Note: This blog post has also been printed as a series of articles in
Many men are taller and stronger than their king, yet they
cannot match a good king for his authority, his majesty or the respect he
commands. As with men, so with mountains.
Mount Robson is not the tallest peak in the world, or the
continent, or the country…or even the province. But it does indeed command
authority and respect, its sheer vertical pre-eminence providing a
jaw-dropping, soul-enthralling sight. As Milton and Cheadle recorded in 1865: “On
every side the snowy heads of mighty hills crowded round, whilst, immediately
behind us, a giant among giants, and immeasurably supreme, rose Robson’s Peak”.
Growing up in the small town of Valemount, just twenty
minutes south of this mountain, I was always fascinated with Robson and the
provincial park surrounding it. I remember the specific bend in the Yellowhead
highway where we could first see its stunning rugged outline on a sunny day.
Though not a climber, I hiked to Kinney and Berg Lakes many times and drank in
the wonder of nature, one time even staying in the ranger cabin on the far side of Berg
Lake as my friend’s dad was a Park Ranger (He made us spaghetti that night).
So it is with great delight that I attempt to put together a
few geographic and historic facts that will help others appreciate this mighty
peak. Most residents of the Robson Valley will likely know most if not all of
this information already but I hope they too will enjoy this little blog along
with folks who have not yet known the magic of Mt. Robson!
#1 The Peak
At 3,954 metres ( 12,972 ft), Mt. Robson is not the tallest
mountain in Canada or even British Columbia; it is however the tallest peak in
the Canadian Rockies mountain range and by far the most spectacular mountain in
the province to behold. It is part of
the Rainbow Range of the Rockies and is the second tallest peak in B.C. behind
Mt. Waddington of the Coast Mountains.
However, there are many factors that set Mt. Robson apart
from other taller summits. For instance Mt. Robson is classified as an Ultra
Prominent mountain and is ranked as the 119th most prominent
mountain in the entire world and the single most prominent in the North
American Rockies Range. So what does
that mean? Bivouac.com defines Prominence as: “the vertical distance between a peak and the lowest contour line
surrounding that peak and no higher peak. You can visualize this by saying that
if you flooded the world to a level where the peak in question was the highest
peak on an island, its height above the water is it's prominence”.
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| Southeast face |
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| North face |
And, in addition to its stunning appearance, it has (from
Kinney Lake) almost 3,000 metres ( 10,000 ft) of pure vertical ascent –
something that “few mountains anywhere in the world can claim to offer”. It is
also considered one of the most challenging mountains to climb (a mere 10%
success rate) due to it’s vertical ascent, unexpected changes in weather,
avalanches, ice and rock fall etc.
#2 The Name
The Texqakallt were the first known inhabitants of the Upper
Fraser area, they were nomadic and a band of the Shuswap people. They built
lodges and fish drying racks near the confluence of the Fraser and McLennan
rivers. Their name for the mighty peak
was “Yuh-hai-has-kun”, meaning The Mountain of the Spiraling Road which referred
to the strata-like layers of the mountain that angle upwards to the East.
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| Spiral Lines on Mt. Robson |
The modern name of Robson was most likely, though not
certainly, linked to Colin Robertson, a Scotsman who worked for both the North West
Company and Hudson’s Bay Company. One theory suggested in the book Mount Robson: Spiral Road of Art is that
Tete Jaune ( Yellow Head or Pierre Bostonais) named the peak after Mr.
Robertson who was his employer at the time in 1819. It is worth noting that the
original location of Tete Jaune Cache was near the Grand Fork of the Fraser
River where it was met by the Robson River (Milton & Cheadle).
The first reference to a name for the mountain is found in
the diary of fur trader George McDougall in 1827 – he referred to it as Mt. Robinson.
Then, in 1863, Milton and Cheadle, who were crossing the Yellowhead Pass,
referred to it as “Robson (or Robson’s) Peak. It is presumed that the name was “carelessly
pronounced” and gradually evolved from Robertson to Robson.
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| Colin Robertson: Library & Archives Canada |
Due to its great vertical mass the westerly winds have a
difficult time rising up and over Mt. Robson and therefore the summit is often
hidden by clouds. Thus another name for it is Cloud Cap Mountain.
#3 The Park
Founded in 1913, Mt. Robson Provincial Park is the second
oldest park in B.C. and, along with Jasper National Park, makes up a portion of
The Canadian Rocky Mountain UNESCO World Heritage site (one of the largest
protected areas in the world). It was the tenacity of A.O. Wheeler, an
Irish-Canadian and one of the founders of the Alpine Club of Canada, that persuaded
the B.C. government to make the Mt. Robson area a protected park.
Within this treasured park, one not only finds the majesty
of Mt. Robson but many other wonders not the least of which is the headwaters
of the mighty Fraser River. It begins on the Pacific slope of the Continental Divide
in the area of Mt. Fitzwilliam and travels 1,375 kilometres to the Pacific
Ocean being called “home” to nearly 2.5 million people (63% of B.C.’s
population) along the way. The Park is home to four biogeoclimatic zones,
valued wetland habitat, 229 species of animals and the historic Yellow Head
Pass.
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| Western Entrance to the Park |
Perhaps one of the most singular facts about the park is
that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the famed fictional detective Sherlock
Holmes, visited the area from Jasper to to Tete Jaune Cache with his wife in
1914 and wrote a poem about it all entitled “The
Athabasca Trail”.
#4 Kinney & Curly
George Kinney, namesake of Kinney Lake on the Berg Lake
Trail, was a Methodist preacher who first saw, in awe and wonderment, the peak
of Mt. Robson in 1907. To scale this mountain became a bit of an obsession with
Kinney and in 1909 he headed out on his own to claim the peak before a rumoured
group of foreigners could reach it. Along the way he met Donald “Curly”
Phillips, a young outfitter with no mountaineering experience – or an ice axe,
and decided he would be his climbing companion.
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| Donald "Curly" Philips, Peakfinder: Courtesy of Whyte Musuem |
Eventually the two men, on what would be Kinney’s 12th
attempt at the apex, climbed for the top. Amidst a snow storm the two reached
what Kinney thought to be the peak and, baring his head, claimed it in the name of “Almighty God…my own
country and for the Alpine Club of Canada”.
The controversy as to whether they had indeed reached the peak simmers
to this day although the consensus seems to be that they mistakenly stopped just
60 vertical feet short of it. Much of this controversy is owing to Curly
Philips himself who is said to have confessed it after Conrad Kain’s ascent.
Some say he was pressured to say it though. At any rate George Kinney was
sincere in his belief that he had reached the summit and the two men had
accomplished a truly amazing feat:
“No ascent in the
history of the Canadian Rockies demanded more sheer guts and determination in
the face of hair-raising brushes with death by avalanche, exposure and
starvation.” ( Hart 1979)
This was a statement that Conrad Kain, who had great respect
for Kinney and Philips, echoed himself. Curly Philips went on to become a
renowned outfitter and trail builder in the area and George Kinney continued
his ministry, often going to the most remote places where others did not want
to go to care for the people there. At
one point he even donated a skin graft to a young girl in Keremeos who had
suffered severe burns. He sat next to the girl and comforted her while the
doctor removed 24 square inches of skin from his leg with no anaesthetic.
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| Rev. George Kinney, Peakfinder: Courtesy of Whyte Musuem |
“He was a man of God
who never pushed religion down anyone’s throat but gently slipped it into
conversations. His love of the outdoors, which he referred to as God’s
Cathedral, lent itself well to the role of backwoods preacher…he never forgot his
Mt. Robson days and always kept an ice axe and climbing boots hanging in his
house.” ( Emerson Sanford).
#5 Conrad Kain & the Alpine Club of Canada
The first official Mt. Robson camp of the Alpine Club of
Canada was in 1911 and included both Kain and Kinney but it was mainly an exploratory
mission – although Kain did manage to scale both Whitehorn and Resplendent
mountains. In fact Conrad Kain, an Austrian immigrant, made climbs in Europe
and Siberia and is credited with 69 first ascents in Canada and another 30 in
New Zealand. He is a mountaineering legend in Canada and the world over.
By this time the Grand Trunk Railway, Canada’s second
transcontinental rail line, had been built and made reaching the base of Robson
much easier. It was A.O. Wheeler ( see #3 The Park) who organized the ACC camp
of 1913 and on July 31st of that year Conrad Kain led W.W. (Billy)
Foster and Albert McCarthy up the Robson Glacier to the Dome and then guided
them up the North East wall ( now known as Kain Face). As they made the arduous
climb up to the zenith of the mountain, Kain finally stopped and, as the clouds
cleared and revealed that they were on the summit, uttered the famous words “Gentlemen,
that’s as far as I can take you.”
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| Conrad Kain, peakfinder.com |
"In all my
mountaineering in various countries, I have climbed only a few mountains that
were hemmed in with more difficulties. Mount Robson is one of the most
dangerous expeditions I have made. The dangers consist in snow and ice, stone
avalanches, and treacherous weather."
Conrad Kain
#6 Phyllis Munday: The First Woman To Summit Mt. Robson
Phyllis Munday ( nee James) was the daughter of a Lipton’s Tea manager and was born in Sri Lanka in 1894. She was also the first woman to reach the peak of Mt. Robson. Her family moved to B.C. in 1901 and she eventually met and married Don Munday in 1920. Together they formed perhaps the most renowned “power couple” of the mountaineering world.
Above: Phyllis, Edith & Don Munday: Royal B.C. Museum
Across: Phyllis Munday National Stamp
If Don wasn’t smitten with her already, then it surely happened when she rescued him from nearly falling into a glacial crevasse while on a climb. While saving him, she lost her own balance and he in turn held on to her. As Don says “it lent itself readily to being given a romantic aspect”. Then there was the incident in which Phyllis chased a grizzly bear who was chasing Don. A swiss mountain guide once said of Phyllis that she was “…a strong woman; as strong as any man”. Perhaps even stronger.
In 1924, on only the third expedition of its kind, Conrad Kain led a group with two women in it to the peak of Mt. Robson. Phyllis was deservedly the first to stand on the peak and in the dialogue of Kathryn Bridge’s book about Phyllis, Conrad clasped her hand in his and said “There, Lady! Here is the top of Mount Robson! You are the first woman on this peak – the highest of the (Canadian) Rocky Mountains.”
Phyllis and her husband are also credited with discovering Mt. Waddington of the Coastal Mountains (The highest peak in British Columbia). In their second year of marriage Phyllis gave birth to their daughter, Edith, and at 11 months carried her to the top of Crown Mountain. In 1972 she received The Order of Canada for her pioneering work in the girl guides, St. John’s ambulance and mountaineering in general. She passed away in 1990, a female legend.
Phyllis Munday, Blaeberry Alpine Camp 1957
“A lovely woodsy trail, a beautiful lake, an alpine meadow, a ridge and a peak, for all this had been heaven to me while on earth. They are all God’s great gifts to man.” Phyllis Munday
#7 The Hargreaves and Mt. Robson Ranch
There were many hearty guides and outfitters in the Mt. Robson area in the early parts of the 20th century. Among them were notable names like John Yates, Adolphus Moberly (for whom the lake is named), the Otto brothers, Fred Brewster and, of course, Curly Phillips. It is the Hargeaves brothers, specifically Roy and the Mt. Robson ranch, though that this section will focus on.
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| The Hargreaves Brothers: Frank, Roy, George, (unknown), Jack, (unknown), 1922-1930, Mount Robson. Credit: Ishbel Cochrane. Valemount & Area Museum |
The Mt. Robson Ranch (named so by later owner, Alice Wright) is located across the Fraser River from the mountain and near the CN railway. Roy Hargeaves, a WW1 Veteran, ran the ranch from the early 1920’s until 1959 and he and his brothers ( Frank, Jack, George and Dick) homesteaded at the Ranch after WW1. In 1927, he constructed the Berg Lake Chalet on Berg Lake now known as the Hargeaves Shelter (restored in 1982 and just recently) where many a weary hiker has sought refuge - including myself! In 1923 Roy married a Jasper school teacher named Sophie Maclean and in 1988 the operation of the ranch was resumed by their daughter Ishbel and her husband Murray Cochrane.
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| Bridge over the Fraser River 1915. Photo Credit - Columbia Basin Trust |
#8 The Berg Lake Trail
The Berg Lake Trail from the beginning to the Robson pass is a crown jewel for the monarchy of Mt. Robson and is world renowned for its beauty. It was A.O. Wheeler ( see #3 The Park) who convinced the government to have the trail built and it was our old friend Donald “Curly” Phillips who received the contract to build it. Curly began his trail blazing around 1913 and was well known for the “flying” trestle bridge that he built on the way up the Valley of a Thousand Falls (This was later destroyed and a safer trail made). In 1924 some of the Hargreaves brothers “renovated” the trail up to Kinney Lake.
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| The flying trestle bridge. Photo credit Alberta On Record |
The trail is 22 kilometres with 7 campgrounds and a suspension bridge. It travels from the south face to the north face of Mt Robson and passes Kinney Lake, Whitehorn Mountain, the stunning Emperor Falls and finally winds its way along Berg Lake to the Robson Pass and the B.C. / Alberta border. It rises 800 metres and crosses through 3 biogeoclimatic zones. At the top , of course, is the beautiful turquoise Berg Lake named for the large chunks of ice that calve from the 3 glaciers that feed the lake and then proceed to float in the lake. This trail also allowed such famous artists as A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris of the famed Group of Seven to explore and paint these wonders of nature.
