The first ascent of Piz Badile was by W. A. B. Coolidge with guides François Devouassoud and Henri Devouassoud on 27 July 1867 by the south ridge. The mountain had first come to the notice of British alpinists from D. W. Freshfield's writings of the 1860s. He gave the name 'the Grey Twins' to Piz Badile and Piz Cengalo, and made the first ascent of Piz Cengalo in 1866.