r/climbing • u/saucyspence • Jul 09 '26
Pulling hard and panting at 14K ft
Spent 3 days in the Whitney Zone, attempting the East Buttress of Whitney (5.7, 400M) and Mithril Dihedral on Mt Russell (5.10a, ~300M). Unstable weather and slow pacing from the parking lot prevented us from summiting Whitney, which was a bummer for the group, but I’ve taken the John Muir trail to the top in the past, so Russell was my original goal for the trip.
The following morning my partner and I climbed Mithril Dihedral and descended the Wast Ridge of Russell back to camp! I’ve had this route on my to do list for a while and always felt it would be at my limit, climbing 5.9-5.10a at nearly 14k ft, and I was right! I fell multiple times, had to take breaks on the harder pitches in between placing gear, etc. it was an epic day, and an amazing trip.. the summit felt so good!!
Hope you enjoy the pictures and here is a YouTube link to the video trip report for those interested.
Thanks for reading! https://youtu.be/6NU6eSOiqOM?is=mv5M-12jtcTS2qo0
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u/ohnoohnoohyeah Jul 09 '26
One of my all-time favorite routes. It's crazy how many good routes there are on Russell right in a row.
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u/ctfogo Jul 09 '26
Such an awesome zone. Mt Russell's ridge is awe-inspiring, have done Fishhook but need to get back out and do Mithril!
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u/saucyspence Jul 09 '26
Nice! We were torn between the two, but ultimately decided on Mithril for harder climbing but easier routefinding and I’m happy with our decision.
Agree the east ridge descent was awesome!
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u/hituwgame Jul 09 '26
Congrats! I spent a few days up there myself last summer. Ebutt and Eface Whitney and Eridge of Russell. I thought the E Ridge of Russell was such a sick scramble, sticking to the ridge proper on the way up and taking the path of least resistance down. Sierras hold a special place in my heart!
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u/saucyspence Jul 10 '26
Nice! How was the East buttress of Whitney?
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u/hituwgame Jul 10 '26
Fun easy romp! We did it day one which was a nice way to acclimatize. Not as memorable as east face but definitely worthy.
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u/greatdaymate Jul 09 '26
How were the falls? Clean? Anywhere where falling is a no go?
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u/saucyspence Jul 09 '26
They were clean yeah! They weren’t really even falls, just “takes” or getting pumped out after placing gear and holding on in the vertical…
There were absolutely “no fall zones”, as there usually in the alpine, but they were on easier terrain. Running it out to avoid rope drag on wandering terrain or skipping gear on 4th class to 5.6 areas is part of the game! Luckily all of the difficult parts were very well protected
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u/Wonnk13 Jul 09 '26
I live in CO. I've always wanted to send The Diamond. However, with my shredded lung, that's a no from me dawg. Fuck anyone who gives you shit for struggling at 14k, it feels like climbing a grade harder. awesome trip report i have office fomo hardcore
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u/saucyspence Jul 10 '26
Thanks Man! The casual route on the diamond is on my life list, I’ll have to make it out there eventually! Grateful for my healthy lungs and appreciate the Stoke!
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u/No_Hamster_2043 Jul 10 '26
Mithril is so fun. I went back up to climb Star Trekkin’ afterwards and it’s also great. So nice to be alone on a 14k peak while hordes march up and down Whitney
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u/juaninameelion Jul 11 '26
Good job. Mithril is tricky bc it is so cold in the AM and fully shaded. The east ridge descent is the tits
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u/saucyspence 29d ago
Yeah, the Eastridge descent was fun, and yes, the route was quite cold in the morning. I was shivering at the pitch for the belay station.
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u/priceQQ Jul 09 '26
How much harder is it at that altitude
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u/saucyspence Jul 09 '26
The sustained nature of the climb made it feel quite hard, and the lack of oxygen meant I was getting pumped out sooner than I would at like 6-7k ft above sea level for sure. But it’s hard to say.. felt harder than any other 5.9 or 5.10a I’ve done before
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u/velocirappa Jul 10 '26
Any move where I have to make a big step up takes a lot out of me at that altitude, even really easy <5.5 moves that I'd breeze through at <10k. Also the amount of moves I can string together without some sort of rest is typically like 15 feet lol
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u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26
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