The Tues before thanksgiving, Boulder got about 15" of snow. The public schools and the University were already closed for Thanksgiving but if they hadn’t been they certainly would have been closed (staff was told not to report). A few private schools closed plus many businesses were closed due to weather.
The biggest problem? The parking lots at Eldora ski area (about 20 miles up the canyon where they probably had 20" of snow) were full (and not fully plowed). They had to turn people back and shuttle them in buses and pick ups because everyone wanted to ski.
So people couldn’t possibly go to work or school but could drive up the canyon to go skiing!