The route conditions are excellent! According to knowledgable guides, the best mountaineering conditions on Whitney in 15 years! The ledges are dry, and wouldn't recommend going the slabs route with the quickly diminishing snow below LBSL. No need for snowshoes as the route b/w the lakes is in fine but slushy. The main coulior is in excellent climbing condition and may not require crampons if you hit it just right in the day. Too early or too late in the day will require crampons. Above the notch, the "staircase" has "sugar snow" that is very unstable for trusting the footing. Suggest either the traverse west, (well established and stable) or rope up and belay this portion as we did. We chose to decend the traverse rather than risk the staircase on the way down. The traverse, as others have said here recently, is still very exposed and one mis-step could be very serious. Some would chose to belay this portion, with good reason. We weren't able to glisade the main coulior due to the late hour and the icey conditions but there are plenty of signs that others have enjoyed a speedy decent under better conditions. Take lots of sunscreen, and enjoy!
