Terrible news indeed. BFR if they were between the two summits I recall lots of sloping slabs that could make a small slip nasty to the north. There are also a lot of ledges that can help one bypass the class 4 crux where you mantle a boulder astride the ridge but could explain the female climber who survived the 30-foot fall.
It is also possible the fall happened lower on the ridge.
Danishclimber went up the East Ridge a week ago and reported patches of snow that made the route slippery. I can attest to this particular danger as my first attempt on Russell in 2013 I turned back at the notch on the East Ridge due to snow on the route. The nearly vertical ridge does have a sort of open-book crack system that makes a generous class 3 walkway, but the layering of the rock does angle downward to the downhill side of the route. The crack is also on the shadier north side of the East Ridge making it easier for snow to linger when much of the peak seems clear.
If any snow persisted into this weekend the entire route from the notch to the East Summit could have converted a slip to a 500' fall.
This is the first fatality I can remember on Mount Russell.
