George Kinney, alone and struggling with packhorses loaded for an expedition in the waters of the Athabasca River near John Moberly's cabin (east of present-day Jasper) and immediately convinced him to accompany him on an ill-prepared adventure to attempt a third trip on his quest for the first ascent of Mount Robson.

"[3] The two proceeded to spend over a month in camp making four large climbs up the northwest side of Robson, the final of which they claimed to have stood on the summit, though this was discredited by the Alpine Club of Canada due to lack of evidence and the unlikely nature of the route and the unsanctioned expedition.

Alpine Club founding member and writer Elizabeth Parker later claimed that Phillips admitted in 1913 that they had been stumped by a final dome of ice at the summit that they could not surmount, though he himself, a dedicated diarist, had not written of this climb and never wrote or spoke definitively against it.

[4] Even if not credited with the first ascent of the Monarch of the Rockies, the sensational story catapulted Phillips into the spotlight among mountaineering circles, and he was invited to outfit future expeditions, most notably the 1911 and 1913 Alpine Club Camps at Mount Robson, where he would meet and collaborate with Alpine Club president A. O. Wheeler, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, and famed climbers and mountain guides, including Conrad Kain, with whom he would share a winter trapline and many backcountry adventures.

Over the years, "Curly" would develop his cabins and facilities in order to better outfit climbers, scientists, hunters, academics, and tourists, and guide trips on horseback, by canoe and powerboat, or by ski, snowshoe, and float plane.