Editing Ball's Pyramid (section)

===Survey and exploration===
[[File:Balls Pyramid, South Pacific Denham 1853 Nla.obj-231291098.jpg|thumb|upright|Denham's 1853 chart of Ball's Pyramid]]
In May 1853, [[Henry Mangles Denham]] with {{HMS|Herald|1824|6}} and {{HMS|Torch|1845|6}} surveyed the area around [[Lord Howe Island]] including Ball's Pyramid, producing the first chart of the pyramid.<ref>{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Andrew |title=The Voyage of HMS Herald |date=1995 |publisher=Melbourne University Press |isbn=0-522-84390--5 |pages=29–30}}</ref>

The first recorded person to go ashore is believed to have been Henry Wilkinson, a [[geologist]] at the New South Wales Department of Mines, in 1882.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=Story of the first successful ascent of Ball's Pyramid in the Pacific Ocean |url=https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/story-of-the-first-successful-ascent-of-balls-pyramid-in-the-pacific-ocean |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=The Archaeologist |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1964, a team from Sydney attempted to climb to the summit of the pyramid. However, the climbers were forced to turn back on the fifth day as they ran short of food and water. The expedition was the idea of Australian adventurer [[Dick Smith (entrepreneur)|Dick Smith]], who was a member of Rover Scouts at the time. The expedition also involved other members of the [[Scouts Australia|Scouting]] movement and other people. Smith went on the expedition, but did not attempt the climb due to an unexpected medical operation two weeks before the expedition.

Ball's Pyramid was first climbed on 14 February 1965 by Bryden Allen, [[John Davis (filmmaker)|John Davis]], [[Jack Pettigrew]] and David Witham of the Sydney Rock Climbing Club. Jack Hill of New Zealand then climbed to the summit with Pettigrew on the following day. Don Willcox and Ben Sandilands were part of the support team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106061931/https://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/Bryden.html|title=Archived version of Bryden Allen's climbing page|website=Wayback Machine}}</ref>

In 1979, Smith returned to the pyramid, together with climbers John Worrall and Hugh Ward. They successfully reached the summit and unfurled a [[flag of New South Wales]] provided to them by [[Premier of New South Wales|Premier]] [[Neville Wran]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Shirley |date=2022-06-09 |title=World's largest volcanic sea stack is a geological wonder to behold |url=https://www.sunshinecoastnews.com.au/2022/06/10/adventure-island-little-known-wonder-you-have-to-see-to-believe/ |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=Sunshine Coast News |language=en-AU}}</ref>

Climbing was banned in 1982 under amendments to the Lord Howe Island Act, and in 1986, all access to the island was banned by the Lord Howe Island Board. In 1990, the policy was relaxed to allow some climbing under strict conditions, which in recent years has required an application to the relevant state minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19960501045|title=Mr Andrew Fraser (Coffs Harbour)|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095404/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19960501045|archivedate=2007-09-29|work=[[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]]|date=1 May 1996}}</ref>