“We’re very excited to have Henry Barber as a special guest speaker this year,” she said.
“He will give a one-hour presentation after the film screenings.
“He first visited Australia 50 years ago and took the Australian climbing world by storm on that trip. He set a new standard for rock climbing in the country, which he did here at Arapiles.
“It was an historic trip, and he’s coming back this year to commemorate 50 years and do a presentation at Goatfest.
“He’ll talk about the history and ethics of rock climbing, and it should be a great night.”
Goatfest has been staged in Natimuk since 2002 and celebrates rock climbing and other outdoor pursuits.
The festival is operated by Arapiles Community Theatre, ACT, Natimuk.
“It’s essentially a very lighthearted and enjoyable film competition where amateur filmmakers can submit their films to be included and screened on the night,” Ms Hendy said.
“Climbers who arrived in Natimuk in the 1960s were dubbed ‘goats’, so that’s where the name comes from.
“The theme is rock climbing and related areas, so they might not always have climbing content, but mostly it is outdoor content that might appeal to people who enjoy the outdoors as well.
“They can be films about high-performance rock climbing with high-quality cinematography, or they can be people having a bit of a laugh and not taking themselves too seriously and just having a great time in the outdoors.”
With eight films already submitted to the festival, Ms Hendy said Saturday’s program was shaping up as an entertaining one.
With uncertainty surrounding the future of rock climbing at Arapiles-Dyurrite following a draft Dyurrite Cultural Landscape Management Plan that proposes to curtail access to many areas of the mountain, Ms Hendy said the festival would focus on positivity.
“It’s about getting together as a community, having a good time and celebrating a shared love for outdoor spaces and outdoor recreation,” she said.
“We’re really happy to be running the event this year to try to lift spirits and keep things moving forward in the town of Natimuk.”
Ms Hendy said online tickets to the festival sold out earlier this week, with a small number available at the door.
Proceeds from the festival will fund future ACT Natimuk projects in the region.
Doors at Natimuk Soldiers Memorial Hall open at 6pm on Saturday.
Restrictions, not blanket bans
By Henry Barber
I first climbed at Arapiles in 1975 and have visited several times since. I have climbed in six of Australia’s states and territories. No area during my visit was more influential to Australian climbing or more important, in my opinion, than Arapiles-Dyurrite.
I am an American citizen but have climbed in more than 40 countries and have encountered most of the issues the Arapiles community is dealing with now.
Arapiles is a Mecca – an iconic world destination for climbing – with one reason being that it is in the southern hemisphere for people to visit during the northern hemisphere winters and has a wide range of difficulties in route ratings.
It is one of the best cliffs in the world that represents some sport climbing routes like ‘Punks in the Gym’, where the gear is permanently fixed, but it also represents all levels of difficulty for traditional climbing where the gear is placed and removed on each ascent. This makes it ideal environmentally and aesthetically for climbers of all levels to enjoy.
Some issues I have encountered are Indigenous rites, bird closures, overcrowding, trail maintenance, trash, ethical climbing issues, landowner concerns about marks on the cliffs and liability. The issues are not limited to the above, but solutions for them may all exist in a comprehensive plan for Arapiles-Dyurrite.
One of our world-famous destinations is Hueco Tanks near El Paso Texas, which developed a multiple-use plan that involves climbers as guides primarily to protect Indigenous sites. They also serve to educate climbers about the historic areas they are climbing at.
Significant formations like the Totem Pole in Utah and Spider Rock in Arizona are closed to climbing. However, major archaeological formations like Newspaper Rock are protected and respected as thousands of climbers pass by in Canyonlands Utah.
Everyone respects Native American rites so as to not lose their rights to access mountain biking and climbing.
In the USA, there are many private landowners, monuments, state parks and national parks that have restrictions on the type of climbing that can be done and elimination of gear left behind.
Gear that is placed can be removed or it can be coloured to match the colour and texture of the rock.
There may be issues with using chalk. Chalk is used by many climbers to dry their hands; this can be mitigated by using coloured chalk or by eliminating the use of chalk.
I also understand that while all the climbs are not closed at this point, trail access is either blocked to other climbs or walking descents are off limits. Trails could be marked or cabled in places to force climbers to the base of routes. And, while I abhor this practice, anchors could be placed for climbers to descend to the base of climbs instead of through restricted areas.
I believe that diversity and inclusion means not only that Indigenous people’s heritage and sacred rites should be recognised, but also that public land should be made available to a wide diversity of people that use them.
This certainly means climbers, but also local people who rely on the business those climbers bring to the area.
If you are protecting Indigenous sites and artefacts, do visitors to Victoria have the right to view this history like at Uluru-Ayers Rock? I believe the answer is yes, and any plan should answer and address these concerns for all.
Proposing to shut down climbing at Arapiles-Dyurrite is shutting down climbing, in a way, for Victoria.
Also, access to some of the prime cliffs in the Grampians is in jeopardy, so will people from interstate visit? I feel the nearby wineries and olive groves are connected to this central place.
I have read the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 and numerous accounts of actions taken since 2017. It seems that climbers have been blamed for not building trails and fixing erosion at Taipan Wall and that they haven’t mounted significant enough responses to the updated Parks Victoria regulations.
My experience worldwide is that climbers are excellent stewards of wild places and important heritage. No one has more to lose than them, except in this case where bushwalkers, local communities, educators and their students could lose more than they know.
It is time for the Victorian government and Aboriginal people’s entities to show their work. It is time to set a moratorium on closures so that climbers and the local communities of business people or bushwalkers can organise effectively.
Share the findings with the public so that everyone understands the scope of what is needed to consider. Otherwise, what is happening is smoke and mirrors and the public can only expect to live in fear of what might happen next.
I know because I live in a place like that now – it is called the United States of America.
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