Mount Elsay is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in southwestern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, located near the middle of

Mount Seymour Provincial Park Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a park in Vancouver, British Columbia's North Shore Mountains. With an area of 35 square kilometres, it is located approximately 15 kilometres north of Downtown Vancouver. The park, named after Frederick Sey ...

in the

District of North Vancouver The District of North Vancouver is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada, and is part of Metro Vancouver. It surrounds the City of North Vancouver on three sides. As of 2016, the District stands as the second wealthiest city in ...

. It is a part of the

North Shore Mountains The North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city. The steep southern slopes of the No ...

, rising from the shores of

Indian Arm Indian Arm ( hur, səl̓ilw̓ət) is a steep-sided glacial fjord adjacent to the city of Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia. Formed during the last Ice Age, it extends due north from Burrard Inlet, between the communities of Belcar ...

to a summit of . It is named after nearby Elsay Lake and Creek. These names are thought to derive from a Scottish settler, probably after a place name in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

History

A common misconception is that Elsay was originally named Mt. Jarrett in honour of George Jarrett, a South African who became the first secretary of the

British Columbia Mountaineering Club The British Columbia Mountaineering Club (BCMC) is a mountaineering organization, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded on October 28, 1907 as the Vancouver Mountaineering Club, it became one of the centres of Canadian Mountaineering, par ...

(BCMC), in 1909. In fact, the name Jarrett was given to a nearby peak to the north which is sometimes called Deacon Peak. The first recorded ascent of Elsay was on May 6, 1923, by a BCMC group of 29 hikers, led by the legendary BCMC director Tom Fyles (England, 1887-1979; Mount Fyles near Bella Coola is named in his honour), coming from Seymour and past Runner.

Hiking routes

Unlike the nearby

Mount Seymour Mount Seymour is a mountain located in Mount Seymour Provincial Park in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the North Shore Mountains, rising to the north from the shores of Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm ...

, Elsay is not visited by hikers with much frequency. Two routes are most popular; the best hike is to go out by one and return by the other. The West Trail is reached by hiking toward

, then bearing left (west) in the saddle between Second and Third Peaks. A rough route poorly marked with tapes takes one around Mount Seymour's west flank, across the gully below Runner Peak, then trends upward to the ridge, then a rock face to the summit. Alternately, the Elsay Lake Trail takes one to the east of Mount Seymour, across several rockslides, then up a large talus slope (bear right to the low point of the ridge) to join the other trail on the south shoulder of the mountain. The route to Vicar Lakes, Mount Bishop and the Indian Arm Trail heads left shortly after the ridge starts to rise to Mount Elsay. The peak is flanked by Mount Bishop and Elsay Lake on the north, with

and Runner Peak to the south. This is rough backcountry and should be approached only with caution and experience.

Crash site discovery

On 28 April 1947, a Lockheed 18 Lodestar Fin 53 CF-TDF, by

Trans-Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGrego ...

(now

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

), disappeared in southwestern British Columbia with 15 people on board with no survivors. The crash site was discovered 47 years later, in September 1994, on Mount Elsay.

References

External links

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"Mount Elsay"
North Vancouver Archives.
"Mount Elsay"
British Columbia Mountaineering Club.
"Mount Elsay"
Hiking route guide to the summit. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elsay, Mount One-thousanders of British Columbia North Vancouver (district municipality) North Shore Mountains