The first ascent of the mountain was made in 1901 by James Outram and Edward Whymper, with guides Christian Kaufmann, Christian Klucker, and Joseph Pollinger. Outram described the climb in his book, In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies as follows: On the 21st we had a little climb to a ruined tower on a serrated spur of Mt. Balfour, which had been called by Mr. Habel Trolltinder, or the Witch's Peaks, after a famous and much pinnacled ridge above the Romsdal in Norway: the legend saying that the points represent a wedding party turned to stone by an evil genius. It was an absurdly simple climb, though somewhat laborious, except for the last fifty feet, which gave us a really good gymnastic scramble.