CAMDEN, Maine — Natural snow is sparse and conditions are somewhat sloppy, but the U.S. National Toboggan Championships are still a go for this weekend, according to organizers.
The temperature reached an unseasonably high 50 degrees Thursday after heavy rains overnight.
But Camden Snow Bowl General Manager Landon Fake said that the races, which begin Friday and run through Sunday, will be held as planned.
Fake said the town will have a Maine State Game Warden check the ice thickness Friday morning on Hosmer Pond, where tobogganers end up as they shoot out of the chute. Though there was some water visible on top of the ice Thursday, the last measurement taken that afternoon showed the ice was 7-inches thick, an inch or two less than when measured at the end of January.
The general rule, Fake said, is that ice must be 4-inches thick for people to walk on it and 5-inches thick to support the weight of all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles. A car could drive out on 8-12 inches of ice.
The National Weather Service forecast for Friday was for 3 to 5 inches of snow with temperatures topping 33 degrees before falling to 19 degrees during the night.
The weekend highs are projected at 38 degrees for Saturday and 36 degrees for Sunday.
The 400-foot-long chute needs ice for the races, but temperatures are set to drop to near freezing in the wee hours of the morning Friday, and then will sink into the teens Friday night, according to the National Weather Service. Those temperatures should be sufficient to coat the chute with ice, Fake said.
Organizers remain confident that the celebration will draw more than a thousand racers and thousands of visitors to the small coastal town, which also puts on other winter-themed events during the week leading up to the races.