In this excellent and informative article from 2015 Erwin Chlanda from the Alice Springs News raises important questions about the legitimacy of recent claims that the climb is sacred to Traditional Owners and the rigour of research by Parks Australia and Charles Darwin University. It seems the notion the climb is a concern to locals is only a recent phenomena. I had the opportunity of speaking with Paddy Uluru early in my work in Central Australia (I arrived in December 1974). Mr Uluru was the undisputed custodian of The Rock at that time. We spoke face to face at the base of monolith, and he was happy to be photographed with the Rock in the background. (Restrictions on photography of The Rock has since developed into a nasty, bitter and divisive issue. Apart from anything else the rules are stifling millions of dollars worth of free publicity of this tourist attraction.) Mr Uluru told me if tourists are stupid enough to climb the Rock, they’re welcome to it. For him there w...
Our mountains belong to all of us. The Right to Climb them and bask in their views that inspire awe and wonder is as old as the human genome. This long-established cultural tradition is under threat by a small group of bureaucrats determined to impose their way on the rest of the world. It is right to Climb because we have the Right to climb. If you don’t exercise your rights you lose them. Don't let petty nanny state bureaucrats take them away.