William C. Borland started his adulthood hiking up all forty-six peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. Before long, the more adventurous individuals in his group began to hike the high points of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Then, they began talking about how to hike the 2,160-mile-long Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail. After reading Seven Summits by Frank Wells and Dick Bass, who detailed how they climbed the highest mountain on each continent, Borland was inspired to set his sights even higher. Suddenly, it seemed possible for a mere mortal without superhuman climbing strength or skills to scale the highest mountains, and he decided to climb Mount McKinley (now known as Denali) in Alaska. From there, he began mountaineering and riding his bicycle on all seven continents.