Big Thompson Canyon

Hey all,

This placed was washed out in The Flood of the century a few years ago. Is it open again?

Thanks,
Russ

Hey Russ. It's still closed. codot.gov/projects/floodrel…

They say it'll be open again around Memorial Day. I hope so!

Depends on what you want to climb. For e.g., if you want to climb at Mary's Bust, that is no problem if you just come in from Estes. The closure is really just a small section of the canyon, so chances are you can still climb what you like and you just need to approach accordingly.

There will be closures in different spots along 34 between October and May for the next few years as the work proceeds along the canyon. This will result in the road being closed either below Drake or between Drake and Estes.

"From the afternoon of September 9 through midday on September 13 [2013], 14.62 inches of rain had fallen in Boulder, Colo. This included an incredible 9.08 inches of rain on September 12, alone!

According to the Western Regional Climate Center, the previous all-time record rainfall for any calendar day in Boulder was a 4.80 inch deluge on July 31, 1919., in records dating to 1893. September 12th's total almost doubled the previous record wet day."

https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/colorado-flash-flood-how-it-happened-unusual-20130912

JT

The Flood of the Century wiped out nearly every canyon from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins.

The BT flood flooded one-canyon, Big Whoop...

and the only reason so-many people died is because they hadn't seen the surge in brown-water kayaking yet.

Kayaking Boulder Creek during the Flood of the Century

1976 and 2013 are in different centuries.

"Big Thompson Canyon Flood (July 31, 1976): A lone thunderstorm dumped 12 inches of rain in 4.5 hours above the Big Thompson Canyon; $35.5 million damage; 139 killed"

[same weather.com article]

^^ so actually John Tex is right! More rain in one day in '76. Just not as widespread.

The property damage was greater in 2013 because the amount of rain west of Estes was not anticipated. The gates at the Estes Park dam had to be opened wider on short notice, adding a huge amount of flood water to the already flooding river.

I grew up close to the river bottom west of Loveland. There was an old gravel pit pond that I spent a lot of time, even building a log raft for fishing. During the 76 flood, the pond was not touched. The 13 flood erased the pond. I watched the river rapidly carving it away.

One of my friends house was not only lost completely, but even the land the house was on is gone.

All I know is a lot of buildings in Glen Haven that withstood the 76 flood got wiped out in the 2013 flood.

So basically, all the climbing areas are open, it's just a matter of whether the road conditions and/or closures will make it possible to get there. It's not as if there is a single gate/entrance with a "closed" sign on it.

Also I gather- Access is better from the Estes Park side.

You got it. The closure starts before Round Mountain from the Loveland side, so you basically can't get anywhere that way

Nick Thomas wrote:1976 and 2013 are in different centuries.

Just saw this today. CDOT proposes to have one more canyon closure from Oct 2017 to May 2018 and finish the project by the end of 2018. This is about 2 years ahead of the original estimate.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=qO5VY…

Hi. The place is not completly close but it's not the best place for the moment.