NEBRASKA
A FIELD REPORT
Words and Photos by Joe Hammeke
Not much has changed in the
last 180 years. Nebraska still
has ridiculous heat and
humidity in the summer. Many
days you cannot skate until an
hour after sundown because
otherwise it is just too hot.
The winters are harsh and
usually begin in mid-October.
There is never a significant
amount of snow to make it
useful for snowboarding, but
temperatures are often below
zero, keeping all but the insane
indoors. When it does snow,
the cities pour gravel on the
streets for traction and the
gravel usually remains until a
strong rainstorm in mid-May.
Yes, many people try to leave for
a better life in the sun where
there is a more stable climate,
but many cannot. Those who left
and have found gold in California
include Steve Berra, Danny
Mayer, Fred Empkey, Jason
Skelesky, and Donny Diederich.
EBRASKA IS LOCATED IN THE EXACT CENTER OF
the continental United States, in a region known as the
Great Plains. When the region was first explored in the 1820s, it
I was declared the Great American Desert. The high heat and
humidity of the summer months combined with the bitter cold of
the winter caused many people who could afford to leave to do so.
Many left for the gold in California.
Those who stayed tried to make the best of what they could, for
many had spent all they had just getting there. There were no trees.
with which to build houses, so the settlers had to construct houses
out of sod. Settlers were given 40 acres of land if they made some
improvements, usually in the form of planting trees and raising
livestock. The development of the steel plow enabled farmers to
cut through the tough soil and make it temporarily suitable for
farming. The plowing of hardened soil soon backfired, and in the
late 1920s the Dust Bowl began. Several years of drought caused
the grasses to die off, giving way to unstable soil. Huge clouds of
bowling dirt covered the Great Plains.
Here's a crash course in Nebraska
skate geography heading west
OMAHA
On the eastern border of the
NE, basically at the intersection
of I-80 and the Missouri River.
This is the largest city in the
state and home to the majority
of Nebraska's skaters.
Omaha fact: Home of Warren Buffett, the
second richest man in America.
Clockwise from top left: A farmer in western
Nebraska built a replica of Stonehenge using
old cars. Jeff Chase jumps an overgrown
grass gap in Omaha. A thick layer of wax
helps Ryan Gentry keep his frontside bluntslide
at a nice acute angle in Omaha. Thirteen-year-
old Scott Bridges stunts his growth with the
force of impact from this monster drop over
his friend Casey O'Hara. Pioneer skaters often
lived in sod houses like this one found in
western Nebraska
NCOLN
The second largest city in NE
and is also the state capital.
Lincoln is 45 miles west of
Omaha along 1-80.
Lincoln fact: Home of the Nebraska
Cornhuskers what every father
hopes his son will become instead of
a skateboarder.