One unintended consequence of the climbing ban may be an increase in helicopter and aircraft sightseeing flights. Those would present a noise problem that would diminish the experience and spiritual power of the rock, as it has the Grand Canyon. I hope they have anticipated this.
10
Unpopular view: I don't think it's incumbent on anyone to show an exaggerated respect for other people's supernatural beliefs, whether Christian, Islamic, Animist, or anything else. All over the world, we have exaggerated demands for deference to supernatural beliefs (cover your head! don't hold hands in public! no shopping on the sabbath! etc etc). I am tired of walking on eggshells so as not to offend someone's sky-fairy.
Maybe when religious/superstitious people start showing respect for non-believers, or for views based on reason and science, my thinking on this will change.
The analogies to people climbing cathedrals miss an important point. The cathedrals were built by people. This rock was not built by the people who claim ownership, but was already there when they showed up. I can tell people not to climb on my house, but I don't order them to stay off the nearby mountain.
I think it's each person's choice whether they want to climb this rock or not. I also think it's a slippery slope to suggest that one ethnic group are the keepers of the land, and everyone else needs their permission to be on it.
7
@Damien O’Driscoll
People are indoctrinated from birth with rituals and beliefs they would find absurd if they had not been brought up with them. However, this is the way of the world we live in and one group has slaughtered another group over and over with their "pious reasons". The aboriginal peoples in so many lands have suffered incredibly from better armed invading forces, so perhaps it is OK for them to hold onto something they treasure, for whatever reason. Maybe just base the reason in compassion and respect. Man has not evolved past magical thinking in this scary world so maybe kindness and empathy might make our journey together more positive. There are lots of other rocks and mountains to climb. One does not have to agree to have respect or empathy.
23
@Damien O’Driscoll -- So things built by people are more sacred than the natural world. Even though those people are fallible, greedy, and often hold values like yours. Those buildings will someday fall down, illustrating the brief, arrogant, and little authority of humans on this earth.
9
When I told my Australian friends that I was going to visit this national treasure and asked them if they wanted to come along, they were adamant about never going there. They seemed to not hold it in any special regard, but I wonder if Uluru serves as a reminder to white Australians of what they have done to the aborigines.
12
Well, thank goodness the white tourists are there to tell the local indigenous people what does and doesn't undermine their cultural or spiritual beliefs. How would they know otherwise?
29
It should never have been approved. It has become covered with trash and even urine.
3
I was there in 2005 and had the option to climb it but opted not to out of respect for the aboriginal people and their sacred land. It is in fact their land. Others in my tour group for some reason thought it was their "right" to climb it. Can you imagine if people thought it was their right to climb a sacred temple or church?
I also don't understand this need for people to demonstrate they have conquered something by climbing it. Uluru is not for anyone's conquering.
38
@Sally Can I point out a pretty significant difference between a church and a rock?
People build churches, and therefore can lay more of a claim to them.
The Earth produced this natural formation, which to me suggests that it belongs to the whole Earth.
5
Damien, you have apparently missed learning about hundreds of years of genocide. Not to mention the thousands of years that Indigenous people have protected the earth, so it could be enjoyed by future generations. While genocide was being committed on Indigenous people, they were told all their ways were "primitive". Western industry has almost destroyed our planet in a few hundred years, it has a lot to learn from Indigenous cultures, the original "zero waste" systems.
15
Climbing is disrespectful enough, I suppose; but why leave garbage behind? What's that all about?
Who are these people who profess to love beautiful places but then trash them?
Who? Why, the family on the ferry going from 59th Street in Brooklyn to Wall Street and back, enjoying New York Harbor, who let fly candy wrappers and potato chip bags (I was able to snag one bit of trash and return it to them); the picnickers in Prospect Park, who tote in supplies and leave the greasy wrappers and soda cans crumpled up beneath the trees; the intrepid travelers abroad climbing enormous sacred statues and chopping off their sandstone noses for the benefit of a selfie.
Poor world.
18
"We do not believe climbing the rock undermined any cultural or spiritual beliefs of the local Indigenous people."
Sorry, but it's not up to you. It's up to them. It's Roman Catholics who decide that the altar at Notre Dame is sacred, not some crazy tourist who wants a picture of himself on the altar.
70
@Howard
Agree! Could they just not even hear what this sounded like as it came out of their mouth?!! #entitled
11
@Howard
Roman Catholics built Notre Dame.
The Anangu did not build Uluru/Ayer's Rock.
2
@Damien O’Driscoll
You're right, they didn't build it. They have just existed there and protected it for the last 65,000 years.
24
I wish there were affordable, regulated, three-day excursions involving fasting, silence, and the guided use of psychedelics at the site. You heard it here: respectful psychedelic tourism will the preferred way for calm people to experience Unesco World Heritage in a non-destructive, spiritual way.
6
Why climb it? It’s just desert all around. On the other hand, it’s lovely to look at Uluru at sunrise or sunset with the sun behind it.
6
Because the view from up there is amazing. You see Mt. Connor and the Olgas on an endless horizon, neither of which you can see like this from below.
7
We visited Uluru in 2001. Even then, signs were posted requesting visitors to not climb the rock and respect the indigenous people's beliefs. We hiked around the rock and observed it at sunset. We saw no reason to climb the rock when the true beauty of Uluru could be experienced without treading on sacred ground. No wonder we have so much conflict on Earth, the lack of respect for others' beliefs just continues!
44
@LL
Well said. I did the same quite a few years ago. Out of respect for the indigenous people's beliefs I did not climb but instead viewed it over several days and enjoyed it's presence and splendour at dawn and twilight...breathtaking!
8
There are lines of climbers starting in Sydney? That seems... unlikely.
5
Human public behaviour has to be regulated or there is widespread abuse of privilege and interference with the interests of others. They - we - just ruin stuff. As the article notes, there is also a sense of entitlement to do whatever one wants and, as Deborah Symons demonstrates, happiness in imposing one's opinion on others with the greater claim. In the case of Uluru, it belongs to someone. When guests don't act like guests they get uninvited. It's as simple as that.
I'm planning a trip to Uluru for next year and I'm happy that it will no longer be open to climbers. Even if it was, I would respect the indigenous people's wishes to preserve its natural qualities and cultural significance. You're not allowed to climb the Taj Mahal, The Washington Monument, or St Basil's Cathedral, why is it necessary to climb Uluru?
31
@Stevenz, A nit that doesn''t negate your point: Actually the Washington Monument was open to stair climbers for years. I climbed it as a kid. It was closed off in the mid-1970s. Not out of reverence but for practicality.
2
@carol goldstein -- I was thinking of the outside. :-) Maybe an exception for Spider Man in a time of need.
6
I wonder why people feel better about rushing to beat the deadline passed by the Euros while continuing to ignore the request of the locals? The rationale for the ban is to accede to the local sensibilities, so the last minute climbers are accentuating their disregard for that sensibility.
23
I visited Uluru about 10 years ago and took the indigenous people at their word. It's sacred to them & I imagine they view climbing their sacred place with the same dismay that Catholics would view tourists wanting to climb the dome at St Peters.
21
Thank goodness they are finally going to shut down the hike to the top. This would be similar to people rock climbing up the holy walk in Jerusalem, belaying off of the walls of Saint Peters, and strolling along the Kaaba in Mecca. The wishes of the Anaganu people should be respected. It is their land, their holy place, and their traditional place of coming together. Why stop at the walk up, why not let it return to what it was rather than a drive in tourist site to make a cheap buck off?
24
to respect sentiment and to allow tourism needs exceptional maintenance handing over ULURU to the tribe for maintenance and management under govt administrative control so that the proceeds of tourist goes to the development of the place and lot of Anungus if to them acceptable. Anung should be guide for no death and defilement happen
2
In 1995 while visiting Uluru, my wife and I listened to the recommendations of the local indigenous people to walk around Uluru instead of climbing it.
We greatly enjoyed the walk and appreciated their concern about the need to preserve their spiritual place.
Luckily, we were also advised to wear a light fly bite prevention net around our face and head as the flies were numerous and not interested in retreating to their own space!
Having also attended many Hopi dances in the Mesas in Northern Arizona, I remember when the Hopi elders made their decision after being inundated with tour buses and photographers, to prohibit buses and “outsiders” from attending their dances.
The Hopi elders made the right decision, too!
42
Love the comment of credit analyst/climber Deborah Symons in the article: "It was always something we wanted to do" and she "doesn't believe climbing the rock undermined any cultural or religious beliefs of the local Indigenous people." So glad that a tourist from Brisbane could weigh in to settle THAT.
56
@Norm Schroeder
I think she's entitled to have her own view in her own country, just as the Anangu are.
2
The ban on climbing Uluru is an assertion of Anangu sovereignty. It deserves respect.
54
Wish I had climbed it when I was down-under!
1
@Ratburi
Why?
13