I car-to-car'd Russell three weeks ago. There was a big patch of snow right below the first large gendarme, the one you pass on the left side. I had crampons and mountaineering boots and did just fine; another party on a rope behind me went high over what was really fourth class stuff. The snow made it less obvious where the 3rd class trail was. I was doing a mixture of snow hiking and 4th class climbing myself to get around everything. The slabs that rapidly spill over into the 500 foot drop were right below the snow. They used the term "self arrest" in the article, which implied the lady was sliding on snow. If that's correct, then my guess is that they fell on the East side of the ridge as they bypassed the first gendarme and were heading towards the East Summit. There was no snow at all after the East summit.
Of course, at least one storm hit after I was up there, so there may have been some more snow hiding out. But generally after the East Summit things get a little less intense.
Honestly it was sketchier than I was expecting it to be. I'm surprised that more accidents and fatalities don't happen up there. I had pretty bad altitude sickness, so that may have had something to do with it. Car-to-cars out there can be brutal. | 
