Lifts and slopes remain deserted in the rhon
Matthias adrian, operator of the arnsberg lifts, sounds (still) optimistic: "we’ll start operations as soon as the government allows us to open." This time – it will not be before the 20. December. At least until then, the ski lifts and downhill slopes at arns- and kreuzberg will remain closed due to corona conditions. And it could last even longer. The situation is quite different for cross-country skiing trails.
The since 1. December’s ninth bavarian infection control inspection ordinance prohibits "the operation of amusement parks and comparable fixed amusement facilities". To do this pay lifts. "Recreational activities may not be offered commercially in the open air or in closed rooms", it says. Individual sports in the fresh air – that means cross-country skiing and ski touring – remain permitted.
Another regulation on the way?
Adrian strongly expects that after the 20. December another ordinance is coming. Nevertheless, he and his staff are preparing everything for the season. They carry out maintenance work on nozzles and lift motors. And they hang remaining towbars on the ropes.
Adrian has not yet had to submit a hygiene concept to the rhon-grabfeld health office. What does not matter is that he had not put any of them in writing. If the lifts are allowed to open again, the operator wants to guarantee the 1.5 meter distance everywhere. He is looking in particular at the waiting areas in front of the lifts, the ticket office and public wcs. At the parking lot he wants to soon put up a sign with hygiene rules.
Opening probably falls in the water
Adrian has decided to make it compulsory for all lift users to wear mouth and nose protection, and gloves anyway. "We can’t tell from the lift whether people are from the same household or not." The danger of exhaled aerosols spreading uncontrollably during the ascent is not something the man from bischofsheim sees. The hangers hang 22.5 meters apart. The arnsberg lifts do not have seating gondolas or cabins.
The lift operator hopes that there will be a good snowfall over christmas and that the winter sports enthusiasts will come. It is "very difficult to estimate" whether there will be many of them. On the one hand, many locals would stay in germany and not go to the alps for a day or two. On the other hand, in view of a threatened extension of the lockdown over the holidays, adrian says. "The opening probably falls into the water."
Operator of the kreuzberg lifts waits
Thomas fub, operator of the kreuzberg lifts, has already commissioned the signs with the hygiene regulations. Fub wants to wait and see what the politicians decide and then implement the regulations. Even if he can’t quite understand why people are allowed to ride the bus and train, but not the ski lift. "No one gets infected in the lift itself."
Whether the lockdown will be extended in 2021, whether restrictions abroad will bring more visitors to the lifts, which may be open, how the snow situation will be – thomas fub does not want to evaluate it. For a lift operation around christmas he sees black. Whether it will be opened afterwards depends on how disciplined people behave on the holidays.
Economic consequences
The standstill at the lifts hits the people of bischofsheim. Because the business generates part of its income; the rest comes from agriculture. Last winter fub booked one and a half lift days. Now he is hoping for the vaccinations.
There was not a single lift day in winter 2019/20 for matthias adrian. Although he sees the arnsberg lifts as a hobby. "But this has cost us a lot of money in the past years due to the maintenance of the infrastructure." Otherwise the bischofsheimer lives from an electric company and a camping site.
In hesse, comparable regulations apply as in bavaria.
Ski and toboggan arena on the wasserkuppe
The skiing and tobogganing arena on the wasserkuppe will also remain open as a recreational facility until at least 20. December tight. Phillip maethner, marketing manager of the operator wiegand erlebnisberge gmbh, hopes for an opening this season. "We are prepared." It is obvious that the current situation is not economically viable for the operator, says maethner. He finds it sad that the experience of snow has been taken away from families and children.
Individual operation on the rhon trails is not restricted. The district office bad kissingen reports: "the routes were maht, clear-cut and appropriate signs set up. The cross-country skiing team is ready for action." Alone at kreuzberg, in the black mountains and long rhon 161 runway kilometers are to the verfugung. Enough space. No one fears queues like at the lifts.
Crowding and congestion
Nevertheless, steffen korell, mayor of gersfeld in hesse, believes in overcrowding and pressure. Not at the extensive cross-country skiing center on the red moor, which his town and the district of fulda are responsible for running. But in the parking lot at the neighboring nabu center. It is already "normal holidays and weekends overloaded. "The season will present us with challenges because of the expected masses of people." The logistical collapse is imminent.
Korell is currently clarifying with the district what is possible and what is not possible at the cross-country skiing center. It will probably open soon, even if the lack of snow does not yet allow for cross-country skiing. The gersfelder appeals to the sportsmen to keep their distance.
Do not run off track
Klaus spitzl, managing director of the nature park bayerische rhon, preferred not to predict a rush of cross-country skiers. He thinks this is too speculative. He points out that nordic skiing requires equipment, fitness and skill. Not everyone owns the. Spitzl appeals to visitors, especially those on the long rhon, to stay on the designated routes.
There is a rule of the road; the resting areas for the wild animals must be protected. A lot of work goes into the designation of the trails every year. You do not have to drive cross country. So the motto of the conservationists also fits to the corona situation: "don’t be off the track."
