DOORN, The Netherlands (AP) – A deep winter frost surrounding the Netherlands is once again arousing the national obsession with skating on icy canals.
With temperatures below sub-zero forecast to last more than a week, ice fever swept the nation on Tuesday, offering a welcome respite from the sad news about coronavirus, while creating a challenge for authorities trying to keep the rules of social distancing.
People from all over the country scoured the attic and dusted skates that had not been used for a long time, while companies that sharpened the skate blades reported periods of growth.
Ice skating is a national winter passion in the Netherlands, with elite athletes dressed in spandex dominating the winter Olympic speed skating races of recent years. Fans of all ages look forward to the conditions in the Arctic that allow them access to the country’s extensive network of canals and waterways.
But with the country in a tight coronavirus blockade, the prospect of a long-distance skating race in the northern province of Friesland for the first time since 1997 remains, at best, remote.
The association that organizes the tour of the 11 cities on frozen canals and lakes said in January that “according to current coronavirus measurements, it is not possible to organize” the next legendary event. Since then, authorities have not relaxed measures beyond allowing elementary students to return to classrooms this week.
The president of the association poured more cold water on people’s hopes on Tuesday, and pointed out exactly what the production that the race normally does consists of.
“We’re talking about a tour with 1-1.5 million viewers, 25,000 participants, thousands of volunteers and half of the Netherlands on the road,” Wiebe Wieling told national broadcaster NOS. “Anyone who thinks right will realize that such a thing is not possible” in the midst of the pandemic.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte intervened in the debate Monday night and said skating authorities could consider allowing natural ice racing if the country’s top 120 runners get into a coronavirus bubble. But he also said holding an event with a large number of spectators was out of the question, even if it was outdoors.
Still, Rutte said the Dutch should take advantage of the conditions as long as they last.
“Enjoy this beautiful weather and the ice,” Rutte said. “But do it within COVID-19 standards.”
Dutch media reported that some resilient souls risked skating on thin ice in parts of the Netherlands on Tuesday, but for now temporary ice rinks were the safest place to fit their skates.
Local schoolchildren visited the Doorn Skating Club, 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Amsterdam, which created its water-splashing track on an outdoor inline skating rink and built a uniform surface of ice dragging a Persian rug around it.
The canals are expected to freeze enough during the week for people to skate. Amsterdam authorities have closed locks and banned boats in parts of the city’s World Heritage-listed canal ring to give them more chances to freeze.
The municipality, however, also warned skaters to adhere to social distancing and other coronavirus restrictions.
“Coronavirus rules for public places also apply to ice,” City Hall said.
Not only ice skating enthusiasts were preparing for the great cold.
A zoo in the center of the Netherlands moved 15 penguins in and out of the cold on Tuesday. Unlike their Antarctic cousins, black-footed penguins come from South Africa and Namibia and are not used to these icy conditions, the Burgers Zoo said.
Freezing conditions also created natural ice sculptures in a marina in the village of Monnikendam, just north of Amsterdam on Lake Markermeer, with boats moored there surrounded by ice eddies.
Lines of wind-blown frosts hung from the railings and ropes of the ships, and the ice covered a set of swings and children’s trees near the edge of the icy waters of the snow.
“We live in the most beautiful painting of the 17th century,” Rutte said.
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Corder reported from The Hague, the Netherlands.