As the marching band reaches the end of its season this weekend, members are hoping for fair weather. Though usually a concern, it’s especially desired for championships, since last weekend’s competition got cancelled after the preliminary performance, due to the weather conditions. Not only was there downpouring rain, but the max wind gust speed reached 47 mph, according to Weather Underground.

“The weather impacted our performance because the wind was literally blowing our drum majors off their ladders,” Claire Lee, sophomore, said. Drum majors stand on ladders in order to conduct the band. “The rain also kind of screwed with our vision, and no one could really hear anything, she said.”

The weather proved difficult for the other sections in the band as well, including the colorguard. “The weather was so crazy. I was less worried that my flag or prop was going to fly away, but more that I was just going to fall over,” Peyton Roberts, freshman, said. “The wind got so strong, it blew off my fake eyelash.”

Joel Held, a senior who plays bass drum in the drumline, also found the wind to be a challenging factor. “I was so focused on not falling over that it was hard to stay in step and play everything,” he said.

Not everyone had the same negative attitude. “It was rather fun for me, as it gave a bit of a challenge” drum major Emerson Peters, junior, said. “I was leaning to try to have my ladder not fall over. […] The rain felt like needles because it was so fast, and it was going straight into my ears and eyes. It was the most fun I’ve had in months.”

Though it was an unique experience for those who participated, it was also a dangerous one. “A ladder started falling and hit Max [Roark] on the head as he walked for his solo,” said clarinet player Anisha RajBhandary, sophomore. Musical director Aaron Barnes expressed these concerns, too. “At some points, it felt like students – especially drum majors – were risking their lives playing,” he said. Drum major Katie Handick, junior, said it felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane, and at one point she almost fell off of the ladder. It was because of these dangerous conditions that the competition was cancelled. “I think it was a good call to cancel finals just for the safety of the performers,” Lee said.

The final competition of the season will be held at Hillsboro Stadium on Nov. 1, with 26 bands attending the championship competition. Only 15 will move on to finals. Barnes thinks that it will be great if the students are recognized for their hard work by making finals, but said, “I can only hope for the best.”