Monty Alford (1923 – 2014)

Monty Alford was born in Cornwall, England. His father was in the Royal Navy. Monty immigrated to Canada in 1948 and quickly organized a 6,700 km canoe expedition from British Columbia to the Gulf of Mexico. He spent thirty-five years as a federal water surveyor and was one of the world's great mountain climbers. He was a guide in the expedition that brought Robert Kennedy to the summit of Mt. Kennedy in 1965, the first ascent of that 4,000 metre (14,000 feet) mountain. Alford completed a number of climbs in the 1960s and '70s many of them in South America. He was also on several lengthy expeditions to Antarctica. His sons bought him sailing lessons for his seventy-fifth birthday and he bought a sailboat which he kept in Skagway. He offered winter survival training courses in his spare time and taught youth how to make shelters and keep warm and hydrated. Monty and Renée had six children, the last was born in the mid-to-late '60s.((Myles Dolphin, "Tributes flow in for master outdoorsman." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse) 27 August 2014.)) 

Monty Alford was on the founding board of the Yukon Conservation Society in 1968. He was first appointed to the Yukon Place Names Board in August 2003. He was the author of five books. Monty Alford is a Member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Antarctic Medal of the Queen’s Medal.