Flatron Freddy – Boulder’s top-hat-wearing, stuffed marmot and "seer of seers"– made his annual prediction on Feb. 2!
On a beautiful February morning in Boulder, Flatiron Freddy – Boulder’s top-hat-wearing, stuffed marmot – saw his shadow! Six more weeks of winter it is! Watch the livestream of the 2025 Flatiron Freddy event!
An Open Space and Mountain Parks Ranger holds Flatiron Freddy as he rises to the occasion to make his 2025 Groundhog Day prediction.
Flatiron Freddy delivers his Groundhog Day forecast to an Open Space and Mountain Parks Ranger on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025
But this year, Freddy had a bit of an oops moment, slipping on the ice! Thankfully, our friends at Rocky Mountain Rescue were there to lend a helping hand. 🚑🦫A huge thank you to Rocky Mountain Rescue, an incredible volunteer search and rescue team that makes a huge difference in our community. We’re grateful for all they do! 👏
Thank you to Rocky Mountain Rescue – along with an Open Space and Mountain Parks Ranger – who helped Flatiron Freddy to carry out his annual Ground Hog Day prediction on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Open Space and Mountain Parks' Flatiron Freddy event on Groundhog Day is a quirky, uniquely Boulder tradition that has happened for more than 11 years.
In the early 2010s, Flatiron Freddy existed peacefully as a deceased, stuffed yellow-bellied marmot – a close relative to the groundhog – in Boulder's Flagstaff Nature Center, where stuffed animal mounts are typically stored until the spring. One winter, Freddy was inadvertently left out, and his fur was damaged. He was about to be removed from the center, but Rangers felt he deserved more.
Since then, Freddy has become part of an annual Open Space and Mountain Parks Groundhog Day tradition. In recent years, Freddy has made his way out of his burrow each year in various ways, such as skiing down a trail, driving a car out of his burrow, and even by zip line in a canoe. It’s up to OSMP Rangers to interpret Freddy’s weather forecast.
People crowd around the Ranger Cottage at Chautauqua Park to hear Flatiron Freddy's annual Ground Hog Day prediction on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.