Would you hike Uluru?

Visited Uluru and didn’t climb. For one, the rock is incredibly sacred to the aboriginal people and my tour guide and the museum and the signs and the fliers made it clear exactly how disrespectful it is. Plus it was really hot and I was tired from waking up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise.
Plus it’s not like there’s a fantastic view from up there, really – Uluru IS the view. The only reason to do it is to say you did it, which is uncool.

I definitely would not climb it, and I do feel it should be protected. Rolf Potts wrote a great travel article about this a couple years back for Slate, the sub-title of which is: The Pitjantjatjara Word for Tourists and Ants Is One and the Same..Ha!

Here’s the link: http://www.slate.com/id/2161053/entry/2161054/

I was actually just discussing this very topic with a friend and happened upon this post while looking into it further, so thank you for the stimulating comments which have enhanced our discussion!

I have a few things to say in response:

1) To Carlo – The majority of more recent deaths are from unfit people having a heart attack during the climb. (If you don’t bother exercising, why the hell would you consider climbing this thing??). The rest tumbled down before there was an anchor chain to hold onto along the ascent/descent. As for the decline in number of people climbing, it’s mostly tour busses that bring the masses out there now…they arrive first thing in the morning, when the wind is almost always up and the climb is closed. Also, the cost of medical assistance ON the rock now falls on the visitor (no pun intended) and is generally not covered under regular travel medical insurance. This has really pushed tour operators to deter tourists from attempting the climb on their watch.

2) To Eva – If you understand Australian Aboriginal culture, you would know that they are amongst the most peaceful indigenous people on earth. They did’t exist longer than any other known culture by fighting and killing eachother…even when the British arrived on the shores of Australia, the response of these ‘locals’ was far more passive than aggressive and continues to be so today.

3) To Ant – Ignorance isn’t necessarily climbing the rock, it’s standing on the sacred land of Uluru-Kata Tjuta and saying everyone who is climbing the rock is ignorant! Correction – perhaps that’s not necessarily ignorance, that’s hypocritical.
The whole entire area is sacred! So why would you step foot there at all??

The only reason we are allowed on it is because when the Pitjantjatjara People were ‘handed back’ this culturally significant area of land by the Commonwealth Government in 1985, it was upon the condition that they would lease it back to the government for 99 years in order for it to be open to the public as a tourist park. Management is joint (more like the aboriginals assumed the role of care takers, and the government is raking in the cash). Didn’t it raise any questions the fact that you had to pay $25 just to access the land?? Either the aboriginals are charging you entry and pocketing the millions poured into the park a year, in which case you’d have every right to explore INCLUDING climbing the rock, OR there’s something a little deeper there…

It comes down to this people – the descendants of the Anangu people have publically given permission for tourists to climb the Rock, though they prefer you do not, primarily because it is dangerous and their spirits suffer great sadness when someone is hurt on their land (not to mention you are up for HUGE medical costs if you hurt yourself up there!!).

It is a personal choice whether or not to climb, and if you choose to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta and tsk tsk the people who go on to climb Uluru, you should really consider the fact that the only reason the aboriginals are ok with you being on the land at all is because it was a major stipulation in getting the rights to their land back (‘rights’ termed loosely)!!

I went in 2004 and was injured walking AROUND the rock – all part of a series of fantastically uncanny events – and I flagged down a park care taker (a descendant of Anangu people) who was driving home for the evening. On the way to the first aid hut, we discussed this very issue and she did in fact advocate the view expressed above.

(I was tempted to ask if any spirits were hurt by the fact that my injury occurred walking around the sacred rock and not during my climb up it…).

So, if you’ve already stepped foot on the land at Uluru – Kata Tjuta, you may as well carry on and do the climb, I say. And while you’re up there, take a good long look at the deep scars imbedded on the land surrounding the rock below…damaging evidence of all those who have visited, claiming to be respectful of the land and its people.

Carlo, if the land was never taken in the first place, it probably would never have been private! Although I can’t say for sure about Aboriginal people, I know that Native-Americans did not believe in land “ownership” (this is not to say they didn’t have territorial rights between tribes)–this was something the white man brought in. I’m assuming the same is true in Australia…

I first visited Uluru before the matter of the clmb became an issue. I was so moved by the site, I could not bring myself to make the climb. Even then it seemed a disrespectful thing to do.

At the moment the Australian Government has in place a new draft plan of management which is considering whether the climeb should be continued. My feeling is that it should not.

What concerns me though is the friction that naturally occurs when you have an organisation like Parks Australia, on the one hand speaking of “preserving the natural and cultural values” of Uluru, while promoting the place as a tourism venue.

Along with this go the blanket restrictions on professional photography that deny the traditionally symbiotic relationship between national parks and photographers. It is technically illegal to publish pictures of Uluru without permission.

I hiked around the base of Uluru and it was a stunning hike, getting close to the rock, seing wildlife and the Aboriginal art. I never hiked to the top but I’d be suprised if hiking to the top was anywhere near as interesting as the base walk.

Wouldn’t climb it. If the locals don’t want that, than is better that way.

Latest developments: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10655601

I wouldn’t.

I remember the sign “please do not consume any food behind this point, it’s considered holy by the Maori people” (or similiar) – on the New Zealand North Island.

That’s right at the light house at Cape Reinga. And 90% of tourists had their lunch there, many right behind the sign. I was ashamed.

Climbing mountains because they’re there is the essence of why humans have always climbed mountains. Got to get to the top, got to see what’s on the other side. If our ancestors hadn’t climbed the Alps and had tried walking around them, we’d still be wearing goat skins and living in crude tents. As far as open minded and accepting the cultures of others goes, why should that not apply equally to Aboriginal and Australian culture?Everest is sacred to the Nepalese, but you don’t see them trying to arrange a ban on climbing – they simply demand that climbers respect the mountain.

Why is Ayers Rock any different?

Xmas eve I watched the sunset on Uluru, then I climbed it, at dawn on xmas morning. It is one of the most unforgettable xmases of my life, and one of the most unforgettable travel moments.  The base walk was also moving, but the climb will be one of the highlights of my travels forever.

I understand there are cultural issues surrounding the area, and if I was going to stomp around the area I didn’t see it as much worse actually climbing the rock.  I am sensitive to other cultures but did not feel that it would be something that would be on my conscience if I climbed Uluru.  I agree with Pleski on this one.

Those that stomped around the base but didn’t climb Uluru/Ayres Rock can sit on their high horse on a technicality, but I will never forget that climb, the feeling of getting to the top, or the view from the top for miles across the outback as far as the eye could see.