@ Geoff

You will need to assess the situation when you are on the mountain as conditions are changing rapidly with snow melt.

When I was there last Thursday the switchbacks were the far more daunting route compared to the Chute. If you have been on steep snowfields before like Mt. Adams or Mt. Shasta or even Mt. St. Helens, you will not think much or be overly concerned about the Chute on Whitney. If you have not been on these before you may be challenged. If you can, get to the Chute or the switchbacks before dawn so as to have firmer snow. Soft snow on either route will present a greater challenge. Even at 8:00am, the snow was softening rapidly and one of our group slipped on the soft snow and had to self arrest.

The traverses on the switchbacks last week looked daunting from my vantage point. My group made it from Trail Camp to Trail Crest in two hours via the Chute. Trail Crest to Summit was another issue altogether... We passed people who spent many hours trying the switchback route and 'crawled' to trail crest due to concern over the switchbacks. Again, however, this was a week ago and conditions are changing almost hourly.

Use good judgment and gather intel from descending climbers on your way up as well as at the Whitney Portal store.