Outdoor Adventure Center to partially reopen Tuesday

Charlotte Huot
Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:53:37 +0000
Area, Campus, Instagram Page, Local, News, Andre Love, auto-belay, backpacking, belay, bouldering, certification, climbing, oac, outdoor adventure center, rock climbing, staffing, trips

The Ohio State Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC) is home to a 35-foot rock climbing wall, bouldering routes and a slackline and offers outdoor adventure trips for Ohio State students. Credit: Ris Twigg | Lantern File Photo

The Outdoor Adventure Center will soon be back and boulder than ever.

The center, located on West Campus, is slated to reopen Tuesday, offering students renewed access to auto-belay climbing and bouldering Monday through Saturday from 4-8 p.m, while top rope and lead climbing will remain unavailable. The facility initially closed after several staff members departed in late May, leaving the center without the climbing professionals necessary for a safe experience.

“We had some staffing changes,” Marci Schumaker, senior associate director of recreational sports, said. “All of the professional staff left in late May, early June, so we closed short-time so we could hire another professional with the experience to oversee the OAC’s activities.”

Schumaker said the center will have a slow reopening.?

“Due to the nature of that type of climbing, we won’t be doing [belaying] until we hire a professional staff member with a full certification,” Schumaker said.?

Andre Love, director of recreational sports, said auto-belay climbing and bouldering will be available in the meantime.

“We’re open with some modified hours and a limited schedule,” Love said.

As for the center’s community trips, Love said they should resume at some point, but without a professional climbing staff member, trips won’t run in the immediate future.

“Once we have new staff on board and set up with the OAC, we will then go into planning for trips,” Love said.?

Love said he is hopeful the position will be filled in the next month. After that, normal operations can resume.

“I’m optimistic that we can have at least someone in place or have an idea of who we’re going to hire by the end of September,” Love said.