Ice - Ghost: Sunshine

<p>The drive: Pretty mellow. Some deep ruts in the snow so you'll want clearance. Took a drive to look at the Wully Crossing first. Looks like cars have driven across on the ice without issues unlike last weekends carnage. We took the tree road to Devils Gap and also had no issues although we had clearance. The climb: Sunny till we got there around midday. Then cloud covered in the afternoon. It made the ice soft for swings but there was still some fracturing. The climb isn't as fat as it often is and this makes it challenging. The right hand variations weren't touching down and were barely staying there. We chose a belay with a bit of shelter and I used an initial screw to avoid a factor 2 slide down the gully. However for the steeper lower section of ice I chose to place no screws. The ice has seen some sun and there was a minimal amount of moisture at the right edge. It looked overall to be bonded to the rock but in case I was wrong I chose the same tactic as pillars and placed no screws in case it detached. Once at the top of the steep section (2 to 3 body lengths) the ice was good and pro was good. A couple screws needed a little surface clearing. Some sun effect on the climb but not too bad. Main take away would be if you're not comfortable soloing the steep section then you may want to choose another objective. I included a pic of the steeper section. Snow: No surprise that wind in the Gap has blown much of the snow away. Snow on the approach hill was ankle deep mostly. Facetted and sugary in the trees. Sometimes a crust where it gets sun with facets under the crust.</p>