeks of snowstorms and the summit proved unreachable. The failure consumed Kinney, who immediately planned to try again.

The following year, Kinney heard a rumour that a party of foreigners was planning and ascent of Mount Robson in the summer of 1909. Panicked, Kinney sent a wire to packer John Yates. Yates messaged back that it would be ‘madness’ to start the mountain so early in the year.

So Rev. Kinney left his Victoria home for Edmonton on his own.

On June 11, with only $2.85 in his pocket and three horses with three months provisions, Kinney left Edmonton bound for Mount Robson. The going was hard, and Kinney nearly lost his horses and his life in the Rocky River, and had all of his bacon stolen by dogs while camping near John Moberly’s cabin.

However the reverend felt his luck turn when Phillips rode into his camp, wearing the silver badge of the guide’s association of Ontario. The two of them teamed up and despite low food rations, were in good spirits. However by the time they reached Moose River, Phillips discovered that Kinney’s rifle barrel was bent, and shooting anything would be near impossible.

On July 24, they reached the base of Mount Robson, camping on the north side of the mountain. Kinney had an ice axe, yet Phillips only had a stick, but the duo reached
3,300 metre mark in their first summit attempt. They were then forced to wait eight days in a snow storm before trying again, when another storm hit. They made camp at 2900 metres on a ledge so narrow, they had to build a rock wall to keep from rolling off in heir sleep.

Following more bad weather, the crew finally received good news on August 12, where they made it back to the 3,000 metre mark. On August 13, with Kinney on the brink of despair, the weather held, and the duo made another attempt at the summit. They encountered cliffs covered with overhanging snow, and came to large cornices along the crest of the peak. Kinney claimed the peak in the name of God and Canada.

Or what they thought was the peak.

Phillips would later confide to Conrad Kain, who did summit the peak in 1913, that he and Kinney “reached on our ascent an ice-dome 50 or 60 feet high, which we took for the peak. The danger was to great to ascend the dome.”

Scott said while the story of Kinney and Phillips nearly disappeared, there is great appeal still in it.
“It was forgotten, but it’s been resurected. It’s the unabashed boldness of the story.”

The route Kinney took to the summit is considered quite dangerous, and according to Scott, only one other man has challenged it. Don Waterman followed the Kinney/Phillips route in 1987.

“It’s a very serious climb. Some years it’s not climbed at all because of the weather,” Scott said. “The route has objective danger.”

Hoode said the family was able to gain a greater appreciation for the journey of Kinney and Phillips, and she also compared photographs her father had taken with scenery today.

“I’m trying to reproduce the shots, but some are obscured, some are too high to reach,” Hoode said. “The glacier moved as well.”

She also said there is a bit of a family mystery surrounding the reverend. In 1908, Kinney and the Colemans travelled from Lake Louise to tackle Mount Robson in an unsuccessful attempt. The crew stopped at Wilcox pass and cached some of their gear, including several slides. Hoode said that cache has never been found, and she’s interested to hear if anyone has any clues to its whereabouts.

However the reunion wasn’t a fact finding mission.

“This was just a really good, informative gathering for the families,” Hoode said.

Despite the controversy surrounding the climb, one sentiment was clear at the family reunion, Hoode said.

“We’re careful to say it’s not the first ascent, but we feel it’s the first climb.”