Surfer catches waves in western Nebraska
OGALLALA, Neb. -- Last week's winter weather might have had Nebraskans dreaming of leaving the state, finding a beach and going surfing. A semi-pro surfer from New Jersey actually achieved his dreams of catching waves by coming to Nebraska.
Ben Gravy, who has caught waves in every state in the country, travels to rivers, lakes, waterparks and oceans to surf in unique locations, including a January 5th trip to Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska.
"My goal is kind of to open people's minds a little bit about what is possible in surfing," Gravy told News Channel Nebraska from a parking lot in California. "I kind of just want to broaden just what surfing can be and kind of prove that everyone has access to it and make it more fun...It's about sharing the waves."
In some cases, to achieve his goals, Gravy needs to access more creative options.
"Nebraska was actually my second-to-last state," Gravy said, noting a previous trip to the Cornhusker State, during which he surfed a four-inch wave in a pool at the Splash Zone in Omaha.
Gravy said he felt like there was probably a more compelling surfing trip to be had in Nebraska.
"There's a couple of states, Nebraska was one of them, that I was like, 'That just wasn't quite what I wanted it to be,'" Gravy said.
So Gravy began to use Google Earth to look for rivers in Nebraska where there might be whitecaps that people used for kayaking and rafting. During his search, he found Lake McConaughy.
He messaged Nebraska Game and Parks on Facebook, and a representative responded with promising news.
"Someone got back to me and said they'd seen waves that 4-to-6 feet on the lake," Gravy said. "And I was like '4-to-6 feet? That can't be right. There's no way.'"
Gravy continuously monitored the weather conditions in the area over the next three years, making sure there would be a realistic opportunity to catch a wave before trekking to Nebraska. He said he wanted to see winds that were at least 40 miles per hour.
"Every time that that happened, I ended up doing something else," Gravy said. "Either I was on a trip, or I was in another state, or I was busy doing something. It took me three years to line this up, and this time I ended up being able to go. It was actually a really crazy experience to pull the trigger on this. I traveled all the way from New Jersey to Nebraska not even knowing I'd be able to stand up on a wave. Somehow it worked out. It was three years in the making, and it was well worth it."
That doesn't mean his trip to western Nebraska was without anxiety. Gravy flew from New Jersey to Denver the day before his planned adventure, arriving at Lake McConaughy on Wednesday.
"We rolled up to the lake and we saw the white caps," Gravy said. "I had that feeling inside, I was like 'Oh my god, like I pulled this off.' I had full goosebumps and everything. And then we got to the lake and I saw what it was doing, lapping on the shore like very, very small. And I kind of had that feeling where my heart kind of sank, and I was like 'Oh my gosh, I'm 24 hours from my house in a car right now. I might not be able to ride these.'"
Eventually, Gravy and his team saw the waves build as they sat on the shore, catching a couple of smaller ones.
"And then I had this feeling inside me that we had to go to other side of the lake," Gravy said. "We went to the point at the bottom of the lake where it looked like the most swell would be able to get to."
It was there that they were able to catch 4-to-6 foot waves, the ones initially promised by Nebraska Game and Parks.
"I've gotten a couple messages that the waves get bigger than the ones I saw, so hopefully I'll get back someday," Gravy said.