Those wishing to climb Ayers Rock, Uluru, better make plans to visit the iconic landmark soon, as Parks Australia is moving at banning the popular climb in the coming year. In fact if Parks Australia has their way, climbing Ayers Rock, Uluru, will be banned altogether by October 2010.
The reasons behind banning the rock climb is for health and safety, plus deep cultural beliefs by the traditional Aboriginal owners and a few environmental concerns. Since 1975 there have been 35 recorded deaths, yet it is interesting to note that there have been no further deaths since strict safety precautions, such as no climbing allowed over certain temperatures, were brought into effect some years ago. What would it mean to you as a tourist if you couldn’t climb Uluru? Most visitors come for the spectacle of witnessing the Rock changing colors at sunrise and sundown, so it really shouldn’t hurt the tourist trade greatly. Plus, with the safety precautions in place, you never know from one day to the next if you will be allowed to climb Uluru anyway. You can’t climb Uluru if it’s going to rain, if there is forecast lightning and other climatic considerations that make the climb hazardous. We also must consider the wishes of the Anangu peoples, who are responsible for the protection and appropriate management of their ancestral lands. You wouldn’t like people coming to your front door and walking through your house if you were not invited. Just common courtesy really, isn’t it? If the Anangu people ask us not to climb Uluru, we should respect and honor their wishes.
So it looks very likely that within the next year or so, legislation will be passed so no-one can legally climb Uluru. There are very strict guidelines already in place for the commercial use of photography and these further restrictions will apply to the general public wanting to climb Uluru.
If you really want to climb Ayers Rock, Uluru, do it soon or it will be too late.
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I am hoping to take my Son and Grandson to Uluru in early Jasnuary 2011, and would like to know if it is possible to climb the Rock independentaly. Would appreciate any advice please.
Hi Ron.
Following Federal Government legislation, individuals can still climb Uluru – Ayers Rock. The traditional owners ask people not to climb Uluru for cultural reasons but there is no law that requires people to obey their wishes. There are however safety precautions that can close of the rock climb without warning.
As you plan to travel to Uluru in January, there would be every possibility that the climb would be closed daily due to high temperatures.
Here are the main safety reasons that rangers would close the climb area.
Heat – closed at 8:00am if the forecast maximum temperature for Yulara is 36 degrees centigrade or more
Wind – closed if the estimated wind speed at 2500ft is 25 knots or more
Storms – closed if there is any storm activity between NW and SW closer than 50km to Uluru
Rain – closed if there is a greater than 20% chance of rain in the next 3 hours
Hope this helps.
Thanks a ton for your reply John. I had been searching everywhere for that answer. Merry Christmas!
My husband and I are plannng to climb Ayers Rock around end of August – 27th-31st August 2011. We live in Malaysia and we very keen to climb this as a challenge before it is banned. Can you pls advise if we should go ahead to plan this overseas trip and that we can be assured of able to take on this challenge. We have already acheived the summit of Mt Kinabalu in Sabah.
Tku for your reply pls.
Warm Regards, Ivy Lee (ivyplee@gmail.com)
Hello Ivy.
While I cannot guarantee that you could climb Ayers Rock around the end of August, there will certainly be no legal restrictions by the Government in place, banning people from climbing. The major reasons that would stop you from climbing Ayers Rock at that time of the year would be entirely because of climatic conditions. These conditions change day to day, such as the temperature or if rain is forecast, so unfortunately no-one could assure you that the climb will be open on a given day.
The end of August is usually a good time to visit Central Australia, not too hot and normally the dry season. Therefore you should be able to climb Ayers Rock.
Regards
John
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