Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

14ers in California and Washington state or any other peak in the USA
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dfeezell
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Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by dfeezell »

For those of you who have climbed the East Ridge on Mt. Russell (CA 14er), what was your experience with this route, and can you compare it with any of the standard routes on CO 14ers? From what I have read, the East Ridge on Mt. Russell is perhaps most similar to Capitol’s standard route, but with better rock and maybe more exposure. I am originally from CA and have summited a fair number of Sierra Nevada peaks, so I am generally familiar with the rock quality and class ratings relative to CO and I have SeanO’s book with route descriptions, but I was curious about specific experiences on Mt. Russell’s East Ridge. We'll be climbing from a base camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake. Looks like a beautiful route!
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greenonion
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Re: Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by greenonion »

Forum member susanjoypaul wrote up a good description of climbing Mt Russell a few years ago. Great description and photos from what I remember…

https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=8874

Longer ago than I remember, but still a good TR
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angry
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Re: Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by angry »

I did it as a day trip and found it very enjoyable. I've summited all the CA 14ers and all the CO 14ers. I think the ridgeline of LB/Blanca Traverse would be more on par rather than Capitol. The scree slope leading up to the Russell-Carillion saddle was the only part that was crappy.
JosephG
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Re: Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by JosephG »

I’ll second that the scree up to the Russell-Carillion saddle was a grunt, a lot of two steps up, one slide back. The ridge over is pretty sustained and solid scrambling. It’s not really like Capitol much, apart from the drop offs. We camped at Upper Boyscout Lake, and as I recall there was something odd about some ledges on the approach.

Here’s our report:
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=15092
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andrew85
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Re: Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by andrew85 »

The scree slope to gain the east ridge is pretty unpleasant, but once you’re on the ridge it’s much more enjoyable. I’d echo that the ridge is more like the LB/B traverse than Capitol because unlike Capitol where you have a single knife edge with zero route finding while on it, both Russell and LB/B you have a series of smaller knife edges that you have repeatedly to get on and off and route find between them. I did both as a day summit and Capitol’s definitely a bigger day, but in terms of overall difficulty I’d say they’re comparable because Capitol has harder route finding in the non knife edge sections despite Russell having the harder ridge.
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dfeezell
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Re: Mt. Russell (CA 14er)

Post by dfeezell »

Thanks for the input everyone! Did anyone try the "Rockwell Variation" instead of the standard scree slope to ascend to the Russell-Carillon saddle? There are mixed reports of that variation being better or worse than the standard approach.