William Borland started his adulthood hiking up all forty-six peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Then he hiked the high points of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Following a move west, he tackled the high-points of all of the western states. 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 own sights higher. Suddenly it seemed possible for a mere mortal, without superhuman climbing skills, to scale the world's highest mountains - starting with Mt. McKinley (now known as Denali) in Alaska. From there, he began mountaineering and cycling on all seven continents.