Early Mountaineering in British Columbia

Compiled and edited by Susan Leslie

1980 

Review by Ron Dart

In The Western Mountains is a gem of a book and one of the first books that tracked and traced the origins and development of mountaineering in the Rockies to the Coast Mountains. Susan Leslie did her homework well, and the missive remains a pioneering classic of sorts of early mountaineering in British Columbia. The photographs are black and white, apt, dramatic and poignant, the drawings keepers and the maps illustrate much about the mountain terrain.

In The Western Mountains is not a long book (76 pages), but much is packed into this mountaineering missive. The book is divided into eight sections: Preface, Introduction, The Alps of North America, A Field for an Alpine Club, Mountaineering at the Coast, Mystery Mountain, Conclusion and A Note on Sources.

The ‘Preface’ and ‘Introduction’ are rather lean, but as the historic tale unfolds, the tale told draws the curious reader well. There are plenty of details to ponder for the mountaineering archivist, and a substantive amount of time lingers on the role of women in British Columbia mountaineering history.

‘The Alps of North America’ tends to focus on the Rockies, Selkirks and Swiss Guides and ‘A Field for a Mountain Club’ touches on the origins of the Alpine Club of Canada, the First Ascent of Mount Robson, Kate McQueen and Mountain Climbing for Women. ‘Mountaineering at the Coast’ is the descriptive and literary centre and core of the book (pgs. 26-51). Most of the whose who of early West Coast mountaineering  are brought to front stage and their climbing exploits are amply discussed through text, map and photographs. There are some fine photographic collector’s items in this evocative chapter.

‘Mystery Mountain’ recounts the many trips of Don/Phyllis Munday and friends as they attempted to reach the forbidding peak of Waddington. There are also excellent sections on Roger Neave and Eric Brooks and their attempts to scale Mystery Mountain. 

In The Western Mountains is, for the most part, a book about the Coastal Mountains, Waddington and the mountaineering pioneers who dared to dream about taking to places none had gone before. The ‘Conclusion’ and ‘A Note on Sources’ are thin, but bring the story to a fit and fine conclusion.  Many books have been written on the origins, development and contemporary state of mountaineering since 1980, but In The Western Mountains is a pioneering missive and must read for those interested in doing the history of Coastal Mountain mountaineering at a time when few were committed to such a needful ascent to such historic summits.