Right to Climb

The goons of Uluru When you smash the small things, big things follow. Section 17-2 of the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park lease agreement "covenants that the flora, fauna, cultural heritage and natural environment of the park shall be preserved, managed and maintained according to the best comparable management practices established for National Parks anywhere in the world or where no comparable practices exist, to the highest standards practicable."  I have always contended that the Ayers Rock Summit Climb and its associated infrastructure are items of important cultural heritage, protected by the lease and the 1987 World Heritage Agreement. Parks Australia has breached the lease and its obligations under the World Heritage agreement by banning the climb and destroying the summit monument, chain and memorial plaques.  Through some Orwellian doublespeak Parks Australia contends that its actions are legal. For want of a seven-figure sum of money, their warped interpret...

According to the ABC Parks Australia are increasing the entry fee at Ayers Rock by 52%! This despite 90% of the park now being inaccessible to tourists and a major reduction in the cost of management due to less Ranger time required to monitor our iconic climb. Uluru entry prices to rise as Parks Australia flags new fees with tourism operators The cost of entering Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park could rise by up to 52 per cent under proposed changes from Parks Australia. Just one week after the Uluru climb permanently closed, Parks Australia has informed tourism operators new park fees will come into effect from November 1, 2020. We are left to wonder with the Climb closed....Why would anyone now bother going?

Since Federal Authorities have taken over running the Uluru/Ayers Rock National Park we have seen the loss of public access to over 90% of the Park! This includes the following: Base walk no longer follows the base along the north side but now is on the old circuit road up to 500m from the Rock.  Most caves around the base are no longer accessible Ban on climbing No camping Fined for going off trails Ban on walking to summits in the Olgas Loss of most of the walking tracks in the Olgas Access banned to the Kata Tjuta Lookout described by Mountford as having an outlook without equal in Australia Shift of sunrise viewing area to the shaded side of Ayers Rock ( at cost of $21 million ) access redacted! The availability of Cultural information has also changed dramatically. The maps below dramatically highlight how much cultural information has been redacted.  Culture denied So what is remaining with The Climb now banned? An overpriced resort distant...

NEWS ALERT: TIME CAPSULE FOUND IN AYERS ROCK SUMMIT MONUMENT Workers engaged by Parks Australia to destroy the summit monument in breach of the 1970 World Heritage Listing have found a time capsule hidden in the structure. When opened it contained early climbing logbooks, contemporary guide books, climbing souvenirs, a signed letter by then Territory Administrator  Fred Chaney marking the occasion, a copy of Bill Harney's book "To Ayers Rock and Beyond" along with photos of early climbing guides.   We understand the material is being shipped to the National Museum for further assessment and study. C opy of 1967 Guidebook found in the Capsule. The directional plaque that provides information about the distant ranges visible from the summit is of significance as it is shown in maps, along with the climbing route, that form part of the 1987 World Heritage nomination. It seems the Climb, and the monument were integral to gaining access to and interpreting those World H...

Last day at Disneyland - a first hand account of the end of the iconic climb While Right to Climb could not attend the end of climbing at Ayers Rock last week we received the following firsthand account of how the day panned out from veteran climber Gerry Krieg. It seems Gerry has the honour of being the very last paying guest to head up the Rock. The behaviour of Parks officials in attempting to censor and control the flow of information as he came down offers a glimpse into the workings of a new police state now operating at the Park. That they were aided and abetted by a passive media mob says much about the state of the press in the country. Why would government need to censor them when they happily censor themselves? With a vision of tourism this dark how long will what is left of “Disneyland” survive? FINAL DAY AT ULURU / AYERS ROCK - the secret business THE MORNING 25 Oct 2019 Given what later occurred it is worthy to record some context from earlier in the day. W...