Mount Slesse Gets Bold New Winter Mixed Route

West Coaster Marc-Andre Leclerc and Brit Tom Livingston have climbed a new winter route up the Navigator Wall on Mount Sleese in B.C.

Leclerc likely knows more about Slesse than any active climber today. He’s linked routes, solo in a day, and has made first winter ascents.

He spent time around Slesse last winter with Luka Lindic, but conditions were too poor to complete a climb.

Livingston made the third ascent of The House/Anderson with Uisdean Hawthorn in 2016 on Mount Alberta in the Canadian Rockies.

Their new route is 700 metres long and gets the grade of M7+R, it tops out on the south summit. For those not in the know, M7+R means that it’s hard and scary.

Two of Leclerc’s most noteworthy routes on Slesse are the Northeast Buttress, free solo in winter, second winter ascent, first winter free ascent; and East Pillar Direct, Navigator Wall and Northeast Buttress free-solo in 12 hours.

Flip through Leclerc’s images below and be sure to follow Leclerc on Instagram for more action.

Yesterday @tom__livingstone and I managed the first winter ascent of Navigator Wall on Slesse with some variations from the summer rock route. Been thinking about this one for a while so it was great to get it done! Hopefully a warm up for things to come granted we get another weather window! #arcteryx #dmmclimbing #maximropes #mtwaddingtons

A post shared by Marc-Andre Leclerc (@mdre92) on Jan 4, 2018 at 8:45pm PST