Arrived around 10:30 on a Saturday and parking lot was pretty full.

Intermittent snow right from the start, with much of it packed into ice and pretty slippery. On the route from the start up to the balcony it would switch back and forth between snow and mud/rocks and we didn't end up putting on spikes till shortly before the balcony.

After the balcony it was consistently snow-covered the rest of the way to the top, just getting deeper and less packed as we went up. The snow itself was very wet and dense but also slippery - it was almost like walking on sand at times and even with spikes we were slipping around quite a bit. Some postholing too. We didn't have snowshoes and we saw a handful of other people carrying them, but only one person actually wearing them.

We got to the top around 2pm and then started back down. The descent was a bit tricky because of the slippery snow, especially on the steeper sections near the peak. We took spikes off a little after the balcony and then ended up putting them back on to deal with the packed icy snow down there.

Intermittent snow up to the balcony, didn't cause too many issues and our group made it without spikes. 

After the turnoff at the balcony, the snow pretty much is constant. Thanks to the people in front of us, the trail had already been broken which was helpful. A good portion of it is well packed now, didn't cause too many issues other than some slipping. 

Closer to the top it does get deeper, but nothing terrible - just made the workout more intense. One of the three of us used spikes, one used poles only, and one without either. We all made it just fine, and decided to embrace the slipping and falling on the way down since the snow was nice and fluffy. 

Most people we saw had spikes, some without, a few were carrying snowshoes. But in the end it's up to you. Sadly the view at the peak was socked in but cleared up later down at the balcony. 

started very early on a very cold day. Snow was well packed with a nice crunchy cover. I brought snowshoes, but found spikes to be sufficient. on the way down, after passing the balcony, the trail is deceptively slippery. I removed the spikes several times only to put them back after slipping.

Icy boot pack from the TH to about the balcony (which then mostly melted out or turned to slush on the way back). Never needed any traction but snowshoes went on around 3100ft and stayed on the rest of the way up. There were a few people making it up without snowshoes when I headed down, but it didn’t look like the best time. Tons of postholes, some waist deep.

Snow is 1-3 feet deep beyond dirty harry balcony. Before it it's easy peasy. Plenty of other trail reports already talked about it. It will be pretty miserable to summit without snowshoes.

10+ water crossing cut through snow, which means sometimes I have to snowshoe on rocks. Not the best snowshoe exp I have lol. Kudos to the lovely Chinese couple ahead of me breaking trails. They were probably the first group to get to the top in weeks. Saved me tons of energy finding routes.

I find views at summit underwhelming. Mostly it's behind the trees. But if you follow the navigation and turn left after summit, views are rewarding there.