In the end, a group of 15 men who had held out all day on the summit of Uluru competed in a weird "slow-off" to grab the title of the last climber on the rock.

None of them achieved it.

Tourists take photos during sunrise over Uluru on Saturday, the first morning after the climb was permanently closed. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Two specially-trained park rangers followed the group down through a gathering dusk to ensure that no one was left behind, and that every one of the hundreds who had ascended the great Central Australian monolith during the day was delivered back to the desert floor safely.

Rangers Ben Campbell and Lachlan Keeley, thus, should be given the title of the final climbers on the day the controversial Uluru climb was permanently closed.