Slip and slides down Farrand Feild, no classes for two days, bonding time for dorm mates, tubing in Boulder Creek! All these activities sound like a great experience but they occurred during the horrific Boulder floods. From September 11 though September 15, Boulder experienced substantial flooding.  After torrential downpour for countless days, Boulder experienced a colossal flood. As Boulder is home to many Aspen graduates that attend The University of Colorado, parents in Aspen feared for their children as they collected their rain boots and umbrellas. The city has experienced ever-lasting effects from the rain, which students who attend CU, had never expected to go on for this long.

CU freshman, Makaela Richards explains that, “it usually rains and then stops after about an hour in Boulder so this continuous weather was unexpected to a lot of us.”

On September 12, CU cancelled all classes and students were required to stay in their dorms for the day as well as the following day. Students supported each other, as they feared for their friends who had apartments in the city. College freshman and AHS graduate Tateh Hopper somewhat gained something from this experience.

“When classes were cancelled I snuggled up in my bed and watched TV for hours. I caught up on my homework, and got to know my roommates a little more, as well as my hall mates! So it wasn’t all that bad,” Hopper said.

At home, Aspen families with children and siblings in Boulder relied on each other for support. At home, AHS sophomore Kyle Rosin worried for his college freshman sister, Rhyan Rosin.

“Seeing the horror and loss on the news terrified me knowing that my sister was there but when I found out she was okay a rush of relief ran through me,” Kyle Rosin said.

Rhyan returned to Aspen the following weekend with a memorable story to tell about her experience.

“At the start of the flood my friend’s car hydroplaned and broke down. There was steam coming out everywhere, it took a few hours to get back to campus. When I got back to my dorm (Kittredge) there was crawfish crawling all over my floor,” Rhyan Rosin said as she pulled out pictures of the campus covered in water.

The devastation from the flood came as a shock to many of the people who resided in Boulder. College freshman at CU and AHS graduate Natalie Bantis can no longer enjoy her favorite place to go on a daily run due to its destruction.

“As I am walking around the Hill and the side streets of Boulder the damage is frightening. It is bizarre to think that the trail by the cute creek I was running on only two days ago now looks like a river that is so powerful it is unrooting trees,” Bantis said.

For Boulder residents as well as our own Aspen temporary transplants, the flooding was an experience they will never forget and hopefully will never happen again.