Thousands rush to climb Australia's Uluru ahead of ban

 

FILE PHOTO: Tourists crowd a trail as they attempt to climb the Uluru, a large sandstone rock formation at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia September 25, 2019 in this image obtained from social media. Koki via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands of people are rushing to climb Australia's Uluru, ignoring the calls of indigenous people to stay off what they consider a sacred monolith, before the ascent is permanently banned at the end of the month.

 

Visitors will no longer be able to scale the Australian landmark, formerly known as Ayers Rock, from Oct. 26, following a decades-long campaign by indigenous communities to protect it.

 

The UNESCO World Heritage-listed 348-metre (1,142-ft) rock, famed for its deep red-ochre hues, is a top tourist draw despite its remote desert location near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

 

The upcoming ban has drawn a throng of visitors and it is the busiest it has been in more than a decade, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park manager Mike Misso told broadcaster SBS News.

 

"We know it's certainly in the hundreds and probably nearer 1,000," Misso said, referring to daily arrivals.

 

"There's definitely a lot of people wanting to climb, but actually our same message that we've had for a number of years is Parks Australia and traditional owners requesting that people choose not to climb," he added, referring to the federal agency which helps manage national parks.

 

Most visitors do not climb Uluru.

 

The Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru, have called for the climb to be closed since 1985, when the park was placed in indigenous hands, due to its spiritual significance as a route their ancestors took.

 

Safety and environmental concerns are also cited as reasons not to attempt the climb, the park says.

 

To commemorate the climbing ban, the park will conduct a public celebration on Oct. 27, 34 years after Uluru was handed back to its traditional owners.

 

Australians are still the most common visitors to climb the rock, followed by the Japanese, according to Parks Australia.

 

(Reporting by Paulina Duran in Sydney; Editing by Karishma Singh)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-24

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4 minutes ago, webfact said:

a sacred monolith

Its  a lump of rock  nothing  more, what people  "believe" is  just nonsense,like all religions and origin stories providing no evidence for their lack of understanding.

Do they have a way to drive up? from the back maybe?

We went to the temple near Udomrat dam in Khon kaen  and I climbed all the steps to the top.

 

only to find a bunch of cars parked behind it. Grrrrrr. Coming down was a breeze .

It would suck to climb that big ass rock  only to find a parking lot and a food truck there. 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

Do they have a way to drive up? from the back maybe?

We went to the temple near Udomrat dam in Khon kaen  and I climbed all the steps to the top.

 

only to find a bunch of cars parked behind it. Grrrrrr. Coming down was a breeze .

It would suck to climb that big ass rock  only to find a parking lot and a food truck there. 

 

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

Do they have a way to drive up? from the back maybe?

We went to the temple near Udomrat dam in Khon kaen  and I climbed all the steps to the top.

 

only to find a bunch of cars parked behind it. Grrrrrr. Coming down was a breeze .

It would suck to climb that big ass rock  only to find a parking lot and a food truck there. 

No way to drive up, big <deleted> rock, no cable cars or such.

 

1 hour ago, Chazar said:

Its  a lump of rock  nothing  more, what people  "believe" is  just nonsense,like all religions and origin stories providing no evidence for their lack of understanding.

Hope the same rule (thought) applies to cathedrals, churches synagogues, wailing wall etc.

 

1 hour ago, Chazar said:

Its  a lump of rock  nothing  more, what people  "believe" is  just nonsense,like all religions and origin stories providing no evidence for their lack of understanding.

Indeed. 

 

It's a laugh really, as many ( ?most ) people now in the west, including Australia, do not believe in "God" anyway, but think that a rock is sacred. Wish they'd make up their mind. A rock can only be sacred if people believe in "God".

 

 

 

Ayers rock is a good tourist attraction and it draws in thousands of dollars to the local community in Alice Springs and Kings Canyon.

Sadly, because a few local aborigines think it's sacred they are banning future climbing and as such hundreds of jobs will go including bus drivers, tour operators, guides, restaurant staff and many others.

Maybe the government should re-evaluate their welfare system as it could also be considered sacred and therefore blocked …..  

46 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Indeed. 

 

It's a laugh really, as many ( ?most ) people now in the west, including Australia, do not believe in "God" anyway, but think that a rock is sacred. Wish they'd make up their mind. A rock can only be sacred if people believe in "God".

 

 

 

I get you don’t believe in god.

 

However why that precludes people from another culture believing this rock is sacred is a mystery.

 

 

7 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Ayers rock is a good tourist attraction and it draws in thousands of dollars to the local community in Alice Springs and Kings Canyon.

Sadly, because a few local aborigines think it's sacred they are banning future climbing and as such hundreds of jobs will go including bus drivers, tour operators, guides, restaurant staff and many others.

Maybe the government should re-evaluate their welfare system as it could also be considered sacred and therefore blocked …..  

Because it’s all about the Dollar.

15 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Because it’s all about the Dollar.

It's about using a little common sense and saving hundreds of jobs, it's about not bowing to a few aborigine just because they think it's sacred. 

Stop their welfare payments, they are sacred also ….  

13 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I get you don’t believe in god.

 

However why that precludes people from another culture believing this rock is sacred is a mystery.

 

 

It's just a big rock. God didn't make it heal people or perform miracles. 

I acknowledge it looks spectacular and people want to look at it, but I don't see why a few people should be able to deny everyone else the right to enjoy the view from the top. Most primitive people didn't even have the concept of property rights. That was the invention of Europeans that "gave" them the property rights to something that belongs to everyone, IMO.

8 hours ago, Chazar said:

Its  a lump of rock  nothing  more, what people  "believe" is  just nonsense,like all religions and origin stories providing no evidence for their lack of understanding.

Yes it's just a rock but if this one is sacred for the abo's then we should respect that. I've driven all around that area and there are many more of those same huge rocks...why don't they go there to climb it?

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Hope the same rule (thought) applies to cathedrals, churches synagogues, wailing wall etc.

 

yes anyone can go into them

2 minutes ago, Thian said:

Yes it's just a rock but if this one is sacred for the abo's then we should respect that. I've driven all around that area and there are many more of those same huge rocks...why don't they go there to climb it?

Its  crazy all sorts  of groups "claim" this  that and the other

10 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It's just a big rock. God didn't make it heal people or perform miracles. 

I acknowledge it looks spectacular and people want to look at it, but I don't see why a few people should be able to deny everyone else the right to enjoy the view from the top. Most primitive people didn't even have the concept of property rights. That was the invention of Europeans that "gave" them the property rights to something that belongs to everyone, IMO.

and without that science to explain the rock  many would  still be worshipping it.

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

believing

Thats what, back it up with evidence .

13 minutes ago, Thian said:

Yes it's just a rock but if this one is sacred for the abo's then we should respect that. I've driven all around that area and there are many more of those same huge rocks...why don't they go there to climb it?

Give me a good explanation as to why it's "sacred", and I'll agree. Did it talk to people, perform miracles, turn water into wine?

 

If it didn't actually do anything except be there, it's not sacred, IMO, it's just a big rock. Belongs in the same category as believing thunder was made by a man in the sky.

We should blast the shiit out of that rock and export it to China to make roads

Edited October 24, 20196 yr by steven100

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Give me a good explanation as to why it's "sacred", and I'll agree. Did it talk to people, perform miracles, turn water into wine?

 

If it didn't actually do anything except be there, it's not sacred, IMO, it's just a big rock. Belongs in the same category as believing thunder was made by a man in the sky.

You better ask the aboriginals about that....and also tell them why the Opera house is 'sacred' so they can't make a fire next to it or climb the thing.

 

It's just about respect for eachother. 

25 minutes ago, Thian said:

Yes it's just a rock but if this one is sacred for the abo's then we should respect that. I've driven all around that area and there are many more of those same huge rocks...why don't they go there to climb it?

why should we respect the backward superstitions of people who lived in the stone age before Europeans arrived? All cultures are not equal, some are not worthy of much in the way of respect. Just because some people believe something does not mean the rest have to fall in line, we are talking about climbing a rock for goodness sake!

2 minutes ago, Thian said:

You better ask the aboriginals about that....and also tell them why the Opera house is 'sacred' so they can't make a fire next to it or climb the thing.

 

It's just about respect for eachother. 

I was asking a specific poster as to why I should respect the rock being sacred as he claims.

I have a pretty good idea why Aborigines think it is.

I think the rock belongs to the world, not just a few people.

 

BTW, it's not a living person, so it's not disrespectful to walk on it. Birds probably <deleted> on it all the time.

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

Its  a lump of rock  nothing  more, what people  "believe" is  just nonsense,like all religions and origin stories providing no evidence for their lack of understanding.

Oh, but the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru, believe that it's more than a lump of rock and that what you believe (quite a lot, no doubt) is nonsense. If you were an Anangu, you might agree. You aren't. The ascent is permanently banned at the end of the month.

3 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

why should we respect the backward superstitions of people who lived in the stone age before Europeans arrived? All cultures are not equal, some are not worthy of much in the way of respect. Just because some people believe something does not mean the rest have to fall in line, we are talking about climbing a rock for goodness sake!

Next they'll be telling us it's OK to mutilate girl's genitals because it's an age old tradition among certain cultures, or it's OK to make human sacrifice because certain cultures did it in ages past? Cannibalism OK if it was part of culture? Black magic OK? Head hunting in Borneo OK because it was their culture?

Once we drill down to the base of this argument, it doesn't hold water. It's just primitive superstition.

5 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

we are talking about climbing a rock for goodness sake!

Exactly, just a stupid XL rock...and there are many of them in that area....so why not climb another one and keep everyone happy? Why tourists have to fly from the other side of the world to climb that stupid rock anyway? Plenty of mountains to climb in their own continents.

1 minute ago, BigStar said:

Oh, but the Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru, believe that it's more than a lump of rock and that what you believe (quite a lot, no doubt) is nonsense. If you were an Anangu, you might agree. You aren't. The ascent is permanently banned at the end of the month.

but some of us think it shouldn't be, and there are more of us than of them. I thought Australia was a democracy, so hold a referendum on it, or does democracy only apply to some in Oz? 

Does apartheid exist in Oz?

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I was asking a specific poster as to why I should respect the rock being sacred as he claims.

I have a pretty good idea why Aborigines think it is.

I think the rock belongs to the world, not just a few people.

 

BTW, it's not a living person, so it's not disrespectful to walk on it. Birds probably <deleted> on it all the time.

Well can i also climb the piece of rock on the grave of your grandparents? Again, you should ask the abo's why this rock is sacred to them...you guys can climb all the other same looking rocks in the area.

 

And if the rock belongs to the world, can i build a hotel on it? If not, then why?

42 minutes ago, Thian said:

Yes it's just a rock but if this one is sacred for the abo's then we should respect that. I've driven all around that area and there are many more of those same huge rocks...why don't they go there to climb it?

The word is aboriginal or Indigenous, not abo's, which is a highly derogative term. The Indigenous believe the rock is sacred, it is their dreamtime and culture, nothing to do with God.

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Next they'll be telling us it's OK to mutilate girl's genitals because it's an age old tradition among certain cultures, or it's OK to make human sacrifice because certain cultures did it in ages past? Cannibalism OK if it was part of culture? Black magic OK? Head hunting in Borneo OK because it was their culture?

Once we drill down to the base of this argument, it doesn't hold water. It's just primitive superstition.

So why your name is THAIbeachlovers, plenty of beaches on the world and for sure in Oz...those are much better anyway.

If you hate ancient cultures so much then what are you doing here in thailand? Do also disrespect their culture and build a house on their mountain of big buddha?

1 minute ago, Thian said:

Well can i also climb the piece of rock on the grave of your grandparents? Again, you should ask the abo's why this rock is sacred to them...you guys can climb all the other same looking rocks in the area.

 

And if the rock belongs to the world, can i build a hotel on it? If not, then why?

If you can find my grandparents grave you can climb on the tombstone. no one is going to stop you. No one even thinks the gravestone, or the grave is "sacred". That would be silly. It's just a bit of dirt with their remains and the tombstone is just a stone with the name. 

 

you can't build hotels in national parks, which is nothing to do with being sacred.

5 hours ago, JWRC said:

The word is aboriginal or Indigenous, not abo's, which is a highly derogative term. The Indigenous believe the rock is sacred, it is their dreamtime and culture, nothing to do with God.

Wow what a strong argument, i'm flabbergasted mate. Whatever you call them, it's their rock...And if it belongs to the one who colonized australia as first it would be a dutch rock.