My group and I did the main Mount Whitney Trail 5/22-5/23, with two of us reaching the summit on the morning of the 23rd.
We stayed on the main trail until Trailside Meadow where we left the trail, following numerous sets of tracks in the snow, to avoid a section that we had been warned was sketchy by people descending. Crampons aren't necessary before trail camp.
After arriving at trail camp and setting up our tent, a helicopter flew in to evacuate someone from the base of the chute. While we do not know the details of that accident, we would note that when a helicopter passes over it can blow away a lot of your stuff. Luckily one member of our party had the presence of mind to go running after our airborne gear (a mat, pair of gaiters and a couple of other items) while the rest of us provided some ballast for our tents
We left trail camp at 3:30AM, reaching trail crest at 6:00AM and were the first group to the summit from Trail Camp at 8:45AM. The trail from Trail Crest to the summit was well established and while there were steep drop offs on the side, most of it felt comfortable. There were however 5 or 6 places where a rock stuck out into the trail, requiring some more challenging maneuvering to get around, often on thin ledges of snow. Several of these places required us to straddle the rock in order to pass it. We were able to pass these sections comfortably, however they would be worrisome if you are heavily fatigued or struggling from the altitude or not comfortable with maneuvering around rocks. See images below pictures of the trail between trail crest and the summit
On the way down we were warned by an ascending party that several people had already lost control glissading that morning. The member of our party that did not summit met us at the top of trail crest to warn us that he had met one woman who fell in a glissade track and slid most of the way down the chute, but was lucky enough to walk away with little more than bruised hands. Thanks to these warnings we decided to walk down the chute, starting at 12pm. Conditions on the chute were mixed, with most of it feeling like it would have been safe to glissade but with occasional unexpected regions of firm snow. I was thankful that we were not glissading as from my previous experience it would have been hard to maintain control in those conditions.
