Canmore alpinist completes record-breaking run at the Canadian Rockies' highest peaks – Calgary Herald

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A Canmore-based biathlete-turned-alpinist broke records with his completion of all 58 peaks surpassing 11,000 feet in the Canadian Rockies.
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On the morning of June 14, 26-year-old Haldan Borglum became both the youngest confirmed finisher of all 58 peaks, and the fastest to do it. 
The previous record for fastest completion was five-and-a-half years, but Borglum did it in just two years and six days.
He credits part of his speed to the flexibility of his schedule, which allowed for more frequent expeditions than many are able to make, but his athleticism as a World Cup biathlete also played a significant role.
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“I’m doing them faster than a lot of people, just because of the biathlon background,” he said. Some peaks that most people do over a few days, Borglum was able to do in a single push under 24 hours, and he was often able to complete multiple peaks in a single trip.
His longest single push, he said, was 26 hours. But those trips, he said, were “not without some pain and suffering.”
Borglum grew up in Calgary, but moved to Canmore after high school to pursue his career as a biathlete, which he retired from earlier this year. With the mountains right in his backyard, he started hiking and developing mountaineering skills with the help of friends and mentors.
“Around that time is when I stumbled across the 11,000ers list, and then was like, ‘Oh, it’d be cool to do some of these,’” he said. “I definitely was pretty intimidated by some of the peaks on there.”
When he started out in June 2024, he thought about someday finishing the whole list, but had no plans to beat any records.
While there’s quite a bit of variation in intensity among the list of 11,000ers, with some being merely a day-trip, many are quite treacherous or remote, and require a combination of skilful climbing, rappelling, and navigation in all manner of terrain, as well as avalanche training, and physical strength and endurance.
His preference was always to go with partners, there were a few trips that he ended up going solo on — including his very last expedition to Mount Clemenceau and Tusk Peak, which are two of the most remote and infrequently tackled peaks on the list. 
“It’s a logistical nightmare to get those without a heli — they’re super deep in the remote wilderness,” Borglum said.
“Previously what people have done to get in there without air support is they canoe across Kinbasket Lake to the west, so we were planning to just do the same as other people had done.”
He and his climbing partners had already made two failed attempts. On the first attempt, the vehicle carrying the canoe broke down, and on their second try, they turned back partway across the lake after encountering large waves that were beyond their skill level.
For their the third attempt, they scoped out a new way in, but a day into the journey, bad weather, wet gear and a more challenging climb than anticipated led to Borglum’s partners deciding to turn back. Borglum, however, was determined to check the last two peaks off his list.
“It’s a personal thing — everybody has their own opinion on when it’s time to turn around, when it’s OK to press on,” he said.
“If I hadn’t done other solo 11,000ers, I don’t think there’s any way I would have felt confident going for those last two alone after my buddies turned around.”
Typically, he’d spend a bit of time at each summit, “soaking it in.”
“Especially on my last one —  I was hanging up there for an hour and a half, or two,” he said, adding each peak felt like a step towards the end goal.
“Once I was getting close (to completing all 58), it was kind of surreal,” he said. “It was like, damn, I’m almost done this thing.”
On others, like Mount Alberta, which Borglum described as the most dangerous ascent, there was less time to hang around at the top.
“We didn’t summit till 7 p.m.,” he said. “We wanted to get the hell out of there.”
Carine Salvy, executive director of the Alpine Club of Canada, said in a statement that completion of all 58 ‘11,000ers’ is “a significant accomplishment.
“Many of the peaks are located in remote, challenging, and unpredictable terrain,” Salvy said. “The Alpine Club of Canada congratulates Haldan Borglum, an ACC member, on this achievement and recognizes the commitment it requires.”
Though the ACC isn’t an authority on record holders, online lists of confirmed finishers note Borglum as both the fastest and youngest to complete all 58, joining a list of only two dozen documented completions.
Now that he’s done, Borglum said some rest and recovery is in order, but his mountaineering days aren’t over. He doesn’t yet have his sights set on any new lists or records, but plans to continue building his skills as an alpinist.
“I’d like to do a decent amount of ice climbing this winter, and I’ve got plans to go to Peru for a few months next summer,” he said.
“Mountains are in the blood at this point.”
ddekuyper@postmedia.com
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