With this reading (-4) at the house, I was skeptical of the report from Eldo that it was 14 degrees. Headed up anyway - simply because that's what we do around here. Period. I was contemplating all sorts of creative ways to ask them for a reality check (mail them a thermometer or something snide like that) until I stepped out of the car into the lot and it was - truly balmy. Within moments of pulling up the car thermometer went from -4 to 21 above. Unreal. Eldo was popping out of the inversion like the Golden Gate bridge. There were NO people (the day after big footbal games is always quiet) and it was lovely. Rumor was that they were opening lower west ridge - which meant that MOOOOOOOSE was open - which meant that Snipe Acres* and especially Filthy Pillows* were now accessible without threat of pass lossage. On the chair on the way up I could hear bombs - which is always a great sign - means there is something to blow up - or down I guess would be the case. Did a cruiser towards the back and the rope was still up. Came back around IP and the upper gate for the shoe was open - so I rallied that - taking my time - warming up. After the eternal wait of the Corona chair the rope was still taught across the access to the back so I headed into Life of Bryan*, the way to the other run when it isn't open yet - found some great knee deep, and then simply crossed the 'other' run for my first hike into Dirty Pillows of the year. It was - dirty. A little creepy - huge windset slab up top with precipitous drops into dense trees. Since I haven't been in there since last April - it's always hard to remember things. Which little burnt tree to take a turn around, where the fun drops are - the details if you would. I banged right at the bottom through the area formerly known as Lewis and Karaus and popped out on the lower maintenence road with three feet of where I wanted to. Sweeeeeet. The far side now being open - I headed for the line through the pie wedge of love between this place and that - affectionately known as Filthy Pillows. A little early for Filthy - but I was optimistic. Angled my way in and stood and looked at this sequential rock drop - photos 3 and 4 above - that I usually don't do when I am alone. It's pretty creepy - three pillow drops with a big one at the end - no landing area (unless you are a small bird) and variable conditions of exposure. Popped a few turns and it felt good - so I let it run - and bombed the last drop into a slowing heelside turn and rode away with a grin. The mountain is OPEN - i.e. 'MY' spots on the mountain - and I can ride all day only using the runs as access points to years of research and hours of bliss and exploration. Long Live Eldora.
Holy cow it's cold down there. But those powder conditions look amazing. Here, we have warm and crusty ... perfect for biking. One of these powder days I'm going to have to break out the snowboard. Your pictures and words remind me why I loved it.
Posted by: jill | January 21, 2008 at 08:12 PM