Hundreds of tourists on Friday became the last to scale Uluru – Australia’s famous sacred red rock – ahead of a permanent climbing ban.
The walkway up the giant monolith, a Unesco world heritage site also known as Ayers Rock, was finally closed to the public just before sunset.
Uluru's indigenous custodians, the local Anangu Aboriginal people, have long asked visitors not to climb the rock, which is 348 metres high.
At near dark the final group of tourists to climb have stepped off Uluru after today’s permanent closure @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/MxMvDtGFVJ
Brett Clappis (@BrettClappis) October 25, 2019
The decision to end climbing, made in 2017, was made out of respect for the Anangu, as well as for safety reasons.
Since the 1950s, dozens of people have died on the walk to the top of Uluru, where temperatures can reach 47C during the summer.
On Friday authorities closed the climb for two hours due to strong winds. Earlier in the week in had been suspended because of the heat.
