If you ask most riders, they will tell you that that a key component of their experience and perhaps the main reason they visit certain venues and destinations is the trail. There is often a significant amount of focus on bikes in the media, but a great bike is made that much better by a great trail.
Paid partnership with Sappi
Off the back of two successful years of the Karkloof Adventure Tourism incubator, the Sappi Trails Programme (STP), Karkloof Country Club and KZN Cycling implemented another round of the programme between Nov 2023 and May 2024. This time around the programme included not just a basic training component and internship but an advanced trail building and apprenticeship component too.
The advanced programme catered for four individuals who had already done the basic trail-building course and was piloted on the Karkloof trails. It focussed on aspects of trail building and maintenance that require a higher degree of skill and expertise to master. These included building trail features such as bridges, ramps, berms and armoured sections of trail. The Trail Building Manual which was put together for use on the Sappi Trails Programme (based on the International Mountain Bicycling Association – IMBA Guidelines) was used for both theoretical and practical training on the programme.
The objectives of the advanced programme were as follows:
- Improved skills and increased security of employment for trainees.
- Providing trainees with the ability to build trails taking into consideration environmental impacts and other factors which are important when it comes to sustainability.
- An improved Karkloof trails network, which will lead to increased visitors and economic impact in the area. This will ultimately boost the shared value created through the Sappi Trails Programme.
The Karkloof Club and Sappi Trails Programme agreed on key projects to be undertaken as part of the practical experience component of the programme. These included building the Karkloof downhill track, which was used in provincial and national level competitions (see intro image from KZN Gravity at SA Downhill Cup event), resurrecting some of the old Howick trails, rejuvenating the Outback trails and upgrading the overall Karkloof trail network. The trainees all have full time employment in the Nguni Trails team, which helps build and maintain the 250km of single-track in the area.
Keira Duncan, who was 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 worked with the four uMgungundlovu trainees during their apprenticeships.
