CAMDEN – The National Toboggan Championships had everything necessary for a successful event – everything except snow and ice.

Temperatures in the mid-40s melted the ice on a portion of the 400-foot chute and there were puddles on the frozen pond below, meaning competitors ended their runs with a blast of water, much like a log flume ride at an amusement park.

“There was water and slush on the pond, so it was a big splash when they hit the pond,” said Jeff Kuller, director of parks and recreation in Camden.

The competition wrapped up in one day on Saturday because of Sunday’s forecast for rain, which made the ice unsafe on Hosmer Pond, Kuller said.

The warm weather that made a mess of things marked a continuation of warmer-than-normal weather this winter in Maine. In both Caribou and Portland, the average temperature in January was more than 8 degrees above normal.

Competitors with names like “Snowball Express,” “Sled Zeppelin,” “Dumb and Dumber,” and “Sled Heads” made the best of the conditions on Saturday.

Mark Tardif, part of Unity College’s four-member Team Green Machine, said the ride down was a blur of trees until the toboggan hit the bottom.

“The sky disappeared into this spray above us, and all four of us were completely soaked,” said Tardif, of Waterville. “We got up and were absolutely soaked. We could have jumped into the water and not been any wetter than we were.”

The competition is held to raise money for the Camden Snow Bowl, a nonprofit, municipally owned ski area on 1,300-foot Ragged Mountain.

The toboggan chute dates to 1930s. It was rebuilt twice, with the most recent restoration being led by Jack Williams in 1990.