A Guide to Climbing Ayers Rock is a celebration of the climb. It will provide the general public and those tourists and past visitors still interested in exploring the natural world, without being made to feel guilty by contradictory and irrational messages, with all the information they need to successfully and safely complete this physical adventure and fully appreciate the glory and wonder of the natural surrounds that can be viewed from the summit.
The Handbook is packed with historical information, facts, photos and figures providing all the answers to the questions about the climb people were too afraid to ask. Who climbed it first? Who was the first woman to climb? The first family? Are there any other routes? Has anyone completed a traverse across the Rock? What is the best time of year to climb? What's the best footwear? How many people have died and how did they die? How did the death of one climber result in the release of Lindy Chamberlain from Darwin's Berrimah Prison. What you can see from the summit? It's not just a desert out there! Just why are the Traditional Owners closing it? Answers to these questions and more will be found in the Climber's Handbook.
The main author is geologist Marc Hendrickx. Marc worked for the Northern Territory Geological Survey in the late 1990s and has completed the Climb a number of times. The first time in 1998, in the company of Matt Golombek, Science Director of the Mars Pathfinder Mission. The most recent in July 2018 with his two daughters. Marc has maintained an interest in the Climb over many years but was taken by surprise when the UKTNP board announced on November 1, 2017, that the Climb would be banned in October 2019. He immediately set out to provide information to counter specious and false information issued about the Climb by the Board and Parks Australia, establishing the "Right To Climb" blog and an online campaign to overturn the ban. The Climber's Handbook will provide the facts about the Climb that for long have been buried.