Russell to Whitney Info

[psycholoco]

Yesterday I was able to get a Whitney Zone permit for 8/25 and I'm considering going for the Russell/Whitney/Muir combo. I'd head up the east ridge of Russell, but for going from Russell to Whitney, Seano's guidebook says "then descend its (Russell's) south face and climb either Whitney's Mountaineer's Route (from Iceberg lake) or north face." Does anyone have experience doing this and can expand on the pros/cons of the north face route?

Seano...you out there?

thanks!

[mtn_nut]

SeanO is on here, but he might be out of service playing around in the Sierras.

I can probably help. Are you planning on backpacking or dayhiking, and if backpacking, where are you staying.

If you are doing it as a dayhike, its going to be a long day, then you'll be going up the standard east ridge of Russel from upper boyscout lake, down the south face of Russel, then staying closer to the ridge to the 13,000 foot saddle between russel and Whitney (I haven't actually done the south face route, but that is my understanding). When you get to the second notch (~13,100) just above iceberg lake, then descend to iceburg lake at 12,700'. Then ascend the whitney mountaineers route to the 14,100' notch (where the gully disappears). Around the notch is where you ascend the north face to the summit. If that is too steep, you can stay on the mountaineers route to the west part of the summit, where it meets up with the standard route. Be careful about the north face below the 14,100' notch, it can be a bit cliffy and is steeper than the mountaineers route.

When sean did the speed record, he didn't actually descend to iceburg lake, so i know that there is a route that will take you below the 14,100' notch to the 13k' saddle between Russel and Whitney, but I do not have any first hand knowledge about this. Hopefully when you are on Russel summit you can scout the whole line.

If you look at Caltopo, you can see the mountaineers route and hopefully you can follow along my narrative.

[psycholoco]

Thank you! I'll check out caltopo for sure.

I am looking at a day hike, so yeah, a long day for sure. I imagine I'll be making a couple decisions once I see the route from above. Mostly I was wondering about not having to drop down to Iceberg lake, but that's probably what I'll do as the alternative probably won't save me much time. (in reality, I'll probably only do Russell or Whitney/Muir since i'm "supposed" to work on Monday in the Bay Area)

[seano]

Yesterday I was able to get a Whitney Zone permit for 8/25 and I'm considering going for the Russell/Whitney/Muir combo. I'd head up the east ridge of Russell, but for going from Russell to Whitney, Seano's guidebook says "then descend its (Russell's) south face and climb either Whitney's Mountaineer's Route (from Iceberg lake) or north face." Does anyone have experience doing this and can expand on the pros/cons of the north face route?

Seano...you out there?

The Sierra have a few Starbucks as well as mountains...

The north face is shorter than the Mountaineer's Route, and not hard to find on the way up (start right, then trend left), though it has more class 3. When I first did the Russell-Whitney-Muir loop (2007-ish), I went up the north face and found it less intimidating than Russell's east ridge. When I did the record, I came down the MR and traversed above Iceberg Lake to the notch, because I was sleep-deprived and not sure how easily I could find the north route going down.

Enjoy! The first part is rewarding scrambling, and jogging down through the trail circus is fun in its own way.

[psycholoco]

The Sierra have a few Starbucks as well as mountains...

The north face is shorter than the Mountaineer's Route, and not hard to find on the way up (start right, then trend left), though it has more class 3. When I first did the Russell-Whitney-Muir loop (2007-ish), I went up the north face and found it less intimidating than Russell's east ridge. When I did the record, I came down the MR and traversed above Iceberg Lake to the notch, because I was sleep-deprived and not sure how easily I could find the north route going down.

Enjoy! The first part is rewarding scrambling, and jogging down through the trail circus is fun in its own way.

Awesome! Thanks for the info Sean!

[pminaghan]

SeanO is on here, but he might be out of service playing around in the Sierras.

I can probably help. Are you planning on backpacking or dayhiking, and if backpacking, where are you staying.

If you are doing it as a dayhike, its going to be a long day, then you'll be going up the standard east ridge of Russel from upper boyscout lake, down the south face of Russel, then staying closer to the ridge to the 13,000 foot saddle between russel and Whitney (I haven't actually done the south face route, but that is my understanding). When you get to the second notch (~13,100) just above iceberg lake, then descend to iceburg lake at 12,700'. Then ascend the whitney mountaineers route to the 14,100' notch (where the gully disappears). Around the notch is where you ascend the north face to the summit. If that is too steep, you can stay on the mountaineers route to the west part of the summit, where it meets up with the standard route. Be careful about the north face below the 14,100' notch, it can be a bit cliffy and is steeper than the mountaineers route.

When sean did the speed record, he didn't actually descend to iceburg lake, so i know that there is a route that will take you below the 14,100' notch to the 13k' saddle between Russel and Whitney, but I do not have any first hand knowledge about this. Hopefully when you are on Russel summit you can scout the whole line.

If you look at Caltopo, you can see the mountaineers route and hopefully you can follow along my narrative.

hey there... looking to get a quick trip into California and was also thinking the Russell/Whitney combo. Is it best to rejoin Iceburg lake rather than keep on the ridge to Whitney and meet the MR on the saddle that way? is the pic I made a rough idea of what I want to do rather than take the ridge direct?

[Fletch Lives]

Is it best to rejoin Iceburg lake rather than keep on the ridge to Whitney and meet the MR on the saddle that way? is the pic I made a rough idea of what I want to do rather than take the ridge direct?

Yes. Did this a few years ago. For most mortals, return to Iceberg.