Chapter 6

Aftermath

Bert Wilkins grew up with Donald Phillips in Ontario; he worked for Phillips in Jasper between 1913 and 1922. In his opinion, Kinney and Phillips "reached the base of Mount Robson sometime in late July and after four attempts, which was made from the south side, they reached what they figured the top, except for an ice pinnacle which stood up about thirty-five feet. The weather was stormy and bad, but as they reached the tip at five o'clock in the afternoon, the sun broke through, and they could see all around. It was impossible to climb this pinnacle, and as it was late, and they must get down from there, they went back to about ten thousand feet. Mt. Robson at that time was supposed to be 13028 feet, but when it was climbed by the Alpine Club, led by Conrad Kyne (sic) in 1913 they did not find that ice pinnacle, and Mt. Robson is just under 13,000 feet now. Their provisions had run out and they had to strike for civilization and supplies. Curlie got very little credit for his help in this, but he never was one to ask for any credit, but us that know him know that he was a big factor in this climb." [Wilkins n.d.]

Bert Wilkins's son Clarence ("my mother was Curly's sister and we lived side by side in Jasper until they moved to Edmonton after the last war") has written, "Myself, I believe they climbed Mount Robson. They encountered a pinnacle or spur of ice, so steep they were not able to climb it. In 1913 four years later the top was attained by another group and they found no ice pinnacle. Therefore, it must have melted or eroded and that being at the base of the ice spire they were on the top of Robson in 1909, and I see no reason for either of them to say it was there at that time, then in four years there was no ice spire. There seemed to be great rivalry among climbers, in those years, of being the first to climb any mountain peaks, and they sometimes like to discredit other accomplishments. Is this the case? We will never know because all the participants of that episode in climbing are now gone. Some misinformation of facts has been written, other information lost."

After 1913 Kinney disappeared from the Canadian alpine scene. During the First World War he served in Europe as a stretcher bearer, and in his off-duty hours he toured the front lines lecturing on the Canadian Rockies. On leave in England, he lectured to the Royal Geographical Society in London and was made a fellow of the Society. After the war he continued his ministry, which for many years took him to isolated logging camps and fishing villages along the west coast of Vancouver Island. During this time he explored and climbed the Comox Glacier. [Browne, 1979]

In 1957, John T. Coleman interviewed Kinney for the B.C. Magazine. His story, entitled, "Magnificent Failure" reported that it "was not until a few months ago, after years of controversy, that George Kinney was finally convinced that they had not reached the summit of Mount Robson. In that howling storm they had climbed a high pinnacle and had missed the real peak by a mere 60 feet." [Coleman 1957]

Kinney's daughter Betty McFarlane has stated in personal correspondence that "Many articles have been written on his failure but we the family don't feel he did fail. For years he tried to straighten it out but finally he said it was just too old to fight it. I feel Phillips was wrong in stating that he and Kinney had not ascended the final fifty foot dome. We feel he was pressured by the Alpine Club. Even Phillips's relatives of whom I met, felt they did reach the peak. At the age of 81 years Dad conceded because he said he was too old and tired to fight." [McFarlane 1989]

Kinney was a pioneer in alpine photography, but very little of his collection is known. There are only a few photographs contained in the Provincial Archives of B.C., the Alpine Club Collection (about ten photographs in early editions of the Canadian Alpine Journal) or any other collection in the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies; nothing in the National Archives; his family is unsure of the whereabouts of any collections. Several films do survive at the B.C. Provincial Archives.[Browne, 1979] George Kinney died in Victoria in 1961.