Due to extensive erosion and rockfall, North Sister is the most dangerous climb of the three peaks, and is often informally called the Beast of the Cascades. One of its peaks, Little Brother, can be safely scrambled. The first recorded ascent of North Sister was made in 1857 by six people, including Oregon politicians George Lemuel Woods and James McBride, according to a story published in Overland Monthly in 1870. Today, the common trail covers round-trip, gaining in elevation.