J. Monroe Thorington (1895-1989) was an American ophthalmologist who first came to the Canadian Rockies in 1914. He became a prominent mountaineer, climbing extensively in the Rockies and completing 52 first ascents in the Rockies and Selkirks. Following explorations and numerous first ascents by J. Norman Collie in the first decade of the 20th century, the area around the Columbia Icefield had been ignored for some time until Thorington's visits. In 1923, together with W.S. Ladd and famed guide Conrad Kain, Thorington completed the second ascent of Mount Columbia, the third ascent of Mount Athabasca and first ascents of Mount Saskatchewan and North Twin Peak.
