THOS - Ghost ice

**The drive, TA road has icy surfaces in stretches where a little caution is warranted. More traction on the right going up Trappers Hill but watch for a large hole halfway up. The Big Hill is not too bad but bumpy. **The approach. The area hasnt had any significant snowfall in a while and some of the hard packed trail can be slippery. This includes the walk off. **The climb. In good shape mostly. The,low snow levels mean more ice still exposed rather than large accumulations burying the start of each step. Some steps are picked out or you can find fresh ice some stretches. The upper pitches got a little more brittle as you reach the top of the canyon, eplosively so if you take untravelled ice. Itook a small shovel with me to dig some of the belay anchors clear although most were still clear of getting buried. For some reason folks have been walking right past one to a tree off to the side. I assume they are a little blind or have an aversion to safe bolted anchors. A little flagging on the bolts should make them a little more eye catching now. Remember this climb is rigged to rap with a single rope but,you may need to look around or even dig the anchors out as snow accumulates. **The descent. My buddy liked the lunch spot and the increased views with the fire; his first time up there since the 2020 fire. Follow the bootpack trail and watch for the red reflectors. The steep sections between benches can be a little slippery but has boot holes punched in. Below the handline, and after the easy section of the hill, beware booby trap flagging. As you start to go down the steeper part there was a number of flagging heading off right. Dont follow this as it seems to have been placed by hikers or someone unfamiliar with the trail. Keep following the red reflectors which diagonal down to skiers left, pass though a couple switchbacks where a trail was cut through firefall. The last steep bit to regain the approach trail also has some icy spots to be aware of. The walk off should take 45 to 55 mins.

Although there are a number of small gullies or slopes that can produce generally small avalanches on this climb most seem to have little snow currently. Snow in the area seems to have wind crusts so loose dry may be something to watch for when nee snow arrives. The biggest avi slopes coming from the,left and shown in these pics currently are somewhat bare or small windslab surfaces. I did note the middle of those pictured has a small crown.. Accumulations from these particular slopes seem to be 1m+ over the walking before you enter a narrow section of canyon. Once again low risk currently but heads up once new snow covers those windslabs. Generally along both the climb and the walk off, most snow seems to be either facets or wind slabbed.