Climbing ban on iconic rock sparks tourist rush

ULURU, AUSTRALIA — Nature seemed Friday to be siding with Indigenous Australians’ demand for Uluru to be respected as a sacred site as high winds threatened to prematurely end the generations-old tradition of climbing the sandstone monolith.

Rangers warned hundreds of anxious tourists who gathered at the base of the iconic rock, also known as Ayers Rock, before dawn that they would miss their last opportunity to ever scale its 348-metre summit unless blustery conditions subsided.

But the winds calmed and the first of around 1,000 climbers began their ascent at a chain handhold up the steep western face three hours later than scheduled. An Indigenous onlooker booed them.

The ascent was permanently closed to climbers late in the afternoon, while those already on the rock had until sunset to find their way down. A potential medical problem was reported with a climber but authorities could not immediately provide details.

Janet Ishikawa flew from her Hawaiian home to central Australia to make the climb on the final possible day. She likened the Uluru controversy to a furor over plans to build a giant telescope on Hawaii’s highest peak, which protesters consider sacred.

“It’s a total overreaction. All of a sudden they want to take ownership of all this stuff,” Ishikawa said.

“They say you shouldn’t climb because of all this sacred stuff. I can still respect it and climb it.”

The ban was a unanimous decision made two years ago by 12 members of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board of Management. But it’s an outcome that has divided both Indigenous Australians as well as the wider world.

The polarity of opinions has been highlighted in recent months as thousands of visitors converged on one of Australia’s most famous landmarks to make a final trek to the top.

There has long been tension within the Indigenous population around the money that climbers bring and the rock’s significance as a sacred site.