Mount Robson— 1907 & 1908

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Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, became a target for Canadian climbers. A Canadian expedition should be the first to reach the summit, ahead of the European and American climbers who were coming to the “new Alps" or as the Canadian Pacific Railway advertised the Rockies, "America's Switzerland." Arthur O. Wheeler, the co-founder and first President of the Alpine Club of Canada, suggested to Coleman that he and his brother Lucius make the first ascent of Mount Robson.

The Coleman brothers took up the challenge. In 1907 Coleman assembled a team consisting of the two brothers, Reverend George Kinney, (a younger man; good with a rifle and a keen mountain photographer), and Jack Boker, ( an English rancher from Alberta).

The first attempt to climb Mount Robson was unsuccessful, so a second expedition was organised in 1908 consisting of the two Colemans, Kinney, rancher John Yates, and Adolphus Moberly, a Stony hunter who was prepared to guide Colman through trails on the rear section of Mount Robson. (Yates’ dog Hoodoo also came along.)

Photograph. A.P. Coleman. No. 9 Moose Pass looking up Smoky [River], ca 1908

Photograph. A.P. Coleman. No. 14 Camp 19, ca 1908

Photograph. A.P. Coleman. No. 16 Smoky R[iver], 1908. ROM Archives. A.P. Coleman Collection

Photograph. A.P. Coleman. No. 17 Robson Glacier, ca 1908

Artifact. Paul Wilson. Telescopic Alidade. on Tripod with Plane Table. (close up) ROM Department of Natural History