Despite hazards, many still enjoy the ride
Summers in Boulder get pretty hot, and with many houses and apartments lacking air-conditioning, there is an easy way to cool off by purchasing an inner-tube and floating down the Boulder Creek. However, if water levels get too high, you could be stuck sweating.
From mid-May until mid-June, the Boulder Creek experiences rough waters from high mountain runoff that occasionally force the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department and the Boulder Police to close off the creek to would-be tubers.
According to Commander Phil West of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department, the Creek will normally be closed off when water levels approach or exceed 500 cubic meters per second, or 3,741 gallons per second.
“It’s so easy to get in over your head, literally, in these situations because it doesn’t take much water flowing at a rapid rate to knock somebody down,” West said. “It can happen in a heartbeat.”
West recommends always going with a friend and having access to a cell phone in case something goes wrong. A lifejacket and a helmet may also be the difference between life and death, he said.
And while a lifejacket may keep a struggling tuber afloat, it won’t do much use if the person has been rendered unconscious by a jagged rock.
“(A helmet) wouldn’t be a bad idea,” West said. “It doesn’t take much for that tube to flip and you’re upside-down and dragging your head on the bottom of the creek.”
All of the potential life-threatening hazards aside, tubing Boulder Creek can be a very fun and memorable experience. Kristy Buchan, a senior fine arts major, went down the Boulder Creek in a tube last June.
“It was fun, but I was kind of scared shitless the whole time,” she said.
Toward the end of June and for the rest of summer, the Boulder Creek acts less like a rollercoaster and more like, well, your stereotypical creek. But if the thrill of going through some decent rapids in a glorified balloon that you sit on is too appealing to wait, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
“I have heard stories of people breaking their tailbones on the rocks,” Buchan said. “I freaked out every time I went down the waterfall. I actually got out and walked halfway down the creek.”
Still, for all the dramatics, Buchan would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
“I think it’s really fun, especially if you’re a girl,” she said. “When I was there I was probably the only girl there on the Boulder Creek.”
After a dip in the creek, Boulder’s sweltering summer heat will be the last thing on your mind.
“It was freezing,” Buchan said. “We got out and I had to sit on some pavement that was in the sun to thaw out.”
Inner-tubes can be bought the Conoco gas station at Broadway and Arapahoe Ave. for around $10. Most tubers begin their ride at Eben G. Fine Park, located on Arapahoe Ave. just west of 4th St., and finish at the Boulder Public Library.
Contact Campus Press Staff writer Evan Acker at evan.acker@thecampuspress.com.
