Accident Database

Report ID#64808

1986-06-24
accident date
Unidentified Boy
victim
13
victim age
Colorado
river
n/a
section
Through Glenwood Springs
location
n/a
gage
Medium
water level
II
river difficulty
Pinned in Boat against Rock or Sieve
cause code(s)
Does not Apply
injury type(s)
Other
factors
Private
trip type
Whitewater Kayak
boat type
status?
status

Description

A dangerous obstruction combined with poor visibility and bad luck caused this fatality. It points out the need to stay alert whenever you are in the current. A man and his 13 year-old son were paddling the Colorado River through Glenwood Springs at 6:30 PM on June 24, 1986. Paddling into the sun, they failed to spot a steel pylon from a removed railroad trestle that barely broke the surface of the water. The boy’s boat wrapped around the pylon, trapping him underwater. His father got to him quickly and struggled to keep his head above water. After losing what must have been a desperate fight he sought help. Garfield SAR pulled the boy from the kayak at 7:20 PM. CPR was unsuccessful. Source: Casey Swanson, Littleton, CO.