Snacking Bear, I have to admit that the thought crossed my mind when I saw the news on the fallen climber.
As you know, the traditional way to overcome the difficulties close to the East Summit of Russell is to dip down 10-15 feet on to the North Face. This area is shaded and still had 2-3 feet of unconsolidated snow in places when I was there, particularly in gullies/couloirs. I realize this doesn't really come through from the pictures I uploaded, but was nevertheless my experience.
Given the amount of snow I saw was this last weekend in the Palisades area, I would not be surprised that there would have been enough melting snow left on Russell's East Ridge to create somewhat treacherous conditions. In particular the scenario that comes to mind would be mid-morning conditions: stepping on hardened crunchy snow that would have become detached from the rock surface overnight as a result of the melt/freeze cycles and would easily break off. Trying to navigate this kind of terrain without crampons would mean that losing your balance could be quite easy. I'm of course just theorizing and do not have any first hand knowledge to share about this tragic event.
For what it's worth, during my own trip I did run into a party on the East Ridge that was simul-climbing with ropes and setting in protection (cams) as they went along the ridge, and nevertheless decided to turn around just before reaching the East Summit due to the conditions. They described them as "sketchy" and having gotten "freaked out" a few times.
Take all this with a grain of salt - like I said I was not in the Whitney/Russell area this last weekend.
