Maurice Brenninkmeijer approaching Slesse on his successful bid. This picture is a more realistic representation of the climbing on the buttress.
1-2 days
The Northeast Buttress of Slesse is one of the largest alpine climbing objectives in the North Cascades, if judged by sheer vertical, technical climbing terrain. Its given a prominent position in every guidebook that covers the Cascades. That's saying alot.
startpoint Neskwatch Creek
endpoint Slesse Creek
The Northeast buttress of Slesse is one of Fred Beckey's crowning achievements. First climbed in the 60's, it maintained it's fearsome reputation until very recently. These days many parties climb it successfully during any period of good weather during the later Summer months. Fred Beckey treats Slesse very extensively in his Cascade Alpine Guide, volume 3, and the route is also covered well in Kevin McLane's guide, with great photos and approach information, and Jim Nelson and Alan Kearney's Select alpine guides to the Cascades. If you've memorized all these accounts, you probably won't need to read any further.
Maurice Brenninkmeijer approaching Slesse on his successful bid. This picture is a more realistic representation of the climbing on the buttress.
I fretted and fussed about climbing the Northeast buttress of Slesse for years. Many years. Never believing in myself enough to even attempt such an audacious undertaking! Such an awesome heart-stopping objective! Jim Nelson's photos made me want to turn tail in terror, sitting at my kitchen table. McLane's cover shot on his guidebook did not help. The few gripping, epic, accounts I read on the Internet did nothing to bolster my confidence. My climbing partner Maurice, a strong alpinist, required three attempts before he and Jason Camp, another strong climber, could pull it off. What chance did I - greying, fat, slothlike, unskilled - have against such a route, such a mountain? A good competant partner helps, and for this adventure I hooked up with Jens Klubberud, a seasoned vet. Many of the parties we encountered (and there were alot of them!) over our climbing weekend were couples. And while the route is a fairly large undertaking, it is mostly moderate climbing and if you can travel light enough there is no reason you can't guide your Significant Other up this route. For us it was a fun trip, over almost too quickly - we ended up being so nervous/jazzed about the whole thing we climbed the route too quickly - in what turned out to be 5 hours - though we thoroughly enjoyed our time on the mountain. With the right logistics and route finding nose, you can fire this line in fine, fast style.
The first half of the buttress. The route traverses in from the left up hidden 4th class ledges, then climbs up to the right skyline and onto the North face.
The various guidebooks offer all sorts of advice on how to work the logistics of this route; since it really is a carryover you will be carrying some sort of pack up and over the mountain. Because of the routes noteriety and typical absence of water once past the mid-route snowpatch, you will probably be carrying a bit of extra water. In general climbers coming from Vancouver or the States will share the same logistical plan: Plan to climb the route and decend the Slesse Creek side. Park a car up Slesse Creek logging road somewhere, drive to Neskwatch Creek, and do the approach the first day. Whether you approach and climb some of the route on the first day, or bivy at the base and climb the route the next morning is up to you. Whatever your plan to climb, I would advise against doing this route too early, and advise against the Crossover Traverse, especially if you have not been on the mountain before. Park the car and do the approach, its really pretty straightforward to get to the memorial site overlooking the Northeast buttress. It takes 2-3 hours. From this point drop down into the basin and bushwack briefly to more open terrain, and approach the mountain whichever way looks best. The pocket glacier is your main barrier to entry. Get over it any way you can...preferable is if it's not there in the first place. In recent years it's been sliding entirely by mid-summer. No pocket glacier means you can leave the ice axe and crampons at home.
Maurice climbing through the fog.
The topos are all kind of vague about the first half of the route and for good reason: it wanders around and there is alot of climbing. McLane's treatment is the most detailed and best, but hopefully you won't need too much help on the first half of the route. The buttress is gained at an obvious, though intimidating, fourth class ledge system at the head of the glacial cirque. This ledge system leads slowly to more treed and less exposed third and fourth class terrain, which you can easily solo for the most part. There is a fifth class move here and there. The first real pitch begins at a pedestal and an obvious, and very honest 5.7 friction pitch, difficult to protect. I found this to be one of the hardest pitches of the climb. It didnt help that I was carrying all our equipment including 6 liters of water, but don't underestimate this pitch or how much pro you will get on it. A steep step is now overcome using a short 5.8 crack, awkward but easy to climb even with pack on. The route then meanders up the buttress, gaining height, trending up and right. We simulclimbed the entire lower buttress in one long pitch. Along the way you encounter the Bypass, several pitches of 5.6'ish terrain that meander up indestinct terrain, easy for the most part, to a more obvious, fun, low-fifth-class left-leading ramp system that deposits you one short 5.8 crack pitch below the huge bivy routes at mid height.
Jens Klubberud mid-route on Slesse, after climbing the lower buttress in 2 hours.
From the mid-route bivy sites (water, places for 8-10 or more to sleep), you climb up the right side of the buttress for 3-4 pitches of fourth and low-fifth class climbing. This is cruiser stuff that gets early morning sun. The first of the several "crux" pitches arrives quickly, with a friable and chossy 5.8 pitch, lead on the right side of the crest. The next several pitches lead through the technical crux or the route, a steep pitch though several ringing flakes, and some other pitches that (after a while) all kind of blend into one another. Although we simulclimbed the majority of the route, we stopped to belay some of these pitches: the climbing is more difficult here and the belay ledges are very nicely spaced. The rock is sound, though the whole affair is rather grassy and vegetated.
Jens leading through Slesse's crux pitch.
Once past the ringing flakes of the 5.9 crux pitch, the route becomes easier. Several more pitches, never harder than 5.7, lead up the very crest of the buttress to the summit. This is what you came for: the views down the route and everywhere are stupendous. Its hard to imagine the exposure if you have not been on this route, which is why you should go climb this one. The summit arrives far too quickly, a small flat group of blocks on an otherwise precipitous peak. The decent is easy to find off the back side, where there are established rappels down into the main couloir leading down the South and west side of the mountain.
Looking down the buttress from the top of the crux pitch. A party can be seen on the crest a few pitches below. The vegetated nature of the buttress is revealed here.
The Slesse Creek decent is everything everyone says it is: heinous, dry, ankle breaking. One thing it isnt is unsafe: once on the trail below the decent couloirs, its pretty much a mindless grind down thousands and thousands of vertical feet. It will give you pleanty of time to contemplate your alpine time.
Don't carry too much crap up and over this route, it will slow you down. Try to get a system where the leader carries only a rack and approach shoes, and the second carries all other gear. Jens and I both used lightweight frameless day packs which collapse down to nothing, to make stowing one inside the other easy. Do yourself a favor and do not try to climb this route with a marginal forcast: it will make you bring more stuff than you need, and retreating would flat out suck. Late August is ideal, even if you have to bring extra water up the route, because you can get away with super light bivy gear. It does get COLD on the mountain, so carry at least something thermal. Be prepared to carry all your water from the start of the route to the trail down to the bottom of Slesse Creek. (We carried Platypus bags enough for six liter of water.) Your rack should consist of a single set of nuts and cams to 3 inches. If you want to do alot of simulclimbing, like we did, carry some doubles in mid-range cam sizes. A single 60m rope will do with a good forecast where you wont be retreating. If the pocket glacier is gone, leave the crampons and ice axe home. Otherwise, carry one or both. Helmets are a must, although the route is very clean. Jens and I both did this route in low-top approach shoes, with rock climbing shoes on for the "real" climbing pitches.