It could turn out to be a really slippery slope.
German police have their hands full trying to keep ski lovers off the slopes of a popular winter spot that is supposed to be closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to reports.
Authorities said thousands of hikers had flocked to Winterberg station near Duesseldorf in recent days, despite police attempts to close access routes to keep them out, The Telegraph reported in a report.
“Violations of coronavirus restrictions and the requirement to wear masks were repeated yesterday,” police spokesman Sebastian Held said at the exit.
“This has led the city to ban people from entering some of the ski slopes,” he said.
But despite the 176 infractions dictated for not wearing masks, 94 violations of social distance restrictions and two criminal charges in recent days, it appears the police cannot stop the avalanche of visitors to the tracks.
Images published by Reuters shows the futility of police officers as they try to flee dozens of people from the Winterberg tracks, including families with children.
Scenes from the small village show a traffic jam that clogs local roads.
“Unfortunately we have seen again today that the announced ban on access to the ski slopes does not prevent too many people from coming there,” Held told the news service.
“That’s why we had to close the access roads here in consultation with the city,” Held said. “This means that we have constantly closed the main access roads leading to Winterberg to prevent the ski slopes from being completed again.”
The Winterberg Roads, however, are made up of thousands of square miles of slopes, he noted.
With publishing cables