Mt Russell: east ridge

[Jim]

I'm throwing this out pretty wide and in the 3 places I visit on-line.

In August of this year, around the 10th, I plan to once again head back to CA to climb Mt Russell (14,088'). Most of the route uses the MR up to UBSL, but from that point up to gain Russell's summit it is a different route. My plan is to use the Rockwood variation to gain the saddle between Russell and Carillon and then take the east ridge to (hopefully) both summits. This is a class 3 route, but with very high exposure. Only the stuff past the saddle is class 3 with high exposure, Carillon is 1-2. I want a partner for the ridge climb.

There is a lot of info on SP, and youtube has some good videos of the east ridge.

Even though I will be very close to Whitney, I don't plan on climbing her in August. I hope to summit that in March and do other peaks this summer. I plan to do Thor the day after Russell, so you could do Whitney if you wanted to.

[azbackpackr]

Yes, very high exposure. It's a "walk-up" except for that. And don't rope a bunch of folks together. That's why I bailed on that one less than 1/2 mile from the peak. The leaders had roped about 6 of us together, and when I pointed out to the other five in my line that if one of us fell the rest of them would, too, and we would end up in that frozen lake down there a couple thousand feet below us, then everyone decided heck with this bad plan! We would have been better off NOT roped at all.

This was in about 1976.

[Jim]

Well, just to clarify, any climbing will be done without rope. Unless another climber brings it for themselves. I plan on climbing without.

[Davis2001r6]

I'll be living in Italy in June, otherwise I would love to climb Russell. I absolutely love the Sierra's.

[Jim]

Just keeping this little one in the press. It should be my next mouth foamer and I am definetly starting to think about it to get past the post climb depression.

[rally_toad]

Looks interesting. I have that time off school, so I might be up for it.