[PICS & VIDEO] Snow place like home: Hikers capture kwaai winter wonderland on Paarl mountain range
Rihaart Syms was chasing the snow on the Matroosberg Reserve. Picture: Facebook
The Cape is currently gripped in the coldest weather in decades, but the cold also brought with it a winter wonderland.
As temperatures plummeted to a chilly 6°C at night, snow started to fall over the high-lying areas of the Western Cape on Saturday.
The Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve in Paarl confirmed on social media that they experienced cold and wet weather with snow falling early on Saturday on the mountains, as well as power outages in the district.
One of the first mense to make his way up the snowy peaks was Rihaart Syms, an avid hiker from Colorado in Mitchells Plain, whose stunning photos have gone viral.
Rihaart and his friends made the trek to the Matroosberg on Sunday in search of winter wonders and took mooi photos of their expedition.
“We all woke up at about 3.30am and I left my house at 4.15am. We got there and it was raining a bit but once we were inside the nature reserve, it started snowing and everything was just white there,” an excited Rihaart recalls.
“We made our way up to the Ski Hut via the 4x2 trail and the reason for going that way is you get nice scenery and waterfalls there.
“What was so exciting this time – I‘ve been going every year for the last eight years – and this year is the only time I got a lot of snow, knee deep. The paths were also closed due to the snow as well and we had to reopen the paths, it was just exciting.”
Sadly, by Monday, the snow started melting due to sunny conditions and the reserve stated that hiking to the first snow would now take more than two hours.
“We will keep you posted as conditions change, but for now there is no new snow forecast for the next week,” Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve posted on Facebook.
The South African Weather Service reported that snowfall was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and over the Eastern Cape on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Cape Town will continue to experience icy cold nights and warmer, sunny days for the next few days, with no rain forecast.