National Toboggan Championships return to Camden Snow Bowl

CAMDEN, Maine (WABI) - Sunday was the last day of the 31st Annual Toboggan National Championships at the Camden Snow Bowl.

425 teams of two, three, or four with names like “mitten sniffers” and “frogs on a log” came from all over America to compete in the race.

The crowd bundled up in snow gear while teams put on their best coordinated outfits.

Many teams clocked speeds between 30 and 40 miles per hour on their toboggans.

The championship was canceled last year due to the pandemic, the only time it was cancelled in 31 years.

The race starts at the top of the world’s only 440 foot long wooden toboggan chute and ends with a glide across the frozen Hosmer Pond.

“The last couple days I watch the kids in front and you see their smile and they see a toboggan go down and it’s the kids that you know are gonna continue to come back with their parents and then they’re gonna be riding when they get older. It’s a beautiful thing,” said Tom Dowd, National Toboggan Championship Announcer.

But - not everyone stayed dry.

Two tobogganers broke through the ice on Hosmer Pond Saturday during their first run.

Kelly Sandman and David Pepper said their toboggan strayed a bit too far to the right, and due to the warm temperatures yesterday they went through the ice.

Nobody was injured in the fall and event staff took immediate measures to prevent another fall from happening.

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