Mount Elsay, Mountain summit in Mount Seymour Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada.
Mount Elsay is a 1,419 m summit in Mount Seymour Provincial Park, District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, rising from the shores of Indian Arm in the North Shore Mountains. It is flanked by Mount Bishop and Elsay Lake to the north and Mount Seymour and Runner Peak to the south. The two main approaches, the West Trail and the Elsay Lake Trail, cross rockslides, a talus slope and a rock face.
The mountain was first climbed on May 6, 1923, when a group of 29 hikers from the British Columbia Mountaineering Club reached the summit. This early ascent marks the beginning of the peak's climbing history in the region.
The name comes from Elsay Lake and Elsay Creek below the peak; the source suggests it derives from a Scottish settler, possibly from a Scottish place name. A common misconception holds that the mountain was first called Mount Jarrett after George Jarrett, first secretary of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club in 1909, but that name belonged to a peak to the north, sometimes called Deacon Peak.
Two primary routes lead to the summit: the West Trail branching from Mount Seymour and the Elsay Lake Trail crossing multiple rocky sections. Plan to visit during warmer months when conditions are most manageable, as snow and exposed terrain require proper preparation.
On 28 April 1947 a Trans-Canada Air Lines Lockheed 18 Lodestar (Fin 53, CF-TDF) vanished with 15 people aboard; the wreck was found on Mount Elsay in September 1994, 47 years later.
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