> what does that mean you can hike up and down to trail crest without the switchbacks
He means you can take the non-trail direct route up the steep "chute", which is actually a snow-bowl just west of the switchbacks. It is consolidated and icy early morning, and depending on temperatures, gets slushy in the afternoon. It can freeze up again late afternoon when the Whitney crest casts a shadow on it.
People need crampons and ice axe to safely climb this area. Descending, some glissade on their butts, if they know how to brake with the ice axe and if going too fast, self-arrest.
Your alternative is to use the switchbacks, shown in the current conditions thread. I read today where a group used them, and mid-day, were post-holing in some places. Mid-day, all that snow is melting, and it often melts from the inside-out (ground-up) so any weight causes people to sink way down. I'm hoping people will use it enough to keep it packed down. That group whose report I read took 23 hours for their round trip, so they were on the switchbacks at the worst (warmest) time of the day.
If you overnight at Trail Camp, there are lots of tracks to follow to the summit. Getting to Trail Camp when the trail is under snow is more difficult/confusing, than from there to the summit.
