Hey all!
I went up yesterday. We decide to get an extra early start due to the forecast.
We looked for Steve's route, but since we started in the dark we got off route. After thrashing around in the willows and creek for almost 45 minutes we decided to stick with the regular route.
If you hit the creek in the daylight Steve's route becomes pretty clear.
Crossings weren't too bad. With waterproof boots, Dave and I only had to do a wet crossing at LBSL.
Frank: for a description of the slab route read
here. Since we were still in the dark at LBSL we just felt out the regular route, considering the steep cliffs on the slab route, and the route finding we didn't want to waste more time or risk anything without the sun.
We only got to the slabs above LBSL when my buddy got injured.
However, the climb up to the Russell-Carillon Col/Plateau looked mostly melted out, the belly of the slope was still padded with snow. It looked easily bypassable.
I've also browsed the summit photos of recent Whitney Summiteers and the ridge on Russell looks mostly clear.
But as far as that goes that is only speculation.
