Go take a look at this discussion of Mt Russell's two routes. There are also some links to photos... including our photos up the South headwall route the end of May 2004. There was less snow last year, but you can see that the south facing slopes melt fairly early compared to some other areas.
<a href="http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?p=679&highlight=#679">Mt. Russell routes</a>
Since snow/ ice can persist much longer on the East Arete route from the Russell Carillon saddle, the South Headwall route is safer and a better option during May. You gain access to that over the Russell Whitney pass from Iceberg Lake.
