hi. i summited whitney on overnite trip solo, june 28 into 29. only had hill sound trail crampons( microspikes), and trek poles. woke up 4am at trail camp. started climbing chute at 5. got halfway up chute and felt totally unsafe without axe, so traversed left to the rocks where some switchbacks were findable. went straight up switchbacks over rocks, scrambling, up way towards the ridge. at the top, traversed back to the right and towards trail crest over snowfield just below ridge, until crest. from there to summit no snow. descent- back to trail crest, and across rocks and snowfield to above the switchbacks. i did this figuring get myself as low as i could, to limit my chances of something bad happening w a slip, less distance to slide. well, found a lot of switchbacks, and cut straight down where snow covered them. was able to get to the cables, which were still under snow but the tops were able to be grabbed. crossed them, and cut more switchbacks down to where i felt comfortable sliding without an axe. FYI if you find yourself at trail crest headed down without axe and real crampons, explore this method.
