About the snow chute. Going up, we started 9AM and finished at 11:30AM. The snow was soft. In our group of four, three were climbing with just boots, one used crampons. I think the crampons on that snow just made him more tired.
Going down, we started at 4PM and finished at 5:30PM. The snow at the top was getting somewhat icy and hard. Without an ice ax for self-arrest it does not feel very safe.
Many folks were really panicking going down. I ended up guiding one of my team members by making stairs in the snow most of the way down. Another fellow tried to glissade from very top but started going too fast and self-arrested. He lost his hat, his goggles and was really scared. The resulting mental block was really strong - he waited quite some time until two other climbers passed him and he just followed their footprints down.
Not sure what the snow condition will be when you go, it certainly depends on the time of the day. Again: hard snow - crampons, soft snow - just hard boots. In all cases, an ax provides assurance that you can stop your slide in case you slip.
