no respect i tell ya... ;)

this was on the front page of the california section of last sunday's la times. it's a story about the dangers of the colorado river and how it may be changing.

it only caught my eye in passing because there was a picture of a wakeboarder on it. of course, if you read the caption below you get a different story...





pffftt!

btw, no disrespect intended for the trauma suffered by those who've lost loved ones at parker. my girlfriend's brother lost a friend there this summer and just recently witnessed a terrible accident that caused three fatalities.

the craziness at parker has taken it's toll no doubt. just wish the journalists knew the difference between a skier and a wakeboarder.

(Message edited by deepstructure on September 30, 2003)

She did refer to the pwc users as water gnats. So she got it half right.

i was out there this weekend and it is a zoo, its amazing there aren't more accidents then there are out there. you have guys in their "compensators" going 80+mph within 30 feet of you while your riding, not to mention the guys on jet skis about 50 feet behind you jumping the wake. its a fun place to go, just kinda scary when you're riding.

Christopher,

The weird thing about that accident was the fact that the three young adults that were killed were not the ones at fault. The older guy who hit them is suspected of being under the influence. We'll never know though because after he hit them with his boat, he left the scene on foot, and returned later with a lawyer in tow.

I read all about this in the forum section of Hot Boat.com the other day. The Mother and Father are regulars on there.

SAD

I was there when the above incident happened too. The next day I fell on my sky ski (it gets too rough in the afternoon to wakeboard - but the dark side works fine) and was nearly run over by a PWC pulling a tube. She missed me by less than 3 feet. I am going to trade in my black helmet for a red or silver one in an effort to be a little more visible to idiots.

The elderly man that killed the three was cruising along in the early evening right in front of the Keys where we rent the house we stay at (I heard he owns a boat dealership or something like that) and T-Boned a stationary boat killing 3 of the 4 on board. I heard that his boat limped from the scene but that could have been wrong. He did turn himself in the next morning. I guess that he chose the felony of leaving the scene of an accident over the felony of a DUI in addition to his multiple felonies of manslaughter. A**hole.

Parker is where I learned to wakeboard - it IS a zoo with hundreds of boats pulling all sorts of riders, PWC's everywhere, and offshore boats going 80+ MPH through the middle of it all.

The shorline of Parker is laced with crosses like the ones in the pic - mostly from boats racing up and down the river at night coming back from the bars - they tend to miss the turns. Which is fine with me as long as they dont hurt anybody else. I have no problem with drunks killing themselves as long as they dont hurt others.

The people that died in that accident brings the fatalities that I was present for (and am aware of) up to 5 this season at Parker.

Very sad

I would be in favor of tougher rules along that stretch of water. Its just out of control there.

The crosses in the picture are actually older ones. The Keys (that I mentioned above) are right across the river and run to the right. The accident happened about 7-800 yards to the right of this picture.

i agree it probably needs better controls. i haven't frequented the river much during holidays - usually there when the crowds aren't. but i went for the 4th two years ago (my first time there during a holiday), and saw a fatality. it certainly happens far too often.

Would I bring my family back to Parker? HELL NO!
Good post Chris.

Is the river just as crowded all the way past Blythe? We were going to try it south of Blythe to try to get away from the crazy fools.

Steve, try Palo Verde. You can camp at Mcyntire that has facillities or you can go straight towards the river from Palo Verde and find your own camp site on the river. Water is typically really good.

Steve - It's been awhile but Big River & Blythe used to be great places to go. Just north of Big River campground there is a jetty on the east side of the river that created a tournament lake + sized retreat from everyone. You had to walk your boat in once the riv rose. But it was hidden, protected and empty. I think the ski/foot school used it during the week. Course for the bouy boys, lots-o-butta. It was 10yrs ago but only had 2/3 boats in on Holiday w/e. Might be worth looking for. When I move back to SoCal I'm gonna go back there.