In his book, "Climbs in the Canadian Rockies," Frank Smythe wrote that, "The Elysium Pass did not belie its name when we came to it; for it was a green sward of turf and flowers with a view north along a wide valley of meadows and forest to Monarch Mountain..."

In 1936 Curly Phillips, who was very involved in the early climbing history of Mount Robson and went on to become a legendary outfitter in the Rockies, took up skiing. Two years later, while investigating the idea of building a cabin for the use of skiers, he and a companion named Reginald Pugh were tragically killed in an avalanche near Elysium Pass in the Victoria Cross Range northwest of Jasper.