Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label charles mountford

Climbing Legends #10 - An Australian youth among desert Aborigines

Climbing legends Series of posts celebrating climbers of Ayers Rock. #10 Lauri Sheard: An Australian youth among desert Aborigines Lauri E Sheard 1922-1942 Lauri Sheard was the son of Mountford's friend Harold Sheard, and was aged 18 when he accompanied Mountford on this Expedition in 1940. During the trip Lauri Sheard recorded his experiences in a diary, later published as An Australian youth among desert Aborigines , and took almost 1000 photographs of his own. Lauri's account of his climb from his diary reprinted below: Wednesday August 7, 1940 We packed our gear and lunch on the camels and set off once around the eastern end of the rock.  Proceeding to the climbing slope, this time the position reversed, I went up and Mountford stayed below taking photographs, , using the colour cine camera.  The climb was not terrifically steep, but it was jolly hard work, as for a part of the way we went on hands and knees, but once over the steeper pitches and wit...

Old Guide Books Ayers Rock and the Olgas

The first professional tourist guide books about Ayers Rock and The Olgas were published in (about) 1961. These were authored by anthropologist Charles Mountford and artist Ainslie Roberts . The titles include " Your Guide to Ayers Rock " and " Your Guide to The Olgas " Images of some of the pages are provided below. These booklets provide a wonderful overview of the area and Aboriginal myths associated with both locations. Modern guides are quite lacking in comparison. A few pages from Your Guide to Ayers Rock About the Ayers Rock climb the guide states:  "To climb the Rock is a much more strenuous task, but well within the ability of anyone in good health. Many hundreds, possibly thousands of people, have made this climb and enjoyed the view from the summit." A few pages from Your guide to Mt Olga The Olgas Guide book includes some directions about climbing to the summit cairn of Mount Olga, this is a much more difficult task than walki...