CAMDEN — The U.S. National Toboggan Championship committee held its final Wednesday meeting this morning and in less than two days, the 23rd annual weekend winter festival at the country's only 400-foot-long wooden toboggan chute will commence.

Team slots are sold out, with 2-person and 3-person slots filled well in advance of this year's registration deadline. Chute Master Stuart Young has been busy the past week making ice again in the chute, and he reported Feb. 6 that the chute is in fine shape, with a good layer of ice down on it.

Friday, Feb. 8, marks the first official day of "Toboggan Nationals," but there is still plenty of work to be done over the next 48 hours. Signs and banners have to be hung, tents are due to spring up today and tomorrow, shelves and tables will be set up in the Tobogganville Souvenir Shed and snow fencing needs to be strung out from the end of the chute onto Hosmer Pond. Volunteers and mountain staff Wednesday afternoon will be stuffing team goody bags with programs and items from this year's sponsors while radios, timing and public announcement system equipment will be moved from the Snow Bowl lodge over to the chute.

With news of a potential "enorm'easter" in the weather forecast for the Midcoast on Friday, the committee this morning discussed ramping up preparations and contingencies for snow removal at the Snow Bowl.

"A little snow will certainly make it look nice, and it will keep the toboggans from cruising all the way across Hosmer Pond out of the run-out, but a lot of snow will curtail our ability to accommodate a lot of parked cars on site," said Toboggan Committee Chairman Holly S. Edwards. "But this won't be the first year snow has been with us during race weekend, and we'll gladly take it over the melted version. It is still winter in Maine, after all, and we welcome the weekend expecting to deal with the elements, no matter what Mother Nature throws at us."

This year's U.S. National Toboggan Championships event officially begins at 8 a.m. Friday for the committee, West Bay Rotarians and the many volunteers on hand to work the weekend. Team registration and toboggan inspection in Tobogganville, by the chute, open at 10 a.m. and runs through 7 p.m.

The toboggan chute is open to the public and to teams for practice runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. The cost is $5 per person, for the day. The mechanical bull will also be running Friday, from 3 to 7 p.m. and the tubing hill is open from noon to 5 p.m. ($5 per person, per hour).

New this year for Friday is the Down the Chute Beer and Wine Challenge in the West Bay Rotary tent. A dozen Maine brewers and four wineries will be offering samples for tasting, with all proceeds from the $20 ticket, which includes a commemorative glass, going to support West Bay Rotary and the Ragged Mountain Foundation in the memory of Rotarians Ken Bailey and Don Gross, both strong supporters of the Toboggan Nationals and the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area.

Tickets are available in advance or at the door during the event, with runs Friday, Feb. 9, from 3 to 7 p.m.  Rotarian Sandy Cox reported Wednesday that more than half the tickets have been sold, with a maximum of 288 total tickets available.

"If we don't sell out, which I feel pretty good we will, it will be pretty close to a sell-out," said Cox.

On Friday at the Snow Bowl and in Tobogganville there will also be a bonfire, food vendors, souvenir sales, music, skiing and snowboarding.  At the end of the evening, slide over and warm up at Camden Hills Regional High School, where the Banff Mountain Film Festival gets under way at 7 p.m. in Strom Auditorium. Tickets are $12 for adults ($10 advance, 236-7120) and $5 for students, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Toboggan Nationals.

Saturday's main event starts early, with team registration and toboggan inspections running from 7 to 11 a.m. The National Anthem, as sung by high school student and choir member Jacob Corney, followed by musket shots, will signal the impending start of the races. The U.S. Coast Guard will bring the American flag down the chute next, and then it's "game on!"

Highlights of Saturday's schedule include the start of the 2-person and 3-person runs at 8 a.m. followed by their second runs at 10:30 a.m. The mechanical bull will be running (10 a.m.) and the Snow Bowl will be open for skiing, snowboarding and tubing (9 a.m.), but the real action continues in Tobogganville when the 4-person teams make their way to the top of the chute and begin their first runs at 1:30 p.m. Prior to that, the experimental class will take their first runs beginning at 1 p.m.

At noon on Saturday, four special toboggans will go down the chute in memory of recently lost Snow Bowl and Toboggan National friends and colleagues, including Ken Bailey and Don Gross, and former Camden Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Kuller. Their families will be riding down the chute in their memory, and the committee invites the community to join in honoring them.

At the close of race day Saturday, it's time to head downtown for comedian Juston McKinney's show at the Camden Opera House. A former sheriff's deputy in Maine, McKinney will also be in Tobogganville Saturday, undoubtedly gathering material for the night's show while also taking a few turns on the microphone to keep the crowds entertained.

Sunday's racing begins at 9 a.m., with high school student and choir member Beth Vix singing the National Anthem and the Coast Guard again bringing the American flag down the chute.

Four-person teams take their second qualifying runs beginning at 9 a.m., followed by the experimental division at 11 a.m. Following a break to tally the times, the final runs for all divisions begins at noon, with the awards ceremony scheduled for around 3 p.m.

Related links:

• 2013 U.S. National Toboggan Championships Sponsors

• 2013 Schedule