Mt. Whitney/Mt. Russel conditions

Has anyone done the East Face or East Buttress of Whitney lately. I'm wondering what the descent conditions are on the Mountaineers route?

How about conditions on the Fishhook Arete and East Ridge of Russel? Also, I've heard drastically different accounts of the difficult of the Fishhook Arete - some say 5.8, with only a few sections of it, and some say sustained with stout 5.9. Any input on this?

Thanks a bunch for the info,

Kyle

There was a thread I believe on supertopo, they said descent was fine except for one dicey snow section, but I believe that was almost two weeks ago. You should be fine. Use a nut tool as an ax,

You need a partner?

wade morris wrote:There was a thread I believe on supertopo, they said descent was fine except for one dicey snow section, but I believe that was almost two weeks ago. You should be fine. Use a nut tool as an ax, You need a partner?

Thanks for the info Wade - I appreciate it. My buddy is coming out from AZ in a couple of weeks, so no partner needed on this one. I'll be in touch though - I saw your recent post seeking partners in the cool air.

Did the east buttress two weeks ago. Descended the mountaineers route. We brought crampons and an Ice axe. Crampons were not a necessity but no matter which route you take an axe would be handy. Both mountaineers and the east butt were in fine condition.

IMHO it's pretty stout 5.9 but we did it in full-on alpine conditions, i.e. snowing so it felt hard. Either way you should get on it, not super sustained but there are some hard moves!

Did the east face and descended mtnrs route last weekend, there was ~400 ft of snow in the gully before the notch, soft enough to plunge step in the afternoon. We didn't carry axes or crampons.

Is the East Ridge descent on Russell and the talus above Upper Boy Scout clear of snow?

Chris D wrote:Is the East Ridge descent on Russell and the talus above Upper Boy Scout clear of snow?

yep

Tyler Wick wrote: yep

Thanks!

Just got back from Whitney after climbing the east face and then surviving a 20 year thunder storm hudled in our tents at iceberg on Friday. All the trails are trashed by flash flooding. Not enough snow left to worry about. I would call the usfs before you go as some of the trails were closed at one point. Everything is a real mess in the n fork of lone pine, and I heard the main Whitney trail is the same.

Both trails have re-opened but thanks for the heads-up. We'll budget additional time for the approach and the walk out on Russell next weekend.

Sounds like you had yourself a little excitement!