Toboggans race down icy chute to glory in Maine competition

CAMDEN, Maine (AP) - Those nutty toboggan riders are looking to slide their way to fame at the National Toboggan Championships at the Camden Snow Bowl.

The annual race down the 400-foot toboggan chute got underway Saturday.

The competition features teams of two, three or four people riding old-school wooden toboggans like the one used by Calvin and Hobbes in the comic strip.

The costume-clad racers slide down the wooden chute onto the frozen surface of Hosmer Pond.

Riders reach speeds of upward of 40 mph. Some are more serious than others. Team names include the “Millinocket Rocket,” the “Big Kahoonas,” ’’Pirate Panty Raiders” and “Beavis and Buttsled.”