Off the Beaten Track .....and far from the madding crowd: Climbing Table Mountain

A view of Table Mountain from the Lower Cable Car Station.
This is the start of the climb.

Table Mountain is an iconic landmark towering in grandeur above Cape Town, the southernmost tip of South Africa, exudes a powerful but inviting presence. Its slopes have wildlife, an exquisite range of flora and the homes of the rich and famous. Even today, despite human habitation creeping up its slopes, it is an imposing sight, particularly from the suburbs of Cape Town. Huge blocks of stone, almost artificially cuboid, make up the steep cliffs crowning the summit. Presiding majestically over the city of Cape Town, adventurers will feel compelled to conquer the giant by walking to its summit. Take the cable car back to the bottom if your legs are too tired to descend on foot, which is what I did.

After a short while looking down at the
lower cable car station.

The view of Table Mountain is an ever changing kaleidoscope of vistas, sometimes clear and stark standing against a bright blue sky, a sentinel over the city; at other times a delicate table, draped in the lace of white clouds and then rapidly become a raging dark monster with whistling icy winds and cold rain. These changes happen rapidly, sometimes in less than an hour, therefore when climbing Table Mountain it is important to be prepared, a bright sunny start to a pleasant climb can very rapidly degenerate into a battle against torrential rain and bitter cold.

I was in Cape Town in September and became impatient with the long wait (over two hours) to board the cable car to the top, therefore decided to climb to the top. There are over twenty routes to ascend the mountain on foot, ranging from the difficult technical rock climbing routes to more prepared paths. Whichever way you go, signs along the way caution that ‘more people die each year climbing Table Mountain than on Mount Everest!’ Factually right or wrong, it is a stark reality check. I took the popular Platteklip Gorge (flat rock in Afrikaans) route which starts at the lower cable car station, arguably one of the more difficult routes.

The cliff face, huge blocks of stone with a few stunted trees

Difficult or easy is a matter of perspective, it is a climb of about 680 metres over approximately three kilometres. I found it fairly arduous, doing it over about three hours, though I am told some of the fitter youngsters do it in about two to two and a half hours. The perfidious weather was apparent in the rapid temperature drop from a balmy 22 degrees Celsius when I started, to a bone chilling 10 degree wind at the top. The sun was very sharp as it was bright and sunny when I started but I soon found a marked difference in temperature between the sunny and shady parts of the walk, enough to often don a warm jacket.

A view of Lions Head Peak

The Platteklip route starts as a steep half hour climb from the lower cable car station, then it levels out at the base of the cliff, from where it follows the contour of the mountain for another half an hour till it meets a path going up. The initial ascent provides a great warm-up for the arduous climb to come. In this stage of the climb, cable car passengers going up the mountain often look down on hikers with admiration and wave encouragingly through the windows as they enjoy their own effortless journey upwards, they will do in five minutes what I would take three hours to do. The entire route is clearly signposted. The path along the second climb is a series of steep of rough-hewn stone block steps and rough sections of walkway, continuously climbing to the top through the Platteklip Gorge. The path is flanked with a never ending riot of colour in the bushes, plants and flowers along the way, the wind and rock however stunts the trees growing here. There are three streams along this route, all easy to cross, but each creating a tiny and very pretty eco-system around itself. Different points along the path show different vistas, each very spectacular, initially there are broad panoramas of Lion’s Head, Cape Town CBD and suburbs as also the entire harbour; however as I enter the Gorge the view narrows and I can only see the blue waters of the bay.

...the Trail

Being a bright sunny day, there were many people, hundreds possibly, climbing this route, young, old, well equipped or ill prepared, families, school groups, tourists; everyone’s there.

A very narrow crevice (less than three metres) at the top suddenly opens to reveal that I have reached the top of the mountain, further indicated by a metal tablet set in stone that gives the geography of the Table.

Finally, the last few steps before one reaches the.......

From here one can take many trails to various places on the mountain including its highest point. There is also a restaurant, cafe and souvenir shop near the upper cable car station where you can buy cable car tickets for the journey down. As I was running out of time and that I wanted to avoid the rush of people for the last few car trips down, I decided to meander my way to the restaurant, grab a bite and then take the cable car down. The walk was through a palette of colourful flora and ancient boulders, well sign posted, with rails and handholds at difficult patches.

The cable car itself is interesting, it is huge, taking about 65 people, and has a rotating floor so that everyone gets a view in every direction in the journey up or down (about four to five minutes). Be aware that the car closes when the weather turns bad, and this could happen when you are on top, thus always be prepared to walk down if necessary. For anyone going up to Table Mountain either on foot or by cable car I would recommend wearing good walking footwear, carrying a waterproof jacket, a warm top, a litre of water, sunscreen and dark glasses. It is best to be prepared.

Climb - relentlessly climb, the only way to describe the path in Platteklip Gorge. It’s the most direct route to the top of the mountain and the most popular. However, it is not a route to be trifled with; the going can be tough (but that’s when the tough get going) and the rewards at the top tremendous.