Slesse Mountain | |
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Slesse Mountain in late July
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,439 m (8,002 ft) |
Prominence | 862 m (2,828 ft) |
Coordinates | 49°01′32.2″N 121°35′30.9″W / 49.025611°N 121.591917°WCoordinates: 49°01′32.2″N 121°35′30.9″W / 49.025611°N 121.591917°W |
Geography | |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
Parent range | Skagit Range, Cascade Mountains |
Topo map | NTS 092.H.04 |
Geology | |
Mountain type | Intrusive |
Volcanic arc/belt | Pemberton Volcanic Belt |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1927 by Stan Henderson, Mills Winram, Fred Parkes |
Easiest route | Southwest Route (Technical rock climb; Class 5.6) |
Slesse Mountain, usually referred to as Mount Slesse, is a mountain just north of the US-Canada border, in the Cascade Mountains 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 (6,398 ft) to Slesse Creek in less than 3 km (2 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 and Canadian Border Peak in British Columbia, and American Border Peak, Mount Shuksan, and Mount Baker, all in the US state of Washington.
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 that formed as a result of subduction 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, a metamorphic rock, produced by contact metamorphism with the rock of the Batholith and with an intrusion of granodiorite.