It can turn out to be a very slippery slope.
German police have their hands full trying to keep ski enthusiasts off the slopes of a popular winter spot that, according to reports, should be closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Authorities said thousands of day-trippers have flocked to the Winterberg resort near Dusseldorf in recent days, despite attempts by police to close access roads to keep them out, The Telegraph said in a report.
“Yesterday there were repeated violations of the coronavirus restrictions and the obligation to wear face masks,” police spokesman Sebastian Held told the outlet.
“This has resulted in the city banning people from accessing some ski slopes,” he said.
Yet despite 176 violations issued for not wearing masks, 94 violations of social distance restrictions and two criminal charges in recent days, police seem unable to stop the avalanche of visitors to the slopes.
Images posted by Reuters shows the futility of the police as they try to chase dozens of people off the trails of Winterberg – including families with children.
Scenes from the small village show a traffic jam of vehicles clogging local roads.
“Unfortunately today we saw again that the announced ban on access to the ski slopes did not prevent too many people from coming here,” Held told the news service.
“That’s why we had to close the access roads here, in consultation with the municipality,” said Held. “This means that we have consistently closed the main access routes to Winterberg to prevent the ski slopes from filling up again.”
However, Winterberg’s trails consist of thousands of square miles of slopes, he noted.
With pole wires