Cable park arouses wakeboarders' passions

Nine girls giggled and chatted quietly as they were led through safety instructions and helmet and life jacket fittings and strapped on the wakeboard for the first time.

But silence echoed over the rolling red waters of Guthrie's Central Oklahoma Wakeboard Center when the girls turned to watch advanced boarders grasp a tow rope and leap from the dock.

The lesson began with girl after girl sitting on the dock, timidly holding the rope and falling before she could get the board beneath her.

"Remember it's just water, it's not going to hurt that bad,” said Daniel Trotter, 22, co-owner of the family-run facility.

The wakeboarding center is one of a few cable parks in the nation and the only one of its kind in Oklahoma.

Wakeboarders are pulled around the man-made lake by a computerized overhead cable system that maintains a constant speed. The Central Oklahoma Wakeboard Center cable system can tow up to seven riders at a time and is a better option for beginners because it pulls riders straight up, Trotter said.

"It's better than a boat, because with a boat you don't know what the wake will look like,” he said.

The center, which recently had its first anniversary, has the look of a West Coast surf shop. A hilly gravel road full of potholes and flanked by low-hanging trees is the fastest way to reach the center from Interstate 35.

Teen boys wander the center in shorts and bare feet, waiting a turn on the rotating cable that provides rides for 25 to 50 people a day. The boys and some girls, who seem to know each other well, occasionally help new riders.

Cathie Trotter, 58, matriarch of the facility, is patient but tough when the teens yell out requests for drinks or help with bindings.

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