Summited on 06/13/18. Hike Time= 8:00 ascending, 1:05 at the summit, and 6:40 descending, total time 15:45.
Left the portal at 12:45a
Got to the chute at around 5:15, conditions were perfect for climbing wearing "Hillsound Trail Crampons" and an Ice axe.
Summited around 8:45 and stayed for about an hour
Made it back to the chute around 11:00 and glissaded down. I had an ice axe, but 0 experience. It was probably one of the scariest things i've ever done.
Made it back o the portal around 4:30p
My take away: The chute is serious. Like I took it serious, after reading about it and seeing pictures on this forum, and I still under estimated it. I'm an endurance athlete, did a half ironman May 20th, and the chute killed my legs and energy going up. I only took one break from the portal to the chute, took one break before and after the chute, but then had to take 3 breaks between the chute and the summit. This may have been contributed to by the altitude as well.
Like i said I have 0 experience glissading, so maybe 11 o'clock is perfect for descending, but the snow was absolute slush and I felt like I didn't have control some of the time. I went slow, took me like 30 min to glissade, but there were a couple times i didn't think I was going to be able to stop. I would aim to try to descend the chute by about 10 o'clock.
I would not make an attempt at the chute without an ice axe, just my opinion.
Switchbacks are getting close. Like an admin said, all it will take is a couple groups to trudge through the remaining snow, and it will melt quick.
