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It's cold, there is a lot of snow in the Sauerland - the best conditions for skiers and day tourists who want to forget about Corona, home office and shutdown for a few hours.
But the popular winter sports resort Winterberg is closing, the rush of visitors at the weekend was simply too big.
The blockage also affects local businesses in particular.
Danny Meurs / restaurateur
“
We handle it like we have all year.
We have planned a lot of things over and over again throughout the year, we try to make the best of every situation every day.
And we're so used to it that it changes every time.
We've already bought and invested things so often this year, and then it was unnecessary.
So we definitely don't stay seated, we'll make the best of it.
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The authorities in the Sauerland, Eifel and Harz have been asking for days not to travel to the snowy regions.
The police and fire brigade couldn't keep up with traffic jams and crowds and now they took the consequences.
Bitter for gastronomy and the hotel industry.
Danny Meurs / restaurateur
“
Of course I hope that the numbers go down, that people really stick to the measures, that the numbers go down and that we can take a little bit of winter with us and that this year we can concentrate primarily on rebuilding everything.
The whole gastronomy is a bit on the ground, the water is a bit here.
And it would be just nice if you don't have to swim all the time to stay afloat and that you just let the water settle a little and we can go back up
.
It remains to be seen whether the ski season can still be saved.
This year, that doesn't depend on how the snow conditions are, but on how quickly the corona pandemic can be got under control.
