Right to Climb

LEGEND OF THE CLIMB - Graeme Phillips 996! Series of posts celebrating climbers of Ayers Rock #13. Graeme Phillips standing on the summit cairn (on right), late 1960s (photo from Shirley Goodman. While discussing our iconic Climb with Macca on the ABC  his producer handed me a note with a phone number and said the person on it wanted to speak to me about the Climb. After the interview, I placed this slip of paper on the shelf and it took me a few weeks to get around to calling the number. I'm so glad I did, as, through the wonderful Shirley Goodman, whose name was on that slip of paper, I have learnt a small part of the remarkable story of the late Graeme Phillips.  Graeme Phillips ( photo from ABC report) In my book " A guide to Climbing Ayers Rock " I credit Howard Rust as the person who climbed the rock the most times (100) and Graeme Phillips as the man who climbed the most different routes (7). I thought that 100 climbs was a remarkable effort and given ...

I spoke with 2GB's Ben Fordham about the coming ban on climbing. The rich history of climbing by all people deserves to be celebrated. Parks Australia has erased history at the Rock. Tiger Tjalkalyirri and Tamalji 1947 you won't read about them in the official literature. Link below will take you to a podcast of it: https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/july-29th-full-show Also soundcloud version:  https://soundcloud.com/user-256364995/ben-fordham-2gb-29-july-2019

Outsiders 28/7/2019 featured a discussion about our iconic Climb led by Rowan Dean, Rita Panahi and James Morrow, with me and Dr Anthony Dillon. Some Facebook clips below... PODCAST HERE. Marc Hendrickx on climbing Uluru: It’s such a shame that this is being closed. It’s not only the physical nature of the climb itself, it’s the extraordinary, majestic views of the desert. https://www.facebook.com/SkyNewsAustralia/videos/1232954036883066/ Marc Hendrickx on climbing Uluru: Parks Australia claims 37 people have died since 1958, but seven million people have climbed the rock. The risks of dying on the rock are no different to flying a plane to get there. https://www.facebook.com/SkyNewsAustralia/videos/2449665498647171/ Dr Anthony Dillon on Uluru: I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years’ time it’s no longer sacred and it’s seen as beneficial, if not profitable, to open the rock again.  https://www.facebook.com/SkyNewsAustralia/videos/2782976781716703/ Dr Anthony Dillon ...

A small collection of reviews of the Climb collated from recent posts on Trip Advisor... instagram.com/p/B0TUyCQJDpI/ So worth it!. Great climb to do as a family. When we arrived at Uluru the climb was closed due to high winds at the summit. We were told that they close it at the drop of a hat and they reassess the wind every 2 hours. If you are going to climb Uluru then make that the first thing you do during your visit in case they close it. Uluru looks very steep and you wonder how you are going to get up but you do and when it gets really steep then there are chains to pull yourself up with. There were willing kids as young as 5 climbing up with their parents although I would recommend that you make sure your child “wants” to climb as there were a few parents who had to take their children back down again in the early stages of the climb. Once you reach the end of the chains, you think you are at the top but alas no. There is still so much that you can’t see. There is a l...

There's been a rush of visitors heading to central Australia to exercise their cultural heritage in climbing Ayers Rock. This morning (22/7) I spoke with ABC Alice Springs Radio Breakfast Host Stewart Brash about the issue. The link below provides a podcast of the discussion: https://soundcloud.com/user-256364995/abc-alice-springs-interview-with-stewart-brash-22-july-2019 For the full episode visit ABC Alice Springs...  https://www.abc.net.au/radio/alicesprings/programs/breakfast/breakfast/11312106

There are just 100 days before darkness descends on Ayers Rock and visitors from all over the world will be barred from scaling it, denying them the chance of experiencing a human cultural tradition that was established 30000 years ago during the last ice age. The reasons for the ban do not stand up to scrutiny. They revolve around the actions of lazy bureaucrats sitting behind desks in Canberra remote from the Rock, claims of sacredness that go against the actions and views of the Traditional People and a false message about safety. In reality, the ban is all about petty politics and the corruption of power. On July 20 1873 explorer William Gosse accompanied by his cameleer Kumran scaled the Rock and provided humanity with a first-hand account of the incredible experience . Ninety-six years later on the 20 July, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo lunar module "Eagle" on the surface of the moon continuing the same tradition of human exploration of our...

This series of posts showcase the contents of the Last Logbook on Ayers Rock. Part 9: Cover and pages 151-170. Last July when I climbed the Rock with my daughters I left a blank 192 exercise book in a container at the summit memorial. The front cover looked like this: The text on the cover reads: Signing the summit logbook has been an important cultural institution at Ayers Rock since the 1890s. Sadly, since the late 1980s Park Management have denied Australians and International visitors the opportunity to record their achievement. The first climbers to leave a note marking their achievement were Allan Breadon and W Oliver on March 4, 1897: “We added a few stones to the pile and left two wax vesta boxes (tins) with names and date thereon.” Glass coffee jars held the names of climbers between 1932 and the 1950s. In September 1950 the jars held the names of about 70 climbers. Formal log books, termed the “Achievers’ book”, replaced the assorted collection of jars and tins lodge...