"Trapper Nelson" may sound like an “old timer” from the Gold Rush. It was in fact a backpack — one used by any self-respecting mountaineer. Although later upgraded to lighter packs, as James Adam Craig describes in this article, a Trapper Nelson was great as it was spacious and basic.

Here, he reminisces about his time in the BC Mountaineering Club from the mid-1950s to the 1970s. He talks of different packs as well as the necessities for camp.

His article also speaks of Gary Gordon, Fr. Damasus Payne, Martin & Esther Kafer, Dick Culbert, Glenn Woodsworth, Arnold Shives, Alice Purdey and John Clarke.

Peaks included are Mount Slesse, Mount McKinley, Mount Logan or Mount St. Elias, Lake Lovely Water, Tomyhoi-Falls River, Icewall Lake, Mount Waddington, Ape Lake, Blowdown Creek, Lillooet Icefields, Nirvana Pass and Stawamus Chief (“Squamish Chief”).

Soulmates, adventurers, entrepreneurs…to those with at least a little knowledge of the early explorations of the North Shore Mountains, Don and Phyllis Munday need no introduction.

Their devotion to exploration and to each other led them to creating a life among the peaks, and a home in a cabin on the slopes of Grouse Mountain. This short video charts their time together.

James Adam Craig was a man who climbed in summer and skied in winter. These snippets of reminiscences of his time in the mountains give some insight into what it was like to head into the mountains before the days of good access roads or trails — or as he tells it, when “a tent didn’t require a book of instructions to assemble.”

"In the dawn twilight I saw the peak of Mount Waddington rising steeply 13,000 feet into the sky and I knew before the day was over I'd be on top—or dead."

Esther Kafer was the first woman to reach the summit of BC's highest mountain in 1962. Despite her fears, having lost friends in an accident on the peak two years before, she reached the 4019-metre summit with husband Martin after almost nine hours of climbing from their final base camp. In this newspaper article, she talks through that final push for the summit.

While some Alpine climbers may have had porters to carry champagne, BC Mountaineer Club members had no need for this, being surrounded by "streams and lakes." After carrying a seventy pound load though, the mountaineers could perhaps be forgiven for wanting something "stronger" than water.

In these memories of mountaineering in the 1950s to 1970s, James Adam Craig describes his activities in the mountains, including some of the gear and food that mountaineers took on trips.

When the BC Mountaineering Club hit the age of fifty, the members chose to produce a booklet of memories, and fortunately for us today, we can read them here.

This is a great account of the early years of the BCMC — memories of the intrepid explorers who made the mountains their home-from-home.

• Cabins, Camps and Climbs, 1907-1911, by Frank H. Smith
• Early Days of the BC Mountaineering Club, by R. M. Mills
• Recollections, by Charles Dickens
• Reminiscences, by Professor John Davidson
• The Conception and Birth of the Vancouver Natural History Society, by Professor John Davidson
• The Story of Garibaldi Park, by L. C. Ford
• Some Reminiscences of 1920-1926 With the BCMC, by Neal M. Carter
• Snow Peaks, Mount Judge Howay, by Tom Fyles
• Robie Reid, First Recorded Ascent, June 1925, by Elliot Henderson
• Waddington Diary - 1936, by Elliot Henderson
• Waddington Area - 1956, by Jo Yard
• Anniversary Peak, by Roy Mason
• Bushwacking, by R. A. Pilkington
• A Mountain (song), by R. Culbert

"A nightmare molded [sic] in rock" was how Don Munday described the main tower of Mount Waddington. Still, this was "a nightmare" that he and wife Phyllis Munday were out to get the better off as they faced their fears.

This is a first-person account of their journey to the northwest summit of Mount Waddington. They may not have reached the higher main tower, yet their climb took them higher than anyone was known to have climbed in BC at that time.

Three things were important to Phyllis Munday — her family (husband Don and daughter Edith), mountaineering and the Girl Guides. She poured her heart and soul into them, becoming beloved in all three areas.

This newspaper article describes her life and her loves over five decades from around the time her father told a young Phyllis "you've climbed one mountain, why do you want to climb more?". If ever there were "famous last words," it might be those.

One rubber bath curtain, one pair of pliers for cooking, two hot water bottles, and one can opener — better hope the can opener did not get lost. These are just some of the many items listed for an eight-person expedition to Mount Waddington in 1935.

Also included is the food allowance for six men for twenty days on Mount Waddington in 1936. Though not only is it the food allowance list, but the rationing of matches and toilet paper — with each man allowed ten sheets per day.