Most times this is safer done with axe and fangs. Conditions this year call for snowshoes at least some of the time. I would never go up without those tools.
The problem is the return...I have never exited where I have entered. It gets a bit sketchy and you can end up in interesting times. There are two blocks...a manzanita block about mid way up and rock block at 10,000'. Both are bigger problems on the return. The former will not be an issue if there we have a big Sierra cement winter.