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I'm thinking about heading up the north fork trail trail to Russell and maybe Whitney, on 1/19 through 1/27. Does anyone have info on current conditions? How about the E. ledges?
Thank you!!!
Dan

Bueller? Bueller?

Have you checked the Portal info page? There are definitely people going out there!

I checked there, but there's only beta on the main trail.

Well head on out there! If the ledges are icy, just go straight up through the willows. What routes were you thinking about doing? You will have some snow/ice stuffed away on either of those peaks.

My primary objective is the east ridge of Russell, secondary is mountaineers route. Do you think I'll need to do any rappeling on either of those two?

I would expect to find snow and ice in the upper shady portions of the MR after the notch. Depending on your down-climbing skills and nerve....may or may not need to rappel. You can always descend via main trail. Anchors should be visible since it hasn't snow THAT much. The traverse across the north face may be treacherously icy.
Not having done Russell's east ridge, the only concern I would have would be snow/ice pockets on the right (north) side of ridge, which is where you may find yourself scrambling in Class 2/3 terrain. Coming down that might be sketchy. Coming down the southern chute is OK for a tall person down-climbing - I needed to rappel when descending from climbing Fishhook.

Great, thank you Deb! It sounds like I should plan on carrying a rope. I was trying to avoid that, but it's better to be safe. Thanks again!

A large party just did the MR a few days ago; they didn't need snowshoes, said the snow was pretty packed down. They summited via the chute from the notch versus the traverse and descended the same way, no ropes. You're probably good to go on a simple trip since there's been so many people going up that way lately. Enjoy!

I led a group of 7 up MR on 1/17 -1/18. No snowshoes needed. Did not take the e ledges as the canyon was well packed. Trail conditions are excellent. The couloir is filled up to about 500 ft from the notch. The scramble is somewhat filled with snow in some sections. Took traverse back to the couloir. Camped at UBS. Plenty of snow to boil. Temps were in low 30's during the day and low 20's at night. Notch was very windy and cold. Gate is open to the trail head. Just drive around road closed sign. Road is somewhat icy. Chains weren't required during the day but were at night. The East Ridge to Russell looked completely free of snow.