Slesse Mountain, usually referred to as Mount Slesse, 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 ...

just north of the US-

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

border, in the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, near the town of

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

. It is notable for its large, steep local relief. For example, its west face drops over to Slesse Creek in less than . It is also famous for its huge Northeast Buttress; see the climbing notes below. The name means "fang" in the

Halkomelem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

language. Notable nearby mountains include Mount Rexford and Canadian Border Peak in British Columbia, and American Border Peak, Mount Shuksan, and Mount Baker, all in the US state of Washington.

Geology

Most of Mount Slesse is made up of granitic rocks related to the Chilliwack batholith, which intruded the region 26 to 29 million years ago after the major orogenic episodes in the region. This is part of the Pemberton Volcanic Belt, an eroded

volcanic belt A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region. Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity, such as volcanic fields or volcanic systems. Volcanic belts are found above zones of unusually high temperature () where magma is created ...

that formed as a result of the

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...

of the Farallon Plate starting 29 million years ago. The primary rock comprising Slesse is grey diorite from the batholith. However, the summit ridge and the west face are composed of Darrington

Phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliation (geology), foliated metamorphic rock formed from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. I ...

, a

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

, produced by contact metamorphism with the rock of the batholith and with an intrusion of

granodiorite Granodiorite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gra ...

History

Mount Slesse was first climbed on August 10, 1927, by Stan Henderson, Mills Winram, and Fred Parkes, via a route starting from Slesse Creek. The standard route today is the Southwest Route, which involves approximately of ascent, a good deal of

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It can be described as being between hiking and climbing, rock climbing. "A scramble" is a relat ...

and some sections of technical

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

up to class 5.6. However Slesse is most famous for the Northeast Buttress, first climbed on August 28, 1963 by Fred Beckey, Steve Marts, and Eric Bjornstad. It is a serious multi-day rock climb ( Grade V) with technical difficulty of class 5.8 or 5.9. This climb is featured in Roper and Steck's '' Fifty Classic Climbs of North America''. In July 1966 Hans Baer and Jack Bryan did the second ascent of this route, with one bivouac and a straight line exit at the top of the buttress. Climbers come to the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from th ...

from around the world to climb the aesthetic 24 pitch granite spire, making it one of the most iconic climbs in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. While the original ascents of Mt. Slesse were multi-day excursions, most modern climbing parties climb the route in a single day. On December 9, 1956, Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude t ...

airplane crashed on the upper slopes of the mountain, killing all 62 people aboard.O'Keefe, Betty and MacDonald, Ian, ''Disaster on Mount Slesse'', Caitlin Press, 2006, This was one of the world's worst air disasters up to that time. Prominent among the dead were team members of the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

, on their way home from the annual East-West All-Star Game in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. A memorial to the dead can be found on a spur road just above the Chilliwack River Road. The site itself was supposed to have been consecrated by the Cemeteries Act after the discovery of the crash site and associated human remains, some of which were gathered into a common grave. Others found by climbers and hikers have been placed in a "shrine" out of the weather in a discreet location. In the 1990s the provincial government, under pressure from the Families of Slesse organization, finally passed legislation to enshrine protection of the site, which was under threat from clearcut logging at the time, and markers have been placed on trails leading into the site requesting it be respected by hikers and others accessing it.

Gallery

File:SlesseRange.jpg, Mount Slesse and its neighbouring range File:TC 810 Prop.jpg, A propeller from Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810

References

External links

* * * {{cite summitpost, id=151101, title=Slesse Mountain
Trip report by George Bell

Mountains of the Lower Mainland Skagit Range Pemberton Volcanic Belt Igneous intrusions Paleogene magmatism Two-thousanders of British Columbia Yale Division Yale Land District Paleogene British Columbia

Geology

History

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links