May 20, 2003, Table Mtn. Ridgeline

Motivation for skiing today under wet looking skies was exercise and the chance to put up my new beta-mid "light" tent! Skied up under grey skies, stopped atop "the hip" and put up the tent. Pretty roomy for weighing 1lb. 5oz. (or something like that), and packs up into 4x10"....Skinned up further, to just under Table and dropped in, not really knowing what the snow had in store. There had been up to a foot of new the past week-end with wet slides down low.....Today it was drizzle packed wet snow on the hard base. Skied a small "hip" (as in roof) and snow released to either side. Traversed through a pre-slid chute and onto the lower angle, broad slopes of table, where the snow held together when it was skied fast...Met another skier at the parking lot from New Jersey, who went out towards Herman Saddle. Said he was moving out west to the hamlet of belling. Imagine that...Oh yeah, saw another bear (this time black) around 2500' on the Highway. Last one (brown)was on Glacier Cr. road a couple weeks ago @ approx. 2900'.