In the South Ghost yesterday and found Wicked Wanda to be in good shape with
soft plastic ice and good gear. The climb is wet on the left side and the
belay cave is quickly becoming covered over. We made it bigger but it will
take a bit of work from everyone heading in there to keep the bolts from
disappearing. It was incredibly windy there yesterday and we needed to tie a
pack to the ropes to get them down so we could rappel.
We found Malignant Mushroom to be very affected by the sun and quite rotten.
The climbing was positive but the gear required a lot of cleaning/digging and
wasn't great in the end anyway. It might be better to leave this climb alone
until it cools off and it can start to heal.
The driving was a bit sporty in a few places along the TransAlta road. The ice
damn at the blue bridge is getting entertaining with two large holes you want
to avoid and an off camber icy turn that wants to push the back end of the
truck into a tree. We crept over it without chains and made it without
incident but drove very slowly. "Stumpland" requires a high clearance vehicle
or you will get high centered as the drifts are quite deep there. Once in the
river valley it was straightforward to the South parking area. All driving
on snow was quite tricky on the way out as the warm temperatures were turning
the things isothermal by late morning.
Have fun!
Mike Stuart
ACMG Alpine/Assistant Ski Guide
Canadian Alpine Guides
_______________________________________________
These observations and opinions are those of the person who submitted them. The
ACMG and its members take no responsibility for errors, omissions, or lapses in
continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
nature of mountain weather and terrain. Application of this information
provides no guarantee of increased safety. Do not use the Mountain Conditions
Report as the sole factor in planning trips or making decisions in the field.
Please check out http://acmg.ca/mcr for more information.
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