Climbing Ayers Rock

Hmmm, Time for popcorn and a coldie.

October 26 2019

they should about it they may cut off their nose to spite their face
lots of people like to climb it
cheer mechpete

Build a golf course around it, then and only then does something become "sacred" !

I can easily believe that the place is sacred but I'd suggest the stopping of climbing has much more to with protecting the stupid from themselves.and lowering the costs of the indemnity insurance than from any "sacredness".

Too many stupid people in society these days who have absolutely no concept of intelligent preparation and who only got to the rock because somebody else did all the hard work organizing the trip.

Example 1: What I saw when I was there in 2014. Asian tourist who did the climb in a set of boots with a 2inch heel that would have been more at home in the CBD of a major city than the Australian outback..

I climbed it when it was called Ayers Rock, with a travelling mate, in mid-July 1969.

I was just 20 yrs old, and he was 21. We didn't take long to race up it, as we were young and fit.

There was no-one else but us there, that day. I remember there was a visitors book at the top, and I left a youthful cheery message in it. I bet they've thrown it out.

It was a pleasant day, and the view from 1100 feet up is quite impressive.

However, I've also climbed Mt Toolbrunup, and that is 1052 metres (3450 feet), and that is a very steep and difficult climb with loose rocks, and having to get on your hands and knees sometimes.

I was 29 when I did that climb, and I beat my 19 yr old highly-competitive companion, who wanted to race me to the top, by at least 400 metres.

Now, the view from the top of Mt Toolbrunup is REALLY impressive! - and puts the view from Uluru in the "also-ran" category.

The points I'm trying to make are -

1. You can climb lots of mountains/rocks/ranges, and get a great view. The view from the top of Uluru is nothing special.

2. You need to be fit to climb up every rock/mountain/range that you might find attractive to climb.

Lots of people suffer medical conditions halfway through, when attempting a climb, and that's not fun. In addition, someone then has to rescue you.

3. The impact of ever-increasing numbers of tourists, has seriously damaged many "tourist sites" - and the numbers and the movement of people to those sites, then has to be controlled, in a highly disciplined and structured manner.

4. Many sites of religious importance and sacredness, worldwide, have been freely open to tourists, but the numbers have had to be curtailed and controlled many times, for fear of damage to the site.

5. I would imagine the local Aboriginals have a variety of opinions as to the sacredness of Uluru, and whether it should or shouldn't be walked on.

Their Dreamtime religious beliefs seem to vary widely according to their upbringing and level of exposure to various elders.

Then we also have a multitude of half-castes, quarter-castes, eighth-castes, and "Aboriginals" who probably have about 1% Aboriginal DNA in them. But they still want to identify as Aboriginal.

I don't have too much of a problem with that - but I often wonder why they want to ignore and disown the 99% of their White, Anglo-Saxon, or other European, Middle Eastern, Indian, or Indonesian ancestral DNA that they carry?

6. Does climbing Uluru add to the "Red Centre experience"? If you're young and fit, I'll wager it does.

If you're old and unfit, I guess you would have already crossed the climb off your bucket list.

7. Will closing Uluru to climbing reduce the number of tourists and therefore impact upon the local economy? Has anyone even considered this? I doubt the local tribes have.

Whether they are prepared to accept a downturn in tourists, to "reclaim their culture" is perhaps something the local elders and decision makers have decided IS worth it.

8. Personally, I think that the impact of the ever-increasing number of tourists on Uluru is probably the "straw that broke the camels back", that has led to the decision to ban climbing Uluru.

I'm personally of the opinion, the few remaining "real bush Aboriginals" of the local tribes, would be happy to close Uluru off completely, and see the last of the tourists disappear, so they could return to their desert, Dreamtime roots. But the pull of the tourist dollar remains a major drawcard for the rest of them.

Just my 0.02c worth ...

Cheers, Ron.

Was out there last July school holidays and climbed the rock with my daughter's before they close it to doing so next year....the place was mayhem the week before we got there apparently (my kids had 3 weeks holidays, one week more then public schools had...and we left the second week of them and thus missed the worst of the crowds). The resort was over run with people wanting to stay at it, they were turning away plenty of people wanting to stay there, even though they told us 2 1/2 months earlier that their overflow area (which they wouldn't take bookings for) never fills up. We free camped 5klms before the turn off to the resort / town area, went a couple of sand dunes back away from the highway, and had a great view of the rock from camp and our nearest neighbour was about 50mtrs away from us. According to the 2 security guys that came through our camp one night checking fires, the resort was overwhelmed with how many people came out this year, and telling people to go camp out there. We were on resort land according to him (after I asked who owned where we were), and he said if we thought it was busy now (which it was...beside the highway and between first and second dunes had heaps of campers there, aswell as a full resort and heaps at Curtain Springs aswell), we should have seen last week he said, an absolute mad house he reckoned.
Can't imagine what the 2019 crowds will be like, I know several people / groups who have already said they are going out there to climb the rock before it's closure.
The climb itself was pretty slippery in a few places, I don't recall it being like that 25 years ago when I last did the climb...so good footwear would be my recommendation. I met a guy in Boulia (who told us where to camp at Ayres Rock actually) that thought climbing the rock in bare feet was a good idea, the big blisters on the soles of his feet proved otherwise. Allow about an hour and a half to get to the top, can certainly be done much quicker by the very fit people, but stopping for breaks and taking in the views and taking pics will make it more like the time I mentioned or even 2 hours to top...then you need to get back down again.

With regard to Uluru/Ayers Rock and climbing it... An interesting pic I found recently. It appears in the February 1988 edition of "National Geographic" magazine, pg. 201.

BTW, when I visited there in 2008, it was closed (due to wind, IIRC) all three days I was in the area. Otherwise this would have been another addition to the hundreds of summits I have been on and enjoyed.

If it closes, at least the prices of everything from beer to accommodation will drop back to more reasonable prices. All, except the airfares which will go up because there will be less flights.