Its nearest higher peak is Ursus Major Mountain, 4.0 km (2.5 mi) to the northwest.

The first ascent of the mountain was made in 1893 by Samuel E. S. Allen and Walter D.

[4][5] In the late afternoon of March 4, 1910, an avalanche swept down the slopes of Cheops, burying the railroad tracks in snow.

The men were working to clear the tracks when shortly before midnight the deadly slide hit, coming from the opposite side of the valley down Avalanche Mountain.

The peak was named by Otto Julius Klotz for its resemblance to the Pyramid of Cheops.