Slesse Mountain

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Slesse Mountain
Elevation	2,439 m (8,002 ft)
Location	British Columbia, Canada
Range	North Cascades
Prominence	862 m (2,828 ft)
Coordinates	49°01′32″N, 121°35′31″W
Topo map	NTS 092.H.04
First ascent	1927 by Stan Henderson, Mills Winram, Fred Parkes
Easiest route	Southwest Route (Technical rock climb; Class 5.6)

Slesse Mountain, or Mount Slesse, is a mountain just north of the US-Canada border, in the North Cascades of British Columbia, near the town of Chilliwack. It is notable for its large, steep local relief. For example, its west face drops over 1,950 m (6,400 ft) to Slesse Creek in less than 3 km (1.9 mi). It is also famous for its huge Northeast Buttress; see the climbing notes below. The name means "fang" in the Halkomelem language. Notable nearby mountains include Mount Rexford in British Columbia, and American Border Peak, Mount Shuksan, and Mount Baker, all in the US state of Washington.

On December 9, 1956, a Trans Canada Airlines North Star airplane crashed on the upper slopes of Slesse Mountain, killing all 62 people aboard. 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 and Saskatchewan Roughriders, on their way home from a game in Vancouver.

Slesse Mountain 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 1,650 m (5,400 ft) of ascent, a good deal of scrambling and some sections of technical rock climbing 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 ISBN 0-87156-884-5.