Will the climbing of Uluru/Ayers Rock in Australia be banned?

For the rest of us: this question refers to Ayers Rock...

Thanks, randburg. Because the rock is officially dual-named, I've added the English to the Aboriginal in the main question.

FWIW: it sure ought to be banned. As one man said in the accompanying article, "You can't climb the Vatican, and you can't climb Buddhist temples." Uluru isn't man-made, of course, but the Aboriginals have treated Uluru as a sacred place for untold millennia, and that makes it even more unclimbable in my book...

"FWIW: it sure ought to be banned"

I couldn't agree more sqlman. One thing I found funny was that Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd said he opposes the ban because he thought "it would be very sad if we got to a stage, though, where Australians, and frankly our guests from abroad, weren't able to enjoy that experience". I.e. in "climbing" it. As if by not being able to stomp all over you can't get the same experience. I love our Caucasian race, we act as if everything is our plaything simply their for our personal enjoyment. :)

Also, found this: "Each year about 350,000 tourists visit Uluru, about a third of whom choose to climb it. Research conducted by park administrators found 98 per cent of visitors would not change their decision to come to Uluru if they were unable to climb it. - Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/pm-rejects-ban-on-climbing-sacred-site-20090710-dg2k.html

Ritual belief in spirits and deities living at the top of a mountain is not particularly a new idea. Climbers are expected to pay respect and/or homage to deities, depending upon your beliefs. Oracles and wizzards at the top have been consulted from time immortal, but I don't recall hearing a request for a ritual climbing ban before.

Are we now going to close up Everest, Kilomanjaro, etc with climbing bans to protect sacred beliefs? While we are at it, can we get the climbers off of the Vatican, the Eiffel Tower, etc as well?

when dragonfang was living with curios they tried climbing it. dragonfang told me after carrying curios half way up he just wore out. so he used curios as a sled and rode him back down. woot woot

@dieseldog: ha!

Well, the Eiffel Tower was built with the stairs and an elevator, so climbing it was always a part of the experience. And FWIW, there are certain peaks in the Himalayas--most notable Mt. Kailash (picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Kailash_north.JPG)--that are off-limits to climbers for spiritual reasons. There are no signs or barriers or guards; there's just the respect of invasive climbers who say, "Okay, you people have been kind enough to allow us into your awesome mountains; we'll return the favor and not trample all over your most sacred sites just because we're European and rich and powerful and could if we wanted to."

I like that...

Yes, the Eiffel Tower and the Vatican DO have stairs to claim, and a few nuts who actually scaled them. The Pope appears in a window in St. Peter's square for the weekly blessing and moves his hands up and down in a manner that suggests: "Keep off of the grass! Keep OFF of the grass!" So, also, please don't trample on the grass in St. Peter's Square -- not that there is likely to be any -- for religious reasons...

...and stay off any mountains you might find in the Vatican. You don't want to make the Pope's Sherpas unhappy.

If the population of Aboriginals in the area pre white settlement was any more than a hundred I would be very surprised,a very exclusive sacred site.Anyway theirs a better rock in Western Australia.wiki Mount Augustus.I've climbed both and in my book Mt Augustus
was much more interesting.