For months, Orediggers have been hoarding all things cardboard — from pizza boxes to Amazon packages — to prepare for this day.
On April 13, hundreds of Colorado School of Mines students, parents, staff members and alumni, as well as Golden community members, lined both sides of the Clear Creek Whitewater Park to see which boats would sail or sink.
Each year, Mines students build boats made solely of cardboard and duct tape, and see how far down Clear Creek each gets. Some collapse very quickly, only making it through the first rapid, while others are still intact when the students heave them into the dumpsters.
This year’s cardboard boat races had about 100 entries.
Festivities included a silent disco, ore cart pull, Mining Games, car show, carnival and — for the first time — the football team’s annual spring game. The Orediggers capped off the weekend, which was also part of its yearlong 150th anniversary celebration, with an evening fireworks display April 13.
Mines students have previously described how E-Days serves as the core of the school year, and the boat races serves as the core of E-Days. They take pride in this tradition that allows them to test their engineering skills and knowledge in a fun, community event, they said.
Click through additional Transcript photos of the 2024 cardboard boat races here:
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