• Germany edition
Society
Photo: DPA

Naked sled race draws 14,000

Published: 22 Feb 10 10:06 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100222-25417.html

A naked sledging event in Germany’s Harz region created a logistical nightmare over the weekend after 14,000 people showed up to watch 30 men and women strip before sliding down the mountain.

Normally the gentle slope in front of Braunlage’s town hall is a pretty quiet place during the winter. Beginning skiers practice their first turns, parents plop their children on sleds, and pensioners take some air.

But the scene was quite different on Saturday, when thousands unexpectedly turned out for a nearly naked sledging contest sponsored by a radio station. Completely taken by surprise, authorities in the small town in Lower Saxony struggled to deal with the massive crowds.

“The traffic is huge problem for us,” complained Braunlage’s police chief Michael Huth.

But the logistical challenges didn’t keep around 30 contestants from stripping down to their panties or briefs and racing the 100-metre course on little red and black sledges. Many of the tanned racers looked more ready for the beach than the piste, as some even bared what had to be rather chilly nipple rings.

Click here for a photo gallery of the naked race.

“We had a lot of luck with the weather,” said André Gierke from the radio station 89.0 RTL. “A proper winter for naked sledging.”

The 26-year-old Christian Schmidt from Blankenburg in Saxony-Anhalt won the race, but the crowd saved much of its applause for a 70-year-old pensioner who spontaneously stripped down to sledge the hill on his own.

DPA/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

What do you think? Leave your comment below.


Your comments about this article:

10:50 February 22, 2010 by LMFAO
You mean topless. Not "naked".
18:36 February 22, 2010 by Frenemy
Nice!! ...yet another one of the many reasons I love living here!

(this type of awesomeness would never fly with the puritanical a-holes back CONUS)
19:29 February 22, 2010 by magdelana
Any of those Beutiful girls can e-mail me at Buckshot5505@live.com Henry
00:10 February 23, 2010 by Logic Guy
Well, when I was in Germany for 3 weeks in September, I realized that most of the women there are tall and attractive.

Some of the blue-eyed, blonde-haired girls were so kind and innocent. But this is type of event is very inappropriate.

It takes away from a really good thing. And the truth is, men don't admire and respect women who "give it away".

Someone needs to inject a strong sense of morality into the German social conscious.
11:15 February 23, 2010 by dbert4
Hey Logic Guy! Yeah right, you mean the American morality of guns, beatings and bloodshed for all? And how about, we throw in some good old American financial corruption and collapse to your morality?

No thanks pal....
14:17 February 23, 2010 by Dix Handley
You've got to give it to the Germans....they're not afraid of doing anything. Kudos to the young women willing to give the fans a great show. God bless them. German women are beautiful.
23:29 February 23, 2010 by AirForceGuy
Thanks dbert4. Given our 'morality of guns, beatings and bloodshead', I'd still probably take that over a history of Hitler, the gas chambers and the crematoria....
00:19 February 24, 2010 by Logic Guy
Well, I certainly don't want people to think that I'm being overly critical of Germany. I say certain things becasue I care very much about Germany and it's people. And America, like every other nation, has problems regarding immoral behavior as well.

I'm both American and German. It's an intertesting position to be in. And although I currently live in the US, I do however follow what goes on in Germany very closely. Both countries would be much more prosperous if they to focus on moral psychology.
05:46 February 24, 2010 by Jim09
Lmao AirForceGuy, people like u make the states look stupid... this is an articel about a funny event and you start talking about german history and hitler... wow. some people are just.. total morons or full of hate. cheers pal
14:28 February 24, 2010 by AirForceGuy
to Jim09, I was meerly responding to dbert4's 'American-bashing'. He complains about America's 'morality', when he conviently fails to recognize Germany's very 'dark' recent moral history!
14:37 February 24, 2010 by shrijit
oh, for god sake, why cant some people accept simple fun as simple fun? really a harmless sledding race is leading to ugly sarcasm and digging graves. There was not the slightest need to drag in hitler or mussolini or america or italy in between. enjoy the fun, if you can't pl go and sulk anywhere u like or if preaching morality instead of being a genuine human is such a fav then go, join something for it istead of being a spoilsport.
16:34 February 24, 2010 by Prufrock2010
What does morality have to do with this? Stupidity maybe, but...

As an American, I assert that no American ANYWHERE has the right to lecture anyone about morality. Ever.
00:22 February 25, 2010 by TomUSA
I have to agree with shrijit. All it is... is simple fun that is all. How in the world can you compare naked women and Hilter? Seek professional help. If you don't like it don't look . Let people have their fun. We have something similar in the USA, it is called the polar bear club. are they also being immoral? Also being American, I assert that no American ANYWHERE has the right to lecture anyone about morality. Ever.
04:14 February 25, 2010 by Frenemy
@AirForceGuy:

Seriously dude, I understand your perspective, but f#ck this "sins of the father" bullsh!t...

I mean, if there are any Americans or Brits on here that wanna be morally righteous and sh!t (post-hoc), consider this a call for arguments. Seriously, I welcome it. But first I suggest you take a peak at the Geneva Convention ("jus in bello"), and then Google the agendas and exploits of individuals like Curtis LeMay and Arthur "Bomber" Harris!

(but we'll leave the survey on humane/preferred methods of mass execution (firestorm vs. Zyklon-B) for a later date....
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