Call the gluttons for punishment. A group of six adventurers are set to make another attempt to tackle ‘Mystery Mountain’ and will film their efforts for a new documentary. Four years ago, the Canadian Explorations Heritage Society faced almost unbelievably difficult terrain and conditions as they attempted to recreate Don and Phyllis Munday’s early 1920s expedition to Mount Waddington, the highest peak entirely in British Columbia. They were gathering in Kelowna earlier this week. “We’re in the Okanagan because a lot of our expedition members pass through here on the way to the mountain,” explains director Greg Gransden. From Kelowna they drove through Vernon to Bluff Lake, where they will take a helicopter to the rinks south of Mount Waddington. In their first attempt they used only vintage equipment. This time it will be a mix of old and new. “It took about 2-3 years to collect everything we needed and a lot of money,” said expedition leader and breeder Bryan Thompson. “A lot of these things you can’t even get, so some things we had to have made for ourselves, like our vintage window frames. Our hobnail boots are made by a bootmaker in New Zealand who is the only person in the world still making them. And some of the things we had to make ourselves, like our tents and our sleeping bags.” Thompson adds that they have learned a lot from their failed attempt in 2018 and hope this time to reach the top of the remote mountain. The group is capitalizing on a growing interest in wilderness survival, such as the popular television series History Alone. “I find them interesting just because of the human dynamics and the team dynamics. For me, on the surface it’s a mountaineering expedition, but I hope to really do it just for the human experience,” Gransden said.
