In 1913, Phillips built a corral and store, as well as a house in town, and moved his parents and his brother and sister out from Ontario to live in Jasper and help with the businesses. In 1923, he married Grace Inkster and they had three children: Sam (1928), Joy (1930), and Ivy (1932). 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. He was a much sought-after trail guide and later expanded his enterprise to building boats for outfitting trips on the Athabasca and Peace Rivers, as well developing the first boat tours at Maligne Lake, south of Jasper. He tried many different tourism enterprises, even a brief attempt at a Dude Trap-Line in the winter of 1926-27, which did not go over well enough to continue. He continued to outfit many camps and expeditions for the Alpine Club of Canada, and in the 1930s began to develop access to terrain for skiing and single-handedly built a cabin for alpine ski tours at Shangri-La in the Maligne Range. In 1935 he became president of the Athabasca Guides and Trailmen's Association, a fitting recognition of his long-continued efforts on behalf of tourism in the Jasper valley. On March 21, 1938, Curly Phillips was killed in an avalanche while skiing below Elysium Mountain in Jasper National Park, and is buried in Jasper Cemetery.