- Title: Australia's Uluru closes to climbers for good after decades-long fight
- Date: 25th October 2019
- Summary: ULURU, AUSTRALIA (OCTOBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF SIGNS IN FRONT OF ULURU BEING REMOVED BY NATIONAL PARK RANGERS MEDIA VARIOUS OF SIGNS IN FRONT OF ULURU BEING REMOVED BY NATIONAL PARK RANGERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATIONAL PARK OPERATIONS AND VISITOR SERVICES MANAGER, STEVEN BALDWIN, SAYING: "Very much so, this hasn't been an overnight decision, it's been in our management plan for 10 years now, and the decision was made two years ago, so there was plenty of time for people who wanted to climb to come and climb but this is a fantastic decision for the Park. It's a triumph for joint-management, it shows that Anangu can actually make decisions about the land they own and more importantly Anangu aren't going to have to get sad anymore. Whenever anybody gets sick, or injured, or worse on the climb, they get extremely sad, so this is an absolutely fantastic day for the park and fantastic for Anangu." KEITH WAIDE AND SON WALKING OFF ULURU IN FRONT OF SIGN READING (English): NO WALKERS / CLIMBERS CLIMB CLOSED DUE TO PERMANENT CLOSURE 26 OCTOBER 2019 (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST, KEITH WAIDE SAYING: "We are really pleased that the Aboriginal people gave us one last chance to do this. They may have not been happy, but we did it with as much dignity and we are just very, very pleased they gave us this opportunity." VARIOUS OF GROUP OF LAST EVER CLIMBERS COMING DOWN FROM ULURU CLIMBERS JOINING HANDS AND JUMPING OFF ULURU TOGETHER AMERICAN TOURIST FROM LAS VEGAS, JASON DUDAS WALKING OUT OF CLIMB GATE (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN TOURIST FROM LAS VEGAS AND ONE OF THE LAST CLIMBERS, JASON DUDAS, SAYING: "Well, I know there's a big controversy on the hike, and I respect the First Nations here but since it was an optional thing to do, I decided to do it and now that it's officially closed, I won't be hiking it anymore." (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN TOURIST FROM WODONGA AND ONE OF THE LAST CLIMBERS, SAYING: "It feels fantastic to be one of the last ones to climb off The Rock, it also feels a little bit sad to be one of the last ones to climb off Uluru." ULURU ROCK JAPANESE CLIMBER COMING OFF THE ROCK AS POLICE AND RANGERS STANDBY JAPANESE CLIMBER COMING OUT OF CLIMB GATE
- Embargoed: 8th November 2019 11:53
- Keywords: sign closed ban sacred rock queue Anangu Ayers Rock climbing monolith indigenous Australia Uluru
- Location: ULURU, AUSTRALIA
- City: ULURU, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2LGH8N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Australia's Uluru officially closed to climbers for good on Friday (October 25), although the last visitors to scale the sacred rock were allowed to stay until sunset, as a permanent ban takes effect after a decades-long fight by indigenous people to close the trek.
To commemorate the climbing ban, public celebrations will take place over the weekend when the dismantling of the railing and trail are also expected to begin. Earlier in the day, hundreds of tourists clambered up the UNESCO World Heritage-listed 348-metre (1,142-ft) monolith, formerly known as Ayers Rock.
As the sun set, the last climbers held hands in a line and jumped off Uluru together. One of them, an Australian tourist from Wodonga, who had spent the day up at the peak, said, "it feels fantastic to be one of the last ones to climb off The Rock, it also feels a little bit sad."
"I respect the First Nations here but since it was an optional thing to do, I decided to do it," added American tourist Jason Dudas.
Uluru is a top tourist draw in Australia despite its remote desert location near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
While most visitors don't climb its steep, red-ochre flanks, the impending Oct. 26 ban has triggered a surge in people taking a final opportunity to make the trek.
Nearly 400,000 visitors flocked to the Australian landmark in the year to end-June, government data shows. Australians still make up the bulk of the visitors to climb the rock, followed by Japanese, Parks Australia says.
The Anangu people, the traditional owners of Uluru, have called for the climb to be closed since 1985, when the park was returned to indigenous control.
(Production: Stefica Nicol Bikes) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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