Portal Peak was named in 1916 by Charles Sproull Thompson (1869-1921), who participated in numerous first ascents in the Canadian Rockies. In August of 1897, Charles Thompson, Hugh Stutfield, and J. Norman Collie camped on the shores of Bow Lake; then proceeded to climb the Bow Glacier, which at that time descended farther down into the valley; then crossed the Wapta Icefield to attain the summit of Mount Gordon. Portal Peak flanks one side of Bow Glacier, which in 1897 was considered the portal to the Wapta Icefield.