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Sunday, January 03, 2021
Despite the warnings and requests
Hikers Create Frustration and “Mayhem to the Power of Three”
Appeals are futile, bans and threats of punishment don’t help either: in many regions, winter sports enthusiasts, hikers and walkers wreak havoc and leave the authorities perplexed. In Sauerland, the police cordoned off the access roads without further ado.
Despite the lockdown, numerous warnings, and the entire risk of infection, a large number of hikers made their way to the snowy mountainous regions over the weekend. In many places, parking lots were already packed in the morning, there were long traffic jams, and cars kept breaking down. “We have a chaos to three, everything collapses,” said a spokesman for the Goslar police station. The masses frolicked on the toboggan mountains as the Hexenritt descent into the Wurmberg, and the hikers ran together along the hiking trails.
And against all warnings and reports, several people headed back to the Harz Mountains on Sunday, to Winterberg in the snow-covered Sauerland and to the Großer Feldberg in Hesse. Police and regulatory authorities wrote complaints about numerous violations of crown measures, such as mask requirements and contact restrictions. In Sauerland, the police cordoned off important access roads to Winterberg. Virtually no one is going in now, a city spokeswoman said. “We were still forbidden to enter last night, but people came back here anyway.”
Thousands of people were also looking for a change in the Bavarian Alps. “The rush is huge,” said Schliersee Mayor Franz Schnitzenbaumer. Hundreds of slides wound through small hills and the ski slopes were crowded with tourists. There are three million people living in the greater Munich area, none of whom are allowed to go on vacation, that can now be felt. “It’s as crowded as if you were going skiing,” said Alpenbahnen Spitzingsee managing director Peter Lorenz. The parking spaces are full. Many used the frozen lake for cross-country skiing or ice skating.
Parking spaces in the Harz Mountains were already full again on Sunday morning. “At this time there is a heavy snowfall, perhaps that will slow down one or another visitor,” said a police spokesman in the morning, hoping that the situation would not degenerate as much during the day as the day before.
“Who wants that?”
Despite the corona pandemic, there had already been a rush to excursion destinations in Germany’s snow-capped mountainous regions in recent days, although authorities and police have repeatedly advised this against. The ski lifts and slopes, as well as the restaurants and cabins are closed until at least January 10.
The operators of the winter sports field and the ski lift carousel in Winterberg point out on their website that there are therefore no toilets or warm-up opportunities for hikers, and that there are no rescuers on site. “We love our mountains,” they say. “But in these times we have to let this love rest, because the onslaught leads to traffic jams and crowds. Clogged streets, lack of parking spaces and many potential contacts. Who wants that?”
