- 9 July 2009
- 4:31pm
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Why I didn’t climb Uluru
rosemLonely Planet author
Uluru (Ayer’s Rock, as it was called by white settlers) hums with energy and a palpable magic. Standing at the foot of this majestic hunk of red sand, it’s easy to see why many visitors are tempted to climb to its summit.
There’s always been dispute over whether or not you should climb Uluru. The traditional owners ask that you don’t, but don’t forbid it. The debate has recently been given fresh life by a government proposal to close the rock to climbers. There are concerns that local business operators will suffer if tourists can no longer climb.
After weighing the arguments, I chose instead to walk around it – a four-hour amble with plenty of stops to absorb the changing colours of the rock, listen to the singing winds and watch birds of prey larking around in the thermal draughts. Here’s why.
Its traditional owners don’t want you to climb it
To Anangu, the rock’s traditional caretakers, Uluru has a sacred significance as part of their ancestors’ path into the region. Anangu also feel responsible for guests on their land. If you are hurt on the hazardous climb to the top of Uluru, they feel great sadness. They ask you not to climb.
It’s dangerous
Uluru’s the height of a skyscraper. The climb takes three hours and the last bit passes over rock worn smooth by many feet; you have to haul yourself up on chains. The summit is battered by sun and gusting wind. 35 people have died on the rock, and every year the park’s rangers have to rescue people who’ve been injured in their attempt to reach the top.
It’s bad for the rock
Footsteps are eroding it. And if you relieve yourself on top of the rock (let’s face it, after a three-hour climb and no toilets, you’ll probably need to) it washes down into the waterholes – not much fun for the local wildlife.
There are so many other ways to have a peak experience at Uluru. Explore the ‘men’s side’, with its bright red colours and blonde grasses and wheeling birds. Sit a while on the ‘women’s side’, with its dusky swirls and folds and waterholes. Take your time and really feel the place. At one point near the base of the rock, there’s a sign that urges you to put away your camera and look and listen to what’s around you. I sat and watched as group after group wandered up, read the sign, photographed the sign and wandered off. Don’t miss out on how wonderful the rock really is in the scramble to summit. As Kunmara, one of its traditional owners, says, the climb is ‘not the real thing about this place. The real thing is listening to everything.’
Have you been to the top of the rock? What was it like? Would you do it again and why?
Given the fact that the “owners” of the rock ask that visitors don’t climb it, I wouldn’t. It seems as though there’s plenty to enjoy of Uluru without going to the top of it.
I was able to climb when I travelled Aus, and although it was spectacular, we should respect the wishes of the Anangu and leave well alone. Many forget that a walk through the Olga’s is breathtaking and far less damaging.
I was there almost two years ago and decided not to climb it, most importantly out of respect for the Anangu, but also because it was extremely windy that day and the climb had been closed during the morning – it was simply too dangerous to climb that day. Nonetheless some of my mates did decide to climb it. They argued that Uluru, being a sacred place to the Aboriginals, can be compared to, for example, a catholic church and that, since Aboriginals are allowed to enter ‘our’ sacred places, that gave them the right to enter their ‘church’ too. I disagreed, but many people do see this as a justification.
I agree with the posts so far. I would climb it if the traditional owners of the land agreed. It is a common courtesy in travel that you respect the wishes of the local people. The magic of Uluru is all around it, you don’t need to get to the top to experience it.
As a traveller from Australia, I believe travellers should not be banned by government from choice of climbing Uluru. The traditional caretakers are by no means unanimous about requesting travellers not to climb. Many benefits for them,ie. work, increased welfare for the community, and improved understanding by others of their culture, flow from the numbers of travellers attracted to the area, many encouraged by the climb.The damage to the rock is so minimal, the danger of falling is only for the reckless, there are toilets at the base and no need to relieve oneself whilst climbing, only very unfit people are likely to need rescuing (and other climbers could easily carry anyone down without rescue equipment). Many people would not travel to Uluru if not allowed the option of climbing, an experience I had some years ago,(an awe inspiring experience I might add). The negative consequences for the indigenous people, the area, and the country would far outweigh the negatives for Uluru and some of its traditional caretakers. I would not climb again should I return, but could not be party to denying others the tremendous experience.
I was there in 2007 & I chose to climb it. I didnt feel like i was disrespecting the traditional owners at all as there were many others climbing it at the same time, but i can understand why people would choose not to climb it. I was with a large group of people, some of whom chose to climb & others didnt. It is a difficult climb with little there to support you, but its worth it in the end. Im extremely glad i did climb it as the view from the top just cant be described, it is literally breath-taking and i believe just doing the walk(which i did aswell) doesnt quite do it justice.
I visited Uluru on a school trip last year. We couldn’t climb it due to the winds that day, which I was really disappointed about. I was really looking forward to that part of the trip, and the walk around the base was kind of fun for the first little bit, but got old quickly, and there was no real reward at the end, like standing on the top would hold. All the Aboriginals in the area we spoke to said they didn’t really mind if we climbed or not, it was the white park rangers that said it was disrespectful. So I would go back and climb it any day. Also, what they don’t tell you, is that the vast majority of people who have died ‘climbing’ it, died afterwards on the ground, often from a heart attack from the strain of the climb, or they were someone with a previous condition. So if you’re fit and healthy and up for it, the only problem I see with it is the erosion caused by the feet.
While the Anangu (or at least some of them) don’t want people to climb Uluru, it’s the government of Australia that actually has the final say. The government has to take many issues into account. To close the rock to climbers would hurt tourism so some extent. Obviously climbing Uluru is not the only reason why people go to the Red Center. The comments made by the author here are somewhat laughable.
1. Yes it is dangerous. So is climbing the Grand Canyon, Mt Everest, the Matterhorn, etc. It is not the Australian government’s responsibility to stop people from taking risks. This is a travel forum where people talk about far more dangerous escapades than climbing Uluru.
2. It is not bad for the rock. The winds in cnetral Australia are eroding the rock not the footsteps. People shouldn’t pee on the rock. However last I checked local wildlife also pee in places where they drink. Again people pee all over the world when hiking so what’s the big deal.
If Australia and the Australian people want to close off climbing then fine but lets not come up with lame explanations.
Thanks everyone for your comments. mssphd – you make some good points. Yep – it’s no more dangerous than a lot of the world’s great climbs; however, I don’t think a lot of people realise how strenuous it is. Speaking personally I have a deep-seated fear of scree (slidy! Scary!) and that’s one of the reasons I decided not to climb. Pee-wise, I think it differs from a lot of hikes as it’s bare rock up there and nothing to soak up your waste (including faeces).
Yeah, it’s interesting that Anangu looking after the rock don’t forbid the climb, and say they’d prefer you’d make your own decision not to visit the top. So what’s driving the government proposal to close the climb?
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