Collective ‘bogganing Camden’s 12th annual toboggan championships blend competition, camaraderie

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Let Salt Lake City have the winter Olympics.

Here in Camden, we’ve got the U.S. National Toboggan Championships.

And if you venture out this weekend to see the event at the Camden Snow Bowl, it will all be there: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, the smell of barbecue, tobogganers dressed as “Sesame Street” characters.

Come to think of it, maybe the Snow Bowl has one-upped the Olympics. A toboggan team dressed up as The Four Elmos probably wouldn’t make it past security at Salt Lake City, but in Camden this weekend that sight won’t raise an eyebrow.

But it probably will raise the corners of your mouth into a smile, and that’s the point.

This year’s National Toboggan Championships marks the 12th consecutive year of the event, which is part goofy fun, but also part serious competition.

There are no qualifying events around the country leading up to this “national” showdown. The organizers of the event, in a rather audacious move, claimed they had the national championships for tobogganing, ducked, and when no one sued or griped, they stuck with the name.

But the tobogganing is the real deal. A steep, 400-foot wooden chute is iced down so teams can hit speeds of 35 mph in sleds that are 6 to 12 feet long as they hurdle onto the – it is hoped – frozen Hosmer Pond. Electronic devices make for accurate timing, and the more serious competitors are usually the ones who win.

Racing effectively is a matter of proper balance, keeping a low profile on the sled, and waxing the toboggan’s bottom to slippery perfection. Novices betray themselves by screaming most of the way down the chute, while the more experienced teams lie tucked and tight as they hurtle toward the lake.

The Snow Bowl is a small, town-owned ski and recreation area on the side of Ragged Mountain, about a five-minute drive from Camden. The town budgets nearly enough funds to keep the skiing and snowboarding center running, but with the vagaries of winter weather, which can reduce revenues drastically when temperatures are mild and snow is scarce, the Snow Bowl sometimes finds itself knee-deep in red ink.

But what the Snow Bowl has never lacked are enthusiastic boosters who pitch in to volunteer and make ends meet with an eye on keeping lift tickets cheap enough for area families and teens to afford.

The toboggan championship is the single largest fund-raising event for the center. Local and regional businesses advertise in the program, but the lion’s share of money comes from the teams that pay an entrance fee to compete.

This year, some 320 teams are expected to be on hand, a record-breaking number.

Many come from the midcoast area, but in recent years participants have come from as far away as Georgia, Texas and California. The national media has come, too – CNN, Sports Illustrated and the CBS Morning News have featured the event.

Chuck Christie, 33, of Lincolnville began participating with some of his buddies from high school 11 years ago, calling themselves Throbbin’ Boggan.

“I don’t know how we came up with that name. I think we had a few beers while we were working on the sled,” he confesses.

Actually the names themselves are a hoot. In past years, they’ve included Two Bikers and a Trophy Broad, Grateful Sled, Toboggan or Not Toboggan, In a New York Minute, Kevorkian’s Alternative, Sleigh Down Sally, Internal Bleeding, the Dot Commies and Richie Rich and the Repossessed Call Girls.

A group from Washington D.C. calls themselves Team Wurst, fielding teams for the two-, three- and four-man and women categories with such names as Wild, Wild Wurst, The Way We Wurst, First Thing Wurst and Wurst Than Kathi Lee Singing “The Pina Colada Song.” The team sets up a yurt on the frozen lake and cooks knockwurst and hot dogs all weekend. Team Wurst can be spotted by the fezzes they wear, which they try to keep on their heads when they compete.

Christie’s Throbbin’ Boggan team competes in the two-man, three-man and four-man categories.

Unlike Team Wurst, which revels in bad times, Throbbin’ Boggan falls about midway between those who just want to have fun and those who are serious about winning, Christie says.

“We love to win, but we still like to have fun,” he says.

Throbbin’ Boggan has racked up a handful of wins in recent years.

Christie and his friends rent a Ryder truck each year in which they set up a rack for working on their sleds and a propane heater to keep warm. Outside, the team cooks venison or moose meat if the hunters among them were lucky in the fall, or steak if they were not. The men’s wives and children join them for the weekend.

Christie says the team ends up becoming friendly with whatever team is set up next to them in the parking lot. Last year, it was a group from Texas. The year before, it was a group from Minnesota.

Each two-, three- and four-man team takes two qualifying runs, and the best time is recorded. About 140 of the 320 make it into the finals on Sunday for the second round of competition.

Christie is the lead man in the Throbbin’ Boggan sled. The seating order usually is determined “depending on how much weight people have gained over the winter,” he says.

The team doesn’t bother practicing before the weekend, but members do maintain the three sleds they own. The key to winning is having a smooth sled and “sitting as still as you can,” Christie says.

Chip Taylor, director of the Snow Bowl, says admission for participants is $14 per person – $56 per four-person team – but admission for spectators is free. This year, radio station WQSS-FM (The Peak) is expected to do a live remote broadcast from the toboggan championship.

There is usually a chili and chowder cook-off at the lodge, and spectators also can bring their own food and eat in the lodge or outside. Spectators can squeeze in beside the chute or stand on the lake near the end of the run to get the best view of the action. Wandering among the festival-like team camps also is recommended.

If you go: travel south on Route 1 through Camden village; on the way up the hill out of town, look for the sign on the right directing you to the Ragged Mountain Ski Area and follow the subsequent signs. For more information: www.CamdenSnowBowl.com.