Trip Report
Mt Russell, Mithral Dihedral (III, 5.10, 7P) Car-to-Car via a Unique Approach (Photo TR)
|
Tuesday June 4, 2013 1:57am
|
|
If you want a report with pictures, visit my website, since SuperTopo has deprecated displaying photos from off-site.
June 30, 2012
Jared Wood and I climbed Mithral Dihedral car-to-car. We started hiking at 3:30 am, and after whimsically taking a very interesting shortcut through Sakai Col, we reached the base of the climb about 5 hours since we first started. Jared accidentally linked P1 and P2 (oops. I linked P3 and P4 in a non-stop altitude-induced pant fest. Then I climbed P5 to finish the awesome dihedral. Jared led the next pitch and then we simul-climbed to the summit. The sun set as we descended the final scree chute to Upper Boy Scout Lake. Sleep-deprived, we took a few naps ACROSS the trail on the descent. I'm not sure how long the naps were (one must have been at least an hour), but we got back to the car at 1:30am Sunday, making for a 22.5 hr outing! The next day we found some nice arches for a future night photo project :-)
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
2012-05-12 - Mt Russell seen as we passed the Sierra Crest.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Alpenglow on the cliffs above Upper Boy Scout Lake.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Upper Boy Scout Lake at sunrise.
I thought I remembered there being a way to the SW side of Mt Russell from the SE side, and as I have been up to Iceberg Lake a few too many times, I suggested we try this other variation and Jared was game for it. We later learned that our route passed through what is called Sakai Col. This variation gave us some very interesting views of some seldom-climbed aretes on Mt Russell. Although this col requires an obnoxious amount of slogging on sandy side slopes and a big switchback, I think these unexpected views made this approach variation worthwhile.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Heading towards Sakai Col.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Lone Pine Peak and its North Ridge in profile.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Looking down from Sakai Pass to Upper Boy Scout Lake.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell, Right Arete
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell, Right Arete.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell, Left Arete.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SE Face of Mt Russell, upper section.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Stacked blocks on SE Face, L Arete, of Mt Russell.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Cool rock fin at Sakai Pass.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
2012-05-11 Mt Russell seen from the E Buttress of Mt Whitney. Sakai Pass, which we took to get to Mithral, is barely in view in this photo.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SW Face of Mt Russell. The upper half of the extruded face of Mithral Dihedral is in sunlight.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SW Face close up from base.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
SW Face close up from base.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Backside of Fishook Arete.
Jared had been feeling more confident with leading harder alpine trad, and by this trip he felt like he was solid in 5.7 and could maybe do 5.8. So we agreed that he'd lead P1, and then I'd take over from there as the P2 5.8 might be a bit tough for him.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Jared starting P1.
However, Jared had trouble telling where P1 ended. When he shouted down to me, all I could shout back were some vague landmarks. At some point it became obvious that he had missed the belay and was leading into P2. I wondered if a 60m rope was enough to link the two, and my answer came as I ran out of rope and I had to simul-climb a little bit for Jared to finish P2.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Following P2, near 5.8+ crux.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Jared at P2 belay.
This corner was great! Never too hard, and although it was very physical and sustained, you could almost always get a good rest. I basically climbed a body length, found a rest, panted my guts out, then continued, ad nauseum. For extra value, we linked the 3 short pitches into two long ones. If you bring the rack suggested by Croft (or a slightly different one on MountainProject), which is on the heavy side (doubles to 3, and triples either in finger or had sizes), you will have enough gear to do that comfortably.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Leading P3 (by Jared Wood)
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Leading P3, linked with P4. P4 disappears over the top where the angle eases a bit.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Looking across to Star Trekkin. The profile gives you an idea of the sustained steepness of the Mithral corner.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Looking down P3.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
P4 OW. I linked this with P3 into one long 200' pitch.
The offwidth is nothing too bad. Even with a pack on at altitude I didn't find it too hard. One especially nice thing about it is that there is a thin crack alongside it that takes good gear, so there is no need to bring large cams or run this section out. Very comfy.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Looking down P4 from above the OW. Note the small gear used in the crack along it.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
P4 above the OW. It steepens up near the end before the angle eases. This adds some unexpected flare to the finish.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Leading P3-4 (by Jared Wood)
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Getting to the steep bit on P4.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Looking down from the steep bit on P4.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Jared following P3 and P4.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
P5 OW and the steep lieback-stem crux above.
This next OW was low angle and wide, so it was even easier than the last one. More like a squeeze chimney.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
P5 crux.
I hate liebacks, so I jammed the lieback flake. This led to some stupidity on my part as at the end it is better to transition right to a crack in the face. Hanging on a thumbs-down jam with my left hand, I twisted to my right and reached for the crack. My shoulder was not happy with this, so after some hangs to make sure I didn't dislocate it, I set my left hand jam thumbs UP and then transitioned. So much for getting this clean! Doh!
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Jared following the P5 crux. Jared is more of a face and sport climber than me, so he just waltzed up this part.
Unfortunately after P5, the real fun is over and there are a number of easy, wandering, mediocre pitches to the summit. They aren't bad, but after such a good route it was a bit of a downer.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Following P6 (5.7).
After Jared led P6, we decided to simul-climb the rest to get it over with faster. That worked well.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Blocky terrain of the P7-to-summit simul-climb.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Blocky terrain of the P7-to-summit simul-climb. The block on the right is the large gendarme seen in profile from views of Russell from the S.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Hanging out on the summit (by Jared Wood)
After enjoying the summit for a bit, we descended the East Ridge to Carillon Pass, and then down the lousy scree chutes to Upper Boy Scout Lakes, reaching the bottom just after we needed to turn on our headlamps. It was an exhausting day, but an absolutely wonderful one in the mountains with a great friend.
Bonus and Miscellaneous
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Mobius Arch and Lone Pine Peak.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
Unnamed arch near Mobius Arch, Lone Pine Peak (left) and Mt Whitney.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
2012-05-11 - East Buttress - Mt Russell's Mithral Dihedral and Fishook Arete from the E Buttress.
 Visit on googleusercontent.com
2012-05-11 - East Buttress - Mt Russell from the E Buttress.
Links
Picasa Album
Personal Website
PellucidWombat
|
|
About the Author
PellucidWombat is a mountain climber from Berkeley, CA. |
Comments
murcy
Gym climber
sanfrancisco
|
|
Awesome pictures.
|
|
ThomasKeefer
Trad climber
San Diego
|
|
Awesome TR! That route has been on my list for a while. Car to Car! Nice style points.
|
|
Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
|
|
Great photos, thanks for posting.......very alpine!
|
|
cowpoke
climber
|
|
beautiful. thanks for sharing this!
|
|
Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
|
|
Nice job and Images!
Thanks
Karl
|
|
10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
|
|
TFPU
|
|
Snowmassguy
Trad climber
Calirado
|
|
Super Sweet. Thank you for posting!!!
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
Thanks......looks great, just added to my short list!
|
|
PellucidWombat
Mountain climber
Draperderr, by Bangerter, Utah
|
|
|
Author's Reply
|
Jun 4, 2013 - 01:26pm PT
|
Donini, for a fast and strong climber like you, I've heard that a good way to get even more bang for your buck is to climb Star Trekkin' first (which shares the same first two pitches as Mithral), and then rappel Mithral (leaving gear behind) and then climb the 2-3 pitches of Mithral Dihedreal (cleaning that gear!) before doing the easier pitches to the summit.
From photos it also looks like you might be able to do something similar with Bloody Corner? It looks like you pass above the main pitches of ST & MD on your way to the summit for that one too. Now THAT would be an epic day!
|
|
le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
|
|
Very nice Mark. Just imagine the lead you could unleash in that corner with an 80m...
|
|
brotherbbock
climber
So-Cal
|
|
Very nice pics......got me amped!!!!!
|
|
Murf
climber
|
|
Mithral, Startrekkin', and Bloody Corner all end up on the same ledge system (just before all the simul pitches). You could conceivably rap to the money pitches of any of them from there, although Bloody Corner might be more difficult than the other two. After the name sake corner, it moves left a bit, so getting to the top of the corner might be interesting on rappel.
|
|
wbw
Trad climber
'cross the great divide
|
|
Wow! Fantastic pix. and report. You Cali folks and your perfect granite with splitter weather really live in paradise.
Thanks for the share.
|
|
BMcC
Trad climber
Livermore
|
|
Nicely done!
It's on my list of routes to do now - thanks.
|
|
msiddens
Trad climber
|
|
LOVE that wall/route
|
|
Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
|
|
Great TR, I bailed on Mithral last summer as lighting and rain started around us, but not before that stinking OW got the best of me. I'm in better shape now and heading back to take care of business this summer.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
Pellucid, is yer day job writing guide books and trip reports?
I'll be here awaiting yer next gem.
|
|
Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
|
|
Nice mark, always a joy to read your TRs,
Love the arch pics!!!!!!
|
|
PellucidWombat
Mountain climber
Draperderr, by Bangerter, Utah
|
|
|
Author's Reply
|
Jun 5, 2013 - 12:44am PT
|
The perfect model replicates reality 1 to 1?
DMT
Oh, but you can't capture scale! Nor sound, smell (ugh), temperature, nor texture! The endorphines from a vigorous approach don't come through as well, either - that wonderful ache in your body that tells you that you've accomplished something for the day. Even the best models merely provide inspiration and guidance for doing the real thing.
Nerd Link
Actually, a good excerpt from there that I've got to share, because it is so much better than "the map is not the territory":
'Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Indian philosopher, described it thus, ... "it is like a man who is hungry. Any amount of description of the right kind of food will never satisfy him. He is hungry, he wants food."' :-(P~~`` #
|
|
RP3
Big Wall climber
Newbury Park
|
|
Fastastic TR...thanks as always
|
|
Grippa
Trad climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
I'm with Donini - short list.
|
|
Larry Nelson
Social climber
|
|
Bump for good climbing content. TFPU
|
|
le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
|
|
Makes me want to cry that I still haven't done this.
|
|
NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
|
|
Mark, you have been a prolific trip report machine in years past, including some really great objectives that make me drool. I don't think I've managed to read them all yet.
Le_bruce, what is your cardio status? Can't imagine it would ever be less than mine. Maybe keep some of the special meds handy in case of headaches?
My time is in mighty short supply this summer but Mithral Dihedral or Star Trekkin is on my radar.
Batrock, I was thinking of asking you to do this climb this summer before I saw le_bruce also interested. I'll probably be able to get in 2 adventures this summer apart from whatever the kids and I do.
|
|
Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
|
|
Nut,
If leBruce cannot make it I would be more than interested. I got stormed off it a few years ago and have been itching to get back and do it.
|
|
Dr.Keith
Trad climber
Navarre
|
|
Great trip report....looking to get on this in the coming weeks....anyone been out there this year? How is the conditions?
|
|
brotherbbock
climber
So-Cal
|
|
Great pics and diagrams!
Well done, awesome TR.
|
|
NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
|
|
Hey Mark, question for you: Do you think the Sakai Col is faster than approaching via Iceberg Lake when doing car-to-car? It looks faster/shorter/more direct from google maps, but then have to carry more water weight from Upper Boyscout Lake.
|
|
bajaandy
climber
Escondido, CA
|
|
S I C K !!!!
Nicely done! That's a BIG day. Thanks for taking the time to document the entire ascent and then taking even more time to put it all together for us to look at and drool....
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
|
|
awesome!
|
|
PellucidWombat
Mountain climber
Draperderr, by Bangerter, Utah
|
|
|
Author's Reply
|
Jun 9, 2016 - 09:43am PT
|
Hey Mark, question for you: Do you think the Sakai Col is faster than approaching via Iceberg Lake when doing car-to-car? It looks faster/shorter/more direct from google maps, but then have to carry more water weight from Upper Boyscout Lake.
I think so. It is more direct without all of the switchbacks or the wider loop of the Iceberg Lake route. You also don't gain as much elevation to lose on the backside.
The one caveat is when taking the right line to get above the first set of cliffs. The way we went was sandy and annoying - effort that was a lot more tiring and slow than expected. I think you could save time and effort by heading closer to the cliffs, and at the last minute head more straight up on the right side to skirt around them. At the very least, it seems to me to be easier to go straight up and down loose sand than to do a long ascending traverse.
The ideal would be to do this pass when it is snow covered, as then the sand is a moot point!
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
|
Mar 24, 2018 - 09:39pm PT
|
Bump for Sierra gudness...
|
|
ground_up
Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
|
|
|
|
Mar 24, 2018 - 10:06pm PT
|
I somehow missed this one. Holy cow what an awesome TR !
Fantastic shots !
|
|
mcreel
climber
Barcelona
|
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2018 - 02:51am PT
|
Wow, looks good. That rock is so clean!
|
|
jeff constine
Trad climber
Ao Namao
|
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2018 - 10:04am PT
|
Wes Goulding solo of the rig! Not a myth.
|
|
briham89
Big Wall climber
santa cruz, ca
|
|
|
|
Mar 26, 2018 - 10:48am PT
|
So good
|
|
|
 |
|
The route as seen from Mt. Whitney summit. Photo: Chris McNamara
Recent Trip Reports
- The Kohala Ditch Trail: 36ish hrs on foot... to and from the headwaters. [5 of 5]
May 31, 2019; 11:57pm
- A Winter Traverse of the California section of the PCT Part 8
May 31, 2019; 11:18pm
- Supertopo,A trip report for posterity
May 31, 2019; 11:00pm
- Balch Fest 2013. Two Days in and Around and On The Flake. The Official Trip Report
May 31, 2019; 10:57pm
- TR: My visit to the Canoe
May 31, 2019; 10:24pm
- Death, Alpine Climbing, The Shield on El Cap
May 31, 2019; 4:07pm
- Andy Nisbet (1953-2019)
May 31, 2019; 2:11pm
- Drama on Baboquivari Peak
May 31, 2019; 1:19pm
- Joffre + The Aemmer Couloir: ski descents come unexpected catharsis [part 2]
May 31, 2019; 7:45am
- Lost To The Sea, by Disaster Master
May 30, 2019; 5:36am
- My Up And Down Life, Disaster Master
May 29, 2019; 11:44pm
- Halibut Hats and Climbers-What Gives?
May 29, 2019; 7:24pm
- G Rubberfat Overhang-First Ascent 1961
May 29, 2019; 12:28pm
- Coonyard Pinnacle 50 Years Later
May 29, 2019; 12:24pm
- Great Pumpkin with Mr Kamps and McClinsky- 1971
May 29, 2019; 12:02pm
- View more trip reports >
Other Routes on Mt. Russell
|
| Fishhook Arete, 5.9
Mt. Russell
The route as seen from the summit of Whitney. |
|
| East Ridge, 3rd class
Mt. Russell
The route as seen from the summit of Whitney. |
|
| Star Trekin, 5.10c
Mt. Russell
The route as seen from Mt. Whitney summit. |
|
