As a senior custodian of Uluru, Anangu man Sammy Wilson was instrumental in the fight to close the Uluru climb.

Key points: Sammy Wilson says when the climb closed he felt both happiness and grief

Sammy Wilson says when the climb closed he felt both happiness and grief He hopes the climb closure will open up new opportunities for visitors

He hopes the climb closure will open up new opportunities for visitors Managers of the park are preparing to remove the chain once used for the climb

He was the chair of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board when in 2017 its members unanimously decided to close the walking track.

After the "permanent closure" sign went up at the base of the climb on Friday, Mr Wilson was at his remote outstation 50 kilometres from Uluru and said he felt a combination of both happiness and grief.

"Obviously, we are all really happy, and it is great to see so many visitors come from Australia and internationally to appreciate the place," he said.

"But I must say, there is a sadness inside me too. Because the closure is really honouring the old people and so many of them have passed away now.

"Those memories of those great men and women, Anangu from the old days, there is a sadness when I think about them but we are all really happy with what we've managed to achieve."

'So much Tjukurpa, traditional lore and stories'

Traditional owner Sammy Wilson says there are many beautiful places in central Australia tourists are yet to see. ( ABC News: Oliver Gordon )

Looking out over the landscape from Mr Wilson's outstation, Uluru is a clear landmark on the horizon.

But with the climbing ban in effect, Mr Wilson said he hoped visitors could be exposed to what else his country had to offer, bringing benefits for tourists and Anangu alike.

"What I see here is really an opportunity, with the climb closing today. It is done. It is finished. But what I'm looking at around me is beautiful country, great country, that we want to take people into," he said.

"You know Uluru and Kata Tjuta, but it is surrounded by homelands, beautiful places that families and traditional owners of Uluru and Kata Tjuta have. They'd love to take people there, it is just very beautiful country.

"These places you see are surrounded by so many great homelands and so much Tjukurpa: traditional lore and stories, in the surrounding country too."

Climb closure an important step in 'long fight'

A number of traditional owners gathered for a press conference the day after the closure, saying they were happy it had come into effect. ( ABC News: Samantha Jonscher )

Traditional owners wanted the climb closed because of Uluru's cultural significance and concerns about safety and the environment.

As the permanent ban came into effect this weekend, other traditional owners spoke at the base of Uluru on what the end of the climb meant for them.

Tjulapai Carroll said she thought it was important for everyone to understand the significance of Uluru to Anangu culture.

"The culture since the very beginning has been here, it is right here in places like the rock, it holds the culture," she said.

"If you come here and you look and learn, then you will start to understand."

Traditional owner Reggie Uluru said closing the climb was part of a much bigger fight. ( ABC News: Samantha Jonscher )

Reggie Uluru said 34 years after Uluru was handed back to traditional owners, the closure of the climb was another important step for land rights.

"We are all very happy, as traditional owners that the climb is closed now, after a long fight from handback to today," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Mr Uluru said he was also relieved that visitors would no longer climb the rock.

"Too dangerous, you can slip and fall and kill yourself," Mr Uluru said.

"So that's part of that pressure off us, we don't have to worry about people harming themselves or worse, so of course we are very happy that it's all finished now."

Climb chain to be dismantled

The trail up Uluru is now empty and the chain once used for climbing will soon be removed. ( ABC News: Michael Franchi )

Now that the climb is closed, the manager of the Uluru-Kata National Park, Mike Misso, said work would begin next week to remove the chain people have used to climb Uluru and that job could take up to a month.

"Once the chain is removed you can pretty much say the job of closing Uluru has been completed," Mr Misso said.

He said the contractor doing the work would be required to restore the surface of Uluru to its natural state as much as possible.

He said that included restoring the colour of the trail, which had turned a light grey.

Mr Misso said it may take up to 10 years for the surface to return to its natural red hue, but it would take far longer for the texture to be remediated.

"Because it has worn so smooth, that process could be in the order of hundreds, maybe thousands of years for that surface to maybe go back to the condition of Uluru," Mr Misso said.