July 17, 2010, Table Mountain ski and swim

Absolutely fabulous day in Baker ski resort area.  Calm winds, ~20C, and practically eternal sunshine.  We drove down from Vancouver, arriving at about 11am and parked at the bottom of the road up to Artist Point, which is still closed (it is now plowed about 3/4 of the way up).  Lots of hikers, bikers, and a couple skiers out.  Walked up the road until the dozer, but could have skinned from the car.  Very easy skin to just below Table with lots of soft sun cups.

We decided that we wanted to head up to the top, so decided to skin around the right side of Table.  This proved to be more difficult than expected, with us traversing across a 40 degree slope with slippery snow.  It was easy once on the flats though.  Had to bootpack the final bit, as the skins wouldn't grip to the sliding snow on anything greater than about 35 degrees.

.  There are still some chutes you can use to get down to the lakes (see picture below).  And we obviously had to go for a little 'swim' at the end!  We were back on the road at about 5pm after a very relaxed journey. Great day, and nice meeting some fellow tay'ers!