Table Mountain Cableway recently celebrated its 28 millionth visitors and what made the occasion even more memorable was that it was International Cable Car Day. A milestone that took the attraction less than a year to add the latest million.
As she neared the front of the queue at the Lower Station Ticket Office an unsuspecting Mildrid Garett from Cape Town, South Africa had a celebratory surprise waiting for her as Cableway staff members waited to greet her and hand over a gift including Cableway tickets, and an official 28 millionth visitor certificate and sash, as well as a variety of Cableway merchandise and Table Mountain Café treats.
All I can say is wow,” said an excited Mildred, who was accompanied by her sister Elizabeth Titus. “It’s my birthday today and I thought it was a good time to take my first trip up the mountain. What a wonderful surprise this has been, I look forward to telling my friends and family about it.”
“This was extremely unexpected, it feels a bit like a dream,” added Elizabeth.
The Cableway’s Managing Director Wahida Parker said, “The rate at which the latest million was achieved was as a result of a consistently high visitor numbers throughout 2018, and a successful peak season.”
“As we move towards the Cableway’s 90th birthday in October, we are proud to welcome our 28 millionth visitor to the summit of our beautiful New 7 Wonder of Nature,” said Parker. “As custodians of Table Mountain we want to inspire local travel and encourage all visitors, especially locals looking to visit the mountain for the first time, to allow themselves to be captivated and mesmerized by this city and its attractions.”
Here are some fun facts:
Each of the cable car’s cables is 1,200 metres in length and weighs 18 tons.
The two cable cars, which can each carry up to 5,200 kg, counterbalance each other and cannot operate independently. As one goes up, the other must come down.
The journey to the summit takes visitors 704 metres up from the Lower Cable Station at 363 metres above sea level to the Upper Cable Station at 1,067 metres above sea level.
The cable cars travel at a maximum speed of 10 metres per second
The original steel and wood cable cars have been upgraded three times, first in 1958, again in 1974 and most recently in 1997 when the round cars with revolving floors called “rotairs” were introduced.
Similar Rotair cable cars are found in Titlis, Switzerland and Palm Springs, USA
The cable car base is a water tank with a 3,000-litre capacity. This provides fresh drinking water for visitors, and is used as ballast in windy conditions.
The cable cars have carried many famous visitors up the mountain including Jude Law, Oprah Winfrey, Dynamo, Milia Jovovich, T.I, William Shatner, Rodriguez, Kelly Rowland ,Brooke Shields, Forrest Whitaker, Sting and more.
Locals looking to create their own sky-high summertime memories and enjoy the season’s long balmy evenings have until Thursday 28 February to take advantage of the Cableway’s Sunset Special. Valid from 6pm daily, return tickets cost R145 for adults and R72.50 for children under 18 years of age. Don’t forget your SA ID or ID number and the SA ID numbers of the people that you are buying tickets for.
The Cableway operates weather permitting. For more information visit our homepage, call +27(0)214248181 or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.