Arthur Wheeler named the mountain while surveying in the area in 1927 as part of the Interprovincial Boundary Survey. He wrote that, "When I saw it, so strikingly dominating its surroundings in isolated majesty, I named it 'Czar' but later, when recording it, the spelling with 'T's' seemed more appropriate." Alfred Ostheimer, guided by Hans Fuhrer completed the first ascent of this peak in 1927. In his book, "Every Other Day," Ostheimer wrote, "Dulled by the smoke, still 15 miles distant, lay the Tsar, a great peak, towering above its neighbours and the depths of Tsar Creek. Upon its face turned towards us, it bore a steep glacier, broken and banded with ice and snow cliffs; east and west the mass dropped sheer; a huge cornice folded over the southern precipice of several thousand feet. Very beautiful was our mountain." Clearly he regarded this peak as one of, perhaps the main, objective of his expedition that would eventually make 27 first ascents that summer. He wrote, "Tsar was, in 1927, the outstanding rock of the main range that remained unclimbed. To reach it was the main reason for the very careful organization of this expedition, because both the inaccessibiity and natural difficulties of the mountain presented a problem that required more than casual thought." His description from the summit focused on, "the absolute isolation of the Tsar. Within a radius of five miles from our seat on the corniced wedge-point, above the airy emptiness of three precipiced sides, only two peaks rose up to meet our eyes." Upon leaving the area, Ostheimer wrote, "Our last glimpse of the Tsar was a huge,wedged peak, a single tower, daintily smoke-clad, jutting above an expanse of white desert."