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So just to be clear, if the switchbacks are covered in too much snow, the only way up is the chute
Yes.
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which means the only way back is to glissade down? No. If you are wearing crampons and have an ice axe, you can walk down the slope, with the ice axe ready to self-arrest if you fall and begin to slide.
However, this being a low-snow year, we can compare it to 2007. Here are Bob R's pictures of the trail from
2007-05-23 Whitney, Muir, etc. Look at the pictures starting especially at "38 Trail Camp".
