Phyllis B Munday, CM (née James) (24 September 1894 – 11 April 1990) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, naturalist and

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

. She was famed for being the first woman to reach the summit of

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

(with Annette Buck) in 1924, and with her husband

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

for discovering

Mount Waddington Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although it is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the United States border between Alask ...

, and exploring the area around it via the

Franklin River The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilder ...

and the

Homathko River The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the interior Chilcotin Country to the coastal inlets of the P ...

. Awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1972 for her work with the

Girl Guides of Canada Girl Guides of Canada (GGC; french: Guides du Canada) is the national Guiding association of Canada. Guiding in Canada started on September 7, 1910, and GGC was among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (W ...

and St. John Ambulance as well as for her mountaineering career. Phyllis's Engine, a prominent rock spire in the

Pacific Ranges , photo = Mount Garibaldi (50997016501).jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Mount Garibaldi massif as seen from Squamish , map = , map_image = South BC-NW USA-relief PacificRanges.png , m ...

near

Mount Garibaldi Mount Garibaldi (known as Nch'kaý to the indigenous Squamish people) is a dormant stratovolcano in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Pacific Ranges in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It has a maximum elevation of and rises above the surroundi ...

, was despite claims to the contrary named for Phyllis Beltz. Mount Munday is named after Don and Phyllis Munday, and Baby Munday Peak is named for their daughter Edith

Early life

Phyllis was born in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, moved to the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

interior in 1901, and then to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1907. In 1912 she climbed

Grouse Mountain Grouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains of the Pacific Ranges in the District Municipality of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. With a maximum elevation of over 1,200m (4,100ft) at its peak, the mountain is the site of a ...

with her

Girl Guide Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

company. In 1915, at 21, Phyllis joined the

British Columbia Mountaineering Club The British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) is a mountaineering organization, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded on October 28, 1907 as the Vancouver Mountaineering Club, it became one of the centres of Canadian Mountaineering, part ...

and began going on club trips to such places as

Mount Seymour Mount Seymour is a mountain located in Mount Seymour Provincial Park in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the North Shore Mountains, rising to the north from the shores of Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm t ...

, The Lions,

Mount Tantalus Mount Tantalus is a mountain in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located southeast of Falk Lake and south of Monmouth Mountain. It is the highest mountain in the Tantalus Range of the Pacific Ranges and is famous for its snow-covered ...

and

Meeting Don

Phyllis met her future husband in 1918. While on a mountaineering trip an incident occurred which, in Don's words, "lends itself readily to being given a romantic aspect." Don lost his footing on a glacial moraine, and was in danger of slipping into a crevasse. Phyllis jumped to help him restore his balance, and in so doing lost hers. Don managed to grab and steady her until she could regain her feet. They married in February 1920, spending their honeymoon in a cabin on Dam Mountain near Vancouver. Their daughter, Edith was born in 1921, and at 11 weeks she was carried to the top of Crown Mountain. From 1923 to 1926 the Mundays lived in a tent, and then a cabin on

where Don worked cutting a trail from Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver, British Columbia to the summit, while Phyllis ran the Alpine Lodge, serving hot drinks and meals to hikers.

Exploration of the Waddington Range

In 1925, while on a trip to

Mount Arrowsmith Mount Arrowsmith is the highest mountain east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. Its dominant rock is basalt. The mountain is contained within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region and as of September 18, 2009 is designated part of hectare ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and Phyllis Munday spotted what they believed to be a peak taller than

, the then accepted tallest peak entirely within

. In the words of Don Munday "The compass showed the alluring peak stood along a line passing a little east of

Bute Inlet , image = Bute Inlet.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Strathcona RD, British Co ...

and perhaps 150 miles away, where blank spaces on the map left ample room for many nameless mountains."Munday p4 While there is some debate as to whether the peak they saw was indeed Mount Waddington (in fact, Don Munday himself observed that the feat is impossible), they almost certainly saw a peak in the

Waddington Range The Waddington Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is only about 4,000 km2 (1,545 sq mi) in area, relatively small in area within the expanse of the range, but it is t ...

, and this led the Mundays to explore that area, and discover the mountain in fact. Over the next decade, the Munday's mounted several expeditions into the area in an attempt to climb it. Known to them as "The Mystery Mountain", in 1927 the height was measured at 13,260 feet (by triangulation by BC Land Surveyor J.T. Underhill),Munday p.124 and the Canadian Geographic Board gave it the name Mount Waddington after

Alfred Waddington Alfred Penderell Waddington (October 2, 1801 – February 26, 1872), during his later years, was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada. From 1860 to 1861 he was a re ...

who was a proponent of a railway through the

valley. They reached the lower summit in 1928, deeming the main summit too risky.

Significant events

* 1894 born in Sri Lanka * 1916 founded the Girl Guide movement in

* 1920 established the first St. John Ambulance brigade in North Vancouver, British Columbia * 1938 honorary lifetime membership in the

Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler ...

* 1972 inducted into the

* 1998 stamp imprinted in her honour

First ascents

* 1922 Parapet Peak * 1922 Isosceles Peak * 1923

Blackcomb Peak Blackcomb Peak ( Ucwalmícwts: Tsíqten) is a mountain located east of Whistler, British Columbia that forms the boundary between the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort and Garibaldi Provincial Park. Like Whistler Mountain, it is located on the edge ...

* 1923

Overlord Mountain Overlord Mountain is a glacier-clad peak located in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Coast Mountains, in Garibaldi Provincial Park of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point of the Fitzsimmons Range, which is a subset of the Gar ...

* 1924 Foley Peak * 1930 Mount Munday * 193
Sockeye Peak
* 1936 Silverthrone Mountain * 1942

Mount Queen Bess Mount Queen Bess is one of the principal summits of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of southern British Columbia. It stands west of Chilko Lake and to the south of Tatlayoko Lake, and crowns a peak-studded ridge to the north of the Ho ...

* 1946 Reliance Mountain

Honors

*Honorary member,

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Ma ...

Kathryn Bridge, ''A Passion for Mountains: The Lives of Don and Phyllis Munday'' (2006), p. 8 *Honorary member,

Ladies' Alpine Club The Ladies' Alpine Club was founded in London in 1907 and was the first mountaineering club for women. It merged with the Alpine Club of Great Britain in 1975. History In December 1907 a group of ladies who were climbers in the Alps met in Lon ...

of Great Britain (1936) *Honorary member,

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

(1967)

Notes

References

* * *
Munday
at ''100 Canadian Heroines. Famous and Forgotten Faces.'' By Merna Forster;

Google books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

, pp 187 – 190 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munday, Phyllis 1894 births 1990 deaths Members of the Order of Canada Canadian mountain climbers Canadian sportswomen Female climbers