MTB

Back to the Mountain

By Absa Cape Epic

The Absa Cape Epic returns to the slopes of Table Mountain on March 13 next year when the world’s leading mountain bike stage race stages its prologue from the University of Cape Town.
 
The 21km route takes riders across the face of the mountain and up to Tafelberg Road, including some of its steepest sections of dual track. Then it is across back towards the King’s Blockhouse and down some thrilling singletrack on to Plum Pudding Hill. A few kilometres later and they will swing back on to the fields of UCT after having snaked through a singletrack section south of the university.

Much of the route to be ridden by the Epic’s 1 200 riders is open to mountain bikers throughout the year thanks to the management of South African National Parks (SANParks), which has administered the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) since it was proclaimed in1998.
 

Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

Before then the area of the Cape Peninsula which is now the TMNP was managed by 12 different authorities. Each of these authorities managed their section at a financial loss, placing a burden on taxpayers and local ratepayers. Conservation management was a low priority.

The local, national and international conservation community was meanwhile demanding that the mountain chain be managed properly.
 
SANParks inherited the Peninsula mountain chain in various states of neglect, with many eroded footpaths and uncontrolled invasive aliens. There was little or no accountability for fire and a range of user groups all with their own unique demands.
 

Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

Some of the costs now covered by SANParks include essential alien vegetation clearing of about R25 million a year, firefighting at R8m, the infrastructure programme at R30m, safety and security at almost R10m. During the past financial year, total conservation expenses reached R100m. Since 1998, SANParks has invested close to a billion rand in the park.
 
Alien eradication, cultural heritage management and fire competence are legal requirements and not optional expenses.
 

Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

In order to make TMNP sustainable, SANParks has developed a model designed to ensure financial sustainability while still meeting all conservation and other mandates.
 
Besides the two million users of free access areas another two million enter through pay points. About 180 000 bring dogs for walks, 150 000 use the mountain for biking and several thousand others ride horses, hang glide or paraglide.
 
There are also hundreds of thousands of hikers and an ever growing number of trail runners.
 
These activities add considerable costs to SANParks’s maintenance of footpaths, boardwalks and gateways.
 

Photo courtesy of Absa Cape Epic

The Table Mountain National Park has achieved a positive financial status only in the last three years but the cumulative expense run up over 14 years before that has still not been overcome.
 
“However, we believe that as custodians of TMNP we have done a tremendous job of managing this local, national and international asset on behalf of all citizens,” said SANParks in a statement. “In our opinion, conservation is in a better state than it’s been in 100 years; several cultural heritage assets have been upgraded; fire management competence safeguards the citizens against wildfires; and financial sustainability saves the taxpayer from carrying this responsibility.”

 
* The 2016 Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race takes place from 13 to 20 March and the much anticipated route can be viewed here (hyperlink it).  The 2016 race will host the 100th stage in the history of the event – the EPIC100 –  on Tuesday 15 March.