5 October 2009 Hartbeespoort Will Have A Brand New R113m Cableway Running By May Next Year A new Harties Cableway, expected to be a massive tourist attraction to the area, will be up and running by May next year. The cableway to be constructed by the same company which built and services the Table Mountain Cableway, the Swiss Company Garaventa Lift, will require an investment of R113 million and it will replace the old cable cars which have been out of commission for more than four years following an accident. Mr Jannes Nel, from Montana Pretoria but who grew up in Hartbeespoort, a director of the company which will own and operate the cableway told Harties Info that an added attraction will be a zip rider (21st Century foefie slide for the older generation) for those in need of an adrenalin fix. “The Swiss company who will construct and install the cable way told us that they regard the old cable cars as obsolete due to rust and deterioration and they would not even consider servicing them,” Mr Jannes Nel said. “The investment in the cableway as well as the hotel and spa immediately to the east of the cableway site, will be financed by international financiers,” he said. On top of the mountain, at the cableway station, the company intends fitting in a restaurant for fine dining with a magnificent view over Hartbeespoort Dam. “We will fit the restaurant into the existing building on top of the mountain without expanding the footprint of the existing building. Mr Mossie van Schoor, an architect and also a director of the Cableway company told Harties Info. “Our approach all along has been to design with the utmost sensitivity for the environment,” he said. To this end the pillars carrying the cables will be completely camouflaged as they are on Table Mountain. Following this conversation, driving in the area of the old cableway, we did notice that the old fashioned poles and cables were rather obtrusive. The cars will rotate as they do on Table Mountain “The system, just as in Cape Town, will consist of two cable cars with a capacity of about 15 passengers each,” Jannes Nel said, “and as in the case of the Table Mountain Cableway the cars will rotate all the time so that passengers can have a panoramic view of the mountain and dam scenery by the time they reach the top or bottom.” Again as at Table Mountain the cars are equipped with weight sensors to stop them from rotating when they carry just a few passengers who can move around and have panoramic views anyway. In their feasibility study Messrs Nel and Van Schoor estimated on the basis of 500 000 passengers a year and they expect their initial fares to be R100 for adults (compared to R160 currently for the Table Mountain Cableway), R60 for the adventurous who go up the mountain for the zip ride and R50 for children. If those passenger figures can be achieved it would mean a tremendous inflow of spending power into the area as a whole. Jannes Nel also said that they will not transport hang gliders who used the old cable cars in order to glide on the other side of the mountain. The cable cars can travel at varying speeds and it will take about four to six minutes up or down. The zip riders will be capable of a top speed of 85kph, and for safety, riders are strapped into a harness. Those who really want to feel the thrill of the zip will be able to lie down in the harness face down and head first. The restaurant on top of the mountain will boast a five star chef, according to Jannes Nel, and it will be relatively exclusive with the best view in the world, and hopefully, food to match. The adventure of a special dining experience on top of the mountain will start with the excitement of a night cableway ride with the Dam and the lights of Hartbeespoort at your feet.