Portal Road beyond the 'road closed' sign: They had just cleared off the roads prior to our arrival so conditions were great. Completely dry, just a few patches of dirt/gravel, a few small rocks.
E-ledges are completely do-able.
Snow shoes.. that's a personal choice. I opted for lighter pack vs. the ease of travel on the way back down. Absolutely no use for them in the early morning hours during the ascent however coming down was a whole other story. We were descending by 12:30, I'm 5'2" and there were spots were I went in hip deep (mostly between UBSL and LBSL). I would imagine that with the nice weather coming up, the postholing/sloshy stuff will be more abundant.
Crampons were used from just before the rocky wall below Iceberg Lake to the traverse beyond the notch.
Final 400 looks fabulous. The traverse was fine, if you're not anxious about steep drop offs. (use crampons!).
Yes, this route can be done in a day.. just depends on how ambitious you are (and how much you are carrying). I had about 40 lbs from car to LBSL, dumped half my gear at LBSL and carried about 25 up to the rest of the way.
I think that covers all the questions. Please be safe out there.
