A dozen-or-so years ago, an electrical engineering graduate from UCT was sitting in the UK, working in IT, when he had a light bulb moment.
When not behind his desk in London in the early 2000s, Kevin Vermaak was a passionate mountain biker, taking part in events across the world, including two mountain bike crossings of the Himalayas.
He conceived the Absa Cape Epic while taking part in the La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica in November 2002. By February the next year he was back in South Africa, after eight years in London, to turn his idea into reality.
The result?
“The Tour de France of mountain biking,” in the words of Olympic gold medallist Bart Brentjens – the Absa Cape Epic, the most-televised mountain bike race in history, and an event worth R300 million to the Cape and South African economy annually.
Even more significantly, Vermaak’s brainwave has helped spark a monster boom in the mountain biking industry – with the sport growing massively over the past 12 years. At the time of the Epic launch, mountain biking was a fringe sport, with few organised events – now there are more than 60 stage races in South Africa every year.
But despite the staggering success of the “Epic”, the 44-year-old Capetonian is at it again – this time spreading his innovative wings far north of his African homeland.
And instead of the “untamed African MTB” terrain, which his Absa Cape Epic conquers over eight days and around 700km through the Western Cape’s rugged countryside every year, he’s out to tame the freezing European winter.
His winter equivalent is under starter’s orders for early January in the heart of the Swiss Alps.
The idea began when Vermaak and some of his Absa Cape Epic team members managed to “cool down” for a week on the snow-covered slopes of Engelberg, Switzerland – not on skis, on “fat bikes”.
“Fat biking originated in the US, where the bikes with the super-sized tyres were first used to negotiate the snowfields of Alaska as well as the sandy deserts of New Mexico. Now it is the fastest-growing segment of the US cycling market, and is taking the rest of the world by storm,” said Vermaak.
“The handling is also different to a normal mountain bike on dirt, but they are ideal on soft powder because of their long wheelbase.”
His group got their timing right, arriving for the Easter weekend and a huge dump of snow at Engelberg.
“It was an incredible experience. We did get in a day’s skiing, but most of our time was spent on the bikes. There are a lot of steep slopes around Engelberg, and we had some tough climbs, but the downhills are exhilarating,” said Vermaak.
The Snow Epic is Europe’s first winter festival of biking, and riders will compete in five races over three days, taking in the groomed trails and slopes normally reserved for skiers.
The inaugural event will be held from January 14 to 18, and riding conditions will vary according to the weather and snow quality.
Elite cyclists will typically finish each stage in two to three hours and back markers in under five hours, said Vermaak’s team.
Each stage starts at the race hotel in Engelberg. Day 1 will be an out-and-back loop in the Engelberg valley, day 2 a hill climb followed by a timed descent on ski-runs, and day 3 a series of lap races on a cross-country course in the premier Titlest ski area of Engelberg.