Snow Mobile

The Volkswagen bakkie’s almost ten years old, and to mark the occasion, the Germans have released a new model: the Canyon in Honey Orange metallic. Reason enough for GQ to take it for a spin

- DIETER LOSSKARN

TO MY LEFT IS A SHEER DROP, ACCENTUATED BY SEVERAL HUNDRED METRES OF PROTRUDING ROCKS. I’ve managed to tackle a steep, sheer stone face, which wasn’t easy given my tyres are muddy. Now the track, only slightly broader than the Amarok I’m driving, winds up toward the blue sky. I reach the snow line, the flanks of the mountains blanketed in white. I’ll only enjoy it at its fullest when I get to the top.

You’d think I was in the Austrian Alps or the Canadian Rockies; but I’m about two-and-a-half hours northeast of Cape Town, just outside Ceres, in the private Matroosberg Nature Reserve. The challenging 4x4 trail to the top, 2 240m above sea level, is open year-round, but in June and July, after heavy rains combined with low temperatures, the landscape transforms into a snowy winter wonderland.