Columbus climbers make the most of limited elevation
Why it matters: Indoor climbing and outdoor bouldering are more popular than ever, thanks to climbing's introduction to the Olympics and the evolution of climbing gyms.
Reality check: Flat, landlocked Columbus doesn't naturally provide the terrain enthusiasts need.
Despite Columbus' enthusiastic embrace of sports culture, we can only do so much to replicate the cliffs and boulders of more geographically fortunate cities.
The U.S. Geological Survey marked a difference of just 208 feet between our highest point (893 feet above sea level) and lowest (685).
Yes, but: Our parks are trying to provide some surfaces to scale.
Quarry Trails offers a sport climbing area and the popular via ferrata, a 1,040-foot cabled climbing wall with metal rungs and bridges overlooking the pond below.
As part of its recent expansion, Scioto Audubon added 7,000 square feet of climbing walls on three towers that reach 35 feet.
Scaling the news: Climbers can find a few indoor options as well.
The Westerville Community Center has a 30-foot wall, and Ohio State's Adventure Recreation Center features a 4,000-square-foot climbing center.
Climbing gym company 5.Life operates Vertical Adventures near Worthington, Chambers Purely Boulders in Grandview, and Bloc Garten at Scioto Audubon.
Beyond that, enthusiasts will need to drive an hour outside of town to Marne Road or Mad River Gorge to truly scratch their climbing itch.
💭 Reader Kyle H. has been climbing for a decade and tells us the closest "world class" climbing is more than three hours away at either New River Gorge or Red River Gorge.
Nathan T. is a relative newcomer and complimented Bloc Garten's staff, who are "super friendly and helpful for first timers."
Ohio's peak
You won't need any impressive gear to reach the highest point in the entire state — it's just a short trek up a hill across from a school parking lot.
The big picture: Ohio's highest natural point is Campbell Hill in Bellefontaine, about an hour drive from Columbus.
It sits 1,549 feet above sea level.
Flashback: The hill got its name from Charles D. Campbell, a Bellefontaine resident who owned the land when the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey officially recognized it as Ohio's peak in 1900.
From 1951 to 1969, the hill was used as a radar surveillance hub for Cold War operations as part of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
🪧 Today, Campbell Hill is an Ohio Historical Marker site and sits across from the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
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an hour ago
What to know about the earthquake that shook the New York area Saturday night
A relatively mild, 3.0 magnitude earthquake shook the New York metropolitan area Saturday night. Here's what to know. The earthquake hit in the New Jersey suburb of Hasbrouck Heights at about 10:18 p.m. Eastern time at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). It was felt fairly widely in northern parts of the state, southern New York and even in southern Connecticut. There were no initial reports of serious injuries or significant damage in New Jersey or across the Hudson River in New York City. City officials said that as of late Sunday morning they had not been called to respond to any building-related issues. The Big Apple has more than 1 million buildings. Many posts on social media reported the ground rumbling, and the U.S. Geological Survey reported more than 10,000 responses to its 'Did You Feel It?' website. Though people in the United States might associate earthquakes more often with the West Coast, scientists say these types of incidents on the East Coast are not unlikely. The area feels an earthquake about once every couple of years. 'The northeast part of the United States does not see large earthquakes very often,' said Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center, which is a part of the USGS. Since 1950, only 43 other quakes of this magnitude and larger have occurred within 155 miles (250 kilometers) of Saturday's event, according to the USGS. A much larger, 4.8-magnitude quake that struck in Tewksbury, New Jersey, a little farther west of the city, in April 2024 was felt as far away as Boston and Baltimore. Some flights were diverted or delayed after that quake, and Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast corridor. A smaller, 1.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Astoria section of Queens, New York, in January 2024 stirred residents. The region sees a more damaging one only a couple times a century, if that. New York was damaged in 1737 and 1884 by earthquakes, according to USGS data. The difference between East Coast and West Coast quakes lies in the 'mechanism,' said seismologist Lucy Jones. California is at the edge of the San Andreas fault system, which has two tectonic plates: the Pacific Ocean plate and the North American plate. Two plates move and push to build up stress, meaning earthquakes happen relatively frequently. New York falls in the middle of a plate, far from the nearest boundaries in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea — resulting in residual stresses and making it difficult to predict where earthquakes will occur. The area is also home to the well-known Ramapo Fault line. Geologists have not seen evidence that would suggest it has had a large earthquake in some time, but there have been smaller ones. Saturday's quake cannot necessarily be associated with this fault, experts say. The same size earthquake is felt over a much larger area in New York than it would be in California. 'The rocks on the East Coast are particularly cold and hard and therefore, do a better job of transmitting the energy,' said Jones. In California, the various faults are more akin to a broken bell, which doesn't transmit energy as well. Every earthquake makes another one more likely, but within a range, scientists say. 'At just 3.0, the chances are there will not be another felt event,' Jones said, estimating about a 50-50 chance there will be no activity that can be recorded. 'Most likely is an unfelt, magnitude 1 or 2 aftershock.'
San Francisco Chronicle
19 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
What to know about the earthquake that shook the New York area Saturday night
A relatively mild, 3.0 magnitude earthquake shook the New York metropolitan area Saturday night. Here's what to know. What happened? The earthquake hit in the New Jersey suburb of Hasbrouck Heights at about 10:18 p.m. Eastern time at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). It was felt fairly widely in northern parts of the state, southern New York and even in southern Connecticut. There were no initial reports of serious injuries or significant damage in New Jersey or across the Hudson River in New York City. City officials said that as of late Sunday morning they had not been called to respond to any building-related issues. The Big Apple has more than 1 million buildings. Many posts on social media reported the ground rumbling, and the U.S. Geological Survey reported more than 10,000 responses to its 'Did You Feel It?' website. Though people in the United States might associate earthquakes more often with the West Coast, scientists say these types of incidents on the East Coast are not unlikely. How frequent are earthquakes in the New York area? The area feels an earthquake about once every couple of years. 'The northeast part of the United States does not see large earthquakes very often,' said Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center, which is a part of the USGS. Since 1950, only 43 other quakes of this magnitude and larger have occurred within 155 miles (250 kilometers) of Saturday's event, according to the USGS. A much larger, 4.8-magnitude quake that struck in Tewksbury, New Jersey, a little farther west of the city, in April 2024 was felt as far away as Boston and Baltimore. Some flights were diverted or delayed after that quake, and Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast corridor. A smaller, 1.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Astoria section of Queens, New York, in January 2024 stirred residents. The region sees a more damaging one only a couple times a century, if that. New York was damaged in 1737 and 1884 by earthquakes, according to USGS data. How do East Coast earthquakes compare with West Coast ones? The difference between East Coast and West Coast quakes lies in the 'mechanism,' said seismologist Lucy Jones. California is at the edge of the San Andreas fault system, which has two tectonic plates: the Pacific Ocean plate and the North American plate. Two plates move and push to build up stress, meaning earthquakes happen relatively frequently. New York falls in the middle of a plate, far from the nearest boundaries in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea — resulting in residual stresses and making it difficult to predict where earthquakes will occur. The area is also home to the well-known Ramapo Fault line. Geologists have not seen evidence that would suggest it has had a large earthquake in some time, but there have been smaller ones. Saturday's quake cannot necessarily be associated with this fault, experts say. The same size earthquake is felt over a much larger area in New York than it would be in California. 'The rocks on the East Coast are particularly cold and hard and therefore, do a better job of transmitting the energy,' said Jones. In California, the various faults are more akin to a broken bell, which doesn't transmit energy as well. Every earthquake makes another one more likely, but within a range, scientists say. 'At just 3.0, the chances are there will not be another felt event,' Jones said, estimating about a 50-50 chance there will be no activity that can be recorded. 'Most likely is an unfelt, magnitude 1 or 2 aftershock.' ___
Chicago Tribune
19 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
What to know about the earthquake that shook the New York area Saturday night
A relatively mild, 3.0 magnitude earthquake shook the New York metropolitan area Saturday night. Here's what to know. The earthquake hit in the New Jersey suburb of Hasbrouck Heights at about 10:18 p.m. Eastern time at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). It was felt fairly widely in northern parts of the state, southern New York and even in southern Connecticut. There were no initial reports of serious injuries or significant damage in New Jersey or across the Hudson River in New York City. City officials said that as of late Sunday morning they had not been called to respond to any building-related issues. The Big Apple has more than 1 million buildings. Many posts on social media reported the ground rumbling, and the U.S. Geological Survey reported more than 10,000 responses to its 'Did You Feel It?' website. Though people in the United States might associate earthquakes more often with the West Coast, scientists say these types of incidents on the East Coast are not unlikely. The area feels an earthquake about once every couple of years. 'The northeast part of the United States does not see large earthquakes very often,' said Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center, which is a part of the USGS. Since 1950, only 43 other quakes of this magnitude and larger have occurred within 155 miles (250 kilometers) of Saturday's event, according to the USGS. A much larger, 4.8-magnitude quake that struck in Tewksbury, New Jersey, a little farther west of the city, in April 2024 was felt as far away as Boston and Baltimore. Some flights were diverted or delayed after that quake, and Amtrak slowed trains throughout the busy Northeast corridor. A smaller, 1.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Astoria section of Queens, New York, in January 2024 stirred residents. The region sees a more damaging one only a couple times a century, if that. New York was damaged in 1737 and 1884 by earthquakes, according to USGS data. The difference between East Coast and West Coast quakes lies in the 'mechanism,' said seismologist Lucy Jones. California is at the edge of the San Andreas fault system, which has two tectonic plates: the Pacific Ocean plate and the North American plate. Two plates move and push to build up stress, meaning earthquakes happen relatively frequently. New York falls in the middle of a plate, far from the nearest boundaries in the center of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea — resulting in residual stresses and making it difficult to predict where earthquakes will occur. The area is also home to the well-known Ramapo Fault line. Geologists have not seen evidence that would suggest it has had a large earthquake in some time, but there have been smaller ones. Saturday's quake cannot necessarily be associated with this fault, experts say. The same size earthquake is felt over a much larger area in New York than it would be in California. 'The rocks on the East Coast are particularly cold and hard and therefore, do a better job of transmitting the energy,' said Jones. In California, the various faults are more akin to a broken bell, which doesn't transmit energy as well. Every earthquake makes another one more likely, but within a range, scientists say. 'At just 3.0, the chances are there will not be another felt event,' Jones said, estimating about a 50-50 chance there will be no activity that can be recorded. 'Most likely is an unfelt, magnitude 1 or 2 aftershock.'
