Hi everybody, just wanted to let you know what I saw on the trail this Saturday. We began hiking at 3 AM from the portal, and arrived at trail camp around 7. We decided to take the chute, although many people took the switchbacks and said they were doable. We went up the chute using microspikes and trekking poles, and were at trail crest after about an hour and 45 minutes. This was almost 9 AM. The snow in the chute was just getting slushy at this point, which made the last 50 yards difficult. We summited around 10:45, and did not use microspikes for any of trail crest. We returned down the chute by walking with our microspikes and then slowly glissading towards the bottom where it was less steep. We finished our hike at 4 PM, 13 hours total. Let me know if you have any questions.
Nick
