At one time the Gilboa Quarry in Gilboa Ohio was the secret to great limestone. Nestled in the Ohio heartland and encompassed by wooded campgrounds, the Gilboa Quarry is a 14 plus acre stone quarry that now doubles as a great locale for recreational diving and dive training. For the casual diver, there is a shallow side of 5-65 feet. The other end provides a plunge that exceeds 120 feet for those looking to experience the technical challenges of cold and the darkness of the deep. Whatever level of diving experience, Gilboa Quarry offers a multitude of items of interest from training platforms (5 - 120 ft) to sunken treasures like a bus, Grumman airplane, or paddlefish.
After plunging to new depths, in 1994, the Gilboa Quarry reached for new heights. Russ Born, who is an instructor with Bowling Green State University, initiated an out reach program in advance rope rescue by converting a tower that once housed crushed limestone into a state-of-the-art rappelling, indoor and outdoor rock climbing center. Named Vertical Reality, this center features a 70-foot tower for rappelling and climbing, 300 feet of tubes and tunnels, 18-foot vertical cave, and 10-foot waterfall.
After years of teaching fire safety, Russ Born acknowledged that in order to be certified by the NFPA, National Fire Protection Association, his students had to be trained in advance rope rescue technique. Bowling Green State University approved and Mr. Born dug deep into his pockets and in 1994 Vertical Reality came to life. Ten years later, the facility is utilizing 8 instructors from other universities and teaching not only rope rescue but freeing an eighty-year-old autistic of their fear of heights. Russ Born has also utilized his business drop test products and host Fireman Challenges taking Vertical Reality from "the ultimate training facility" to "the ultimate staging ground."
While Russ Born concedes that rope technique is a crucial tool of any rescue technician, he also finds it a liberating hobby. For years, he has rappelled from the New River Bridge in West Virginia-a challenge that requires a team and an annual application. Yet, he enjoys every minute of it, as he is quick to show the "photo album" of his crew assembling the facility from suspension lines. Families come to Vertical Reality to "…have fun. It's something different."
Carving a "stone-solid" reputation, the Gilboa Quarry utilizes a property that has given to the community once already in the form of limestone and now provides the public two more astounding services: scuba diving and advanced rope rescue. With a body of water that is one of the last to freeze over during the winter in North America due to its depth, Gilboa Quarry in Ohio draws divers from fives states and Canada on a regular basis. Vertical Reality aids in training fire fighters and rescue technicians to preparing Marine Recruits while also providing a distinctive weekend endeavor.
