Chilean Police Detain Five People For Snowboarding In Farellones

Chilean police arrested five snowboarders yesterday for not carrying the necessary permits that allow movement in Farellones due to quarantine. 

On Thursday 23rd in Chile, police were alerted of the presence of snowboarders riding without carrying the corresponding permits on route G-251. This route connects Farellones with Valle Nevado and is a recognized backcountry area.

When the Chilean police arrived, they asked the snowboarders for the respective permits that would allow them to be there, however, they weren’t carrying them. The police in the action detained the five snowboarders for not complying with the sanitary provisions required by the country.

Mayor Ignacio Toledo from the Lo Barnechea Police Station made a call to respect the quarantine that remains in the Metropolitan Region, as well as not going to the area due to large accumulations of snow. 

On the other hand, the Mayor of the Metropolitan Region described the attitude of the detainees as “selfish”, stressing that the quarantine is for everyone, not for some.

“Although we have managed to lower the speed of contagion in the MRI, that does not mean that heathy people take vacations. The health crisis continues and the risk of regrowth is as real as the thousand of deaths due to Covid.”

– Said Felipe Guevara.

In addition, The Mayor indicated that the situation experienced on Thursday noon in the access to Valle Nevado is “unfortunate”. Because now police enforcement is assigned to supervise these routes to the skis centers rather than be helping people in precarious and serious conditions due to COVID-19.

• Related: Ski Pucón First Resort In Chile To Officially Announce They Won’t Open This Winter Due To COVID-19

The police will keep monitoring the routes so that events like this are not repeated.