Dan J. Bower

Outdoor activities

Mountaineering

Many people overlook the fact that Los Angeles is only a 4 hour drive from one of the highest and most spectacular terrains in the country – the Sierra Nevada. Mount Whitney is the tourist peak, attracting large crowds that for the most part trudge up the comparatively easy, albeit long, Mount Whitney Trail, so they can stand on the summit of the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Fortunately, there are more exhilarating ways to climb Whitney, and many more Sierra peaks around the 14,000 ft mark that offer tremendous mountaineering opportunities and have significantly less foot traffic.

During a recent (July 2009) trip to the Sierra I climbed Mount Whitney (14,497 ft) via the Mountaineers Route and Mount Russell (14,088 ft) via the East Ridge.

The following video clip (courtesy of Brian Cornelius) shows part of our descent from the East Summit of Mount Russell (14,042 ft) onto the East Ridge to traverse back to the carillon-russell saddle. The video clip has sound, but it's only the noise of wind blowing!