Phil was born in Provo, Utah and is one of eleven children.  His father was a science professor, and his mother one of his heroes.  He considers himself a Utah native, although his childhood was spent on the glaciers and mountains of Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.  In 1982 he married his best friend and high school crush.  They have five children, and eight grandchildren.  He is a geologist and mountaineer and loves all things Mother Earth.