Building safe and enjoyable mountain bike trails takes a degree of expertise and experience. This combination allows trail builders to create designs that meet the needs of the rider, are environmentally friendly and that fit within the forestry environment. Following the success of the Karkloof Adventure Tourism Incubator, out of which the Nguni Trails team which now builds and maintains the Karkloof trails was born, The Sappi Trails Programme (STP), Karkloof Country Club and KZN Cycling successfully conceptualised and implemented the pilot phase of The Trail Building Apprenticeship Programme.
Paid partnership with Sappi
The training component of the pilot phase was held from the 1-3 November in Howick and Karkloof, with 10 trainees attending. Four were from the uMgungundlovu district and the rest were from other districts around KwaZulu-Natal.
The focus was on providing the basics of trail building during the course which consisted of two days of lectures at Dunning Country House in the Howick area of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and one day of practical teaching on the Karkloof trails. The trainees have also all been offered a one-month internship at Sappi and other trail venues to learn from experienced designers, builders and maintainers. At Karkloof, the Nguni Trails team will pass on what they have learnt to the apprentices who will work with them over the next few months.
KZN Cycling kindly arranged accommodation at the lovely Dunning Country House just outside Howick where the 10 delegates were very well looked after. Sappi printed a comprehensive Trail Building Manual for each of the trainees and, through the STP, assisted with the coordination of the course and placement of the four uMgungundlovu trainees at the Karkloof Country Club, which is a flagship partner.
Keira Duncan, who is the Trail Manager at Karkloof Country Club and who has over 10 years of experience building and maintaining mountain bike trails, did the training and will be working with the four uMgungundlovu trainees during their apprenticeships.
Thami Kunene, one of the uMgungundlovu trainees posted the following on his Facebook page: “Appreciation post to KZN Cycling Development Trust , Sappi and Karkloof Country Club. On the 1-3 November we did a trail building course at Dunning Country House learning from our SA Enduro Champ Keira Duncan. I have been allocated to do internship at Karkloof Country Club. A big thanks to all involved on the programme with job creation and life skills.”
Paid partnership with Sappi
