Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow on Russell East Arete?

Has anyone been on Mt Russell, east arete lately? Is the approach to Upper Boy Scout post-hole hell?, what are the snow conditions on the route? I plan on going next week. Thanks, Michael

We spend a few days in the area last weekend. There is no problem with the snow up to Upper Boy Scout lake. The approach east of UBSL to the Saddle is mostly clear, as is the canyon above Upper Boy Scout lake via the Rockwell variation. There are some snow drifts in the canyon but not much to worry about. Early in the day you might need crampons for a short section. The Russell Carillon saddle has some snow but it is flat up there and you could walk over it or go around it. Look at the Thor peak pictures on May 30th from SBC. Especially picture #21 and #24
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001995

From the East summit of Mt. Russell, we took a good look at the East Arete approach to Russell. There is snow filling the crack during the most exposed area, where you are closest to the cliff. I think that could be quite dangerous unless you were experienced and had Ice Axe and crampons for just that area. There is also a 30 foot snowdrift just east of the east summit, but that wouldn't stand in your way.

I would recommend the Route taken by Bob Rockwell
http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/1422442/guest.phtml
This route is safer and mostly free of Snow. We went via Iceberg lake which ends up at the same place once you get above the Whitney Russell pass. The South headwall route was a nice one with good handholds. We took along a rope but left it at the bottom of the headwall once we took a close look. http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001870

The southheadwall route comes up in the middle between the east and west summit. The east summit is easy to get to. The West summit requires dropping down 15 feet or so on the North side about half way there.

Kashcraft- Thank you for your post. Very useful info and the pictures are great and quite informative. Cheers, Michael

Kashcraft,

Thanks for the good info on Russell. We are doing Russell at the end of this month, and were planning on doing the East Arete route. However, you have me curious about the south headwall route. How do the two routes compare? From your report, it seems that the East Arete route is pretty dangerous at this time due to snow. However, without the snow factor (since the snow in the crack will probably be melted by the end of June), do you prefer the south headwall route to the East Arete? I'd like to avoid the exposure of the latter route, if possible. Thanks

TN

Thomas, it has been about 10 years since I did the East Arete route to Mt. Russell. It is straight forward up to the Russell Carillon saddle (you can take the Rockwell variation in the canyon above UBSL or the sand hill just east of UBSL) If you take the sandhill stay more to the right side since it is not as loose. The left side is great and loose if you are coming down that way. Once you get to the saddle you approach the east arete, staying a little on the North right side. It is not possible to stay on the top of the ridge the whole time. It is easy climbing but the exposure is tremendous. You walk down this crack in the rock, whith a rock wall on one side. Within a few feet to the other side the cliff rolls off to an almost verticle drop off. Though not difficult, it was nerve racking for me. That being said, that portion is not that long...maybe a hundred or so feet. The rest is easy class two/ three climbing. In a month or so the snow will be less of an issue.

The South headwall route is a little more climbing, but less then 100 feet. It can be reached through Iceberg lake and Whitney Russell pass or through the pass at the top of the canyon above UBSL.

A great option would be to climb up one and then go down the other. I personally found the southheadwall route emotionally a little easier, since the walled in effect makes it feel less exposed. There are good holds and the SPC pictures helped me know where to go.

Straight distance the UBSL Russell Carillon saddle east arete pass is probably the most direct and fastest.

Thanks, Kashcraft, for the great information. I like your idea of heading up one route and going down another. Any recommendations about which one to go up and which one to come down?

TN

Just adding a little bit of interest here.

To gain access to Russell's South Face from UBSL, you cross a col on the Sierra crest into the Arctic Lake drainage. This gets you to the same place as if you were to climb it via Iceberg Lake. A picture of the east side of this col is directly below. (Extreme left edge of the picture, left of the stubby pinnacle.)

Below that is a picture taken at the col itself, so you can see how nice and easy it is.

Anyway, I recently found out that this col will soon be given a name. This will make it easy to describe the route to others: "Go up the valley behind UBSL, cross over 'XXX Col' and ascend to the SF of Russell." One of the big reasons for naming it is the interest that people on the WPS board have shown in the route. See, you are important!

It wouldn't be appropriate for me to spill the beans yet, so I won't. Here. But if I meet you in person, I'll tell you what the name will be, and the story behind it.

<img src="http://a2.cpimg.com/image/BE/16/20435902-3cbc-028001A9-.jpg"width-480>

<img src="http://a0.cpimg.com/image/84/1D/20436100-245c-028001E0-.jpg"width-480>

Bob, you tease!

Bob,

Thanks for the great information and pictures.

Any idea when the new name will be made public? This is, of course, assuming we don't see you in the mountains before then so you can whisper it in our ears.

TN

Bob told me what the new name will be, but I'm sworn to secrecy!

If you look at Bob's pictures from the 06/10 ascent of Thor, you'll see what the approach to Russell looks like. I also have some pictures. The link is in that thread.