Cableway and National Park to call in experts after rockfall in bus bay

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• By Table Mountain Cableway
• 7 June 2011

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway and Table Mountain National Park will call in experts to inspect the mountainside after three boulders landed in a bus parking bay near the lower station this morning (Tuesday, June 7, 2011).

The incident happened at 08h20 before the Cableway Company opened for business at 08h30. No one was harmed nor property damaged by the rockfall.

A visitor to the Cableway, Lizette Nel, witnessed the incident while sitting in her car on Tafelberg Road. She is holidaying in Cape Town from Pretoria and was hoping to catch a ride on the Cableway.

“We heard a rumbling sound and watched as three large rocks rolled from quite high up on the mountain. We could see the boulders as they hit the grassed area and bounced down toward the road one at a time,” said Ms Nel.

She said that the trees planted near the lower Cableway broke the path of the rolling rocks and slowed their fall before they hit the road where the tourist busses park.

According to Table Mountain Aerial Cableway CEO Sabine Lehmann, in the 82-year history of the Cableway there has never been a rockfall at the lower station.
“It is an act of God and not something we have had to deal with before,” said Ms Lehmann. “Luckily we were closed at the time of the incident and nobody was injured.”

She said she had immediately sent Cableway staff to check the area that the rocks had fallen from to ensure there was no immediate risk of further falls, and would be calling in experts to assess the risk. Table Mountain National Park and Cableway will sit together to determine what action needs to be taken.

“Our priority is to ensure the safety of our visitors and staff at the Cableway. We need to review the erosion at that point on the mountain and to look at ways to reduce all risk to visitors coming to the lower station.” 

For information, contact Table Mountain Cableway Marketing Manager Collette Van Aswegen on +27 (0)82 334 5120.