The mountain that climbers coined the “beating heart of climbing in Australia” is to close following a secret four-year investigation into its cultural heritage.
Up to half of the slopes around Victoria’s Mount Arapiles, in the state’s west, will be closed after Parks Victoria found tens of thousands of Indigenous artefacts, scarred trees and rock art.
The mountain is known around the world as an incredible rock climbing site and its closure will likely have devastating consequences for the local Natimuk community by decreasing tourism.
The closure of Mount Arapiles will also cause the closure of the iconic Pines campsite.
The Victorian government shared news of the closure on Monday, just months after Premier Jacinta Allan promised she would not “lock down” Victoria’s state forests.
“As Prime Minister and a proud Victorian country, I will never put a lock on our public forest,” she declared in August.
‘I know there are some people who are concerned about the future of our state’s forests. And I understand that there has to be a balance. There are areas that we must protect, areas that we must conserve.
“But, for me, the most important thing we can do for our bush is to make sure we enjoy it.”
Up to half of the slopes around Victoria’s Mount Arapiles will be closed following the discovery of its connection to indigenous heritage.
Climbers criticized Ms Allan for apparently going back on her word with the decision to close the epicenter of Australian rock climbing.
Save Grampians Climbing wrote: ‘It’s an annihilation, folks. The real beating heart of climbing in Australia has been ripped out and discarded.’
To make matters worse, climbers were largely responsible for rehabilitating Mount Arapiles, also known as Dyurrite, after its former use as a shooting range.
Opposition spokesman James Newbury accused Allan of misleading climbers with his comments.
Parks Victoria found tens of thousands of Indigenous artefacts, marked trees and rock art around Mount Arapiles, a popular rock climbing destination.
“Jacinta Allan has been caught talking out of both corners of her mouth again,” he said.
‘Despite having promised not to block our park, your government has been caught making secret blocking agreements. And within weeks, Labor has admitted it will pass new laws through parliament that will further block parks. Jacinta Allan’s promises are worthless.
The artifacts found around Mount Arapiles are likely to be predominantly stone fragments. Scar trees are found throughout western Victoria, but rock art is much rarer.
It is understood that most of the rock art found in the national park is not visible to the naked eye.
Last month, the Victorian government confirmed it would create legislation for a new Wombat-Lerderderg National Park and Mount Buangor National Park by November from Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park.
Parks Victoria said its investigation, completed in conjunction with the local Barengi Gadjin Territorial Council, was carried out between November 2020 and February 2023.
The Victorian government shared news of the closure on Monday, just months after Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) promised she would not “lock down” Victoria’s state forests.
“These studies aimed to record cultural heritage, threatened plants of regional importance and investigate the impacts of recreational activities on this rich cultural and environmental landscape,” he said.
‘The specific focus of the study was the climbing areas identified through Crag, a global online database of climbing and bouldering areas, and the informal trail network that has been created to link the climbing areas to each other and with the formal trail network.
‘Located on the eastern side of Dyurrite (Mount Arapiles) sandstone escarpments and the Miter Rock sandstone escarpments, the study area included 153 climbing areas and over 35 kilometers of informal walking trails leading to these climbing areas. climbing and between them.’
Mount Arapiles is a rock formation rising about 140 meters above the Wimmera Plains in Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park, near the town of Natimuk.