Dirk, see my post immediately above yours. I can tell you are a mapping geek based on your analyses ...but you missed it on the "roughly 800’ additional feet of elevation gain". There is a 100 to 150' descent from Trail Crest to the junction with the JMT, but outside of that, there is NO place on the Main Trail that descends in any measurable amount.
Let me underscore: The MR is NOT a trail, despite what the Inyo National Forest's description reads. You NEED to know the route, where to turn at key points; snow makes this more complicated. While people get lost in the snow on the Main Trail, a good gps app can keep you on the trail pretty well. On the MR, you need to know the route. I'd encourage you to try it between late July and mid-September--that would be a good time to try it first-time. Answering your question is MR really more difficult when all is said and done? Definitely YES.
With the right equipment, people go up the MR nearly every day now, but they really need steep ice-climbing experience. The steepest sections on the Final 400 (or access to the (deadly-when-icy) Easy Walk-off) are steeper and more exposed than anything on the Main Trail. Commercial guides take groups up that way all spring, but they are always roped up. Ropes are never used on the Main Trail.
