UPDATE, with winners:

2-PERSON DIVISION
First Place
#2, Top Boggan - Mavericks, 18.222
Zak Hollingshead (Warren, ME) and Evan Vincent (Saugus, MA)

Second Place
#67, Sliding Dirty, 18.329
Russell Sherman (Bridport, VT) and Logan Grubbs (Waldoboro, ME)

Third Place
#52, BOLT #7, 18.331
Robert Laflamme (Moultonborough, NH) and Pete Karakis(Moultonborough, NH)

3-PERSON DIVISION
First Place
#115, BOLT #3, 18.127
Dan Smith (Burlington, MA), Andy Rubenstein (Franklin, MA) and Keith Price (Pepperell, MA)

Second Place
#190, The Hose Beaters, 18.202
Ben Hazen (Lincolnville, ME), BrandonAllen (Appleton, ME) and Don Fullington III (Lincolnville, ME)

Third Place
#105, Top Boggan - 3 Ice Men 18.237
Evan Vincent (Saugus, MA), Josh Manchester (Groveland, MA) and Joseph Wear (Burlington, MA)

 4-PERSON DIVISION
First Place:
#210, Hell Freezes Over - Alpha, 17.656
Andrew Aprill (Stockton, NH), Kyle McAllister (Omaha, NE), Ben Midgley (Stockton, NJ) and Sal Zerilli (Stockton, NJ)

Second Place:
#201, Whiskey on Ice, 17.674
Jon Maxcy (Warren, ME), Greg Davis (Thomaston, ME), Steve Lorentzen (Waldobor, ME) and Josh Brow (Warren, ME)

Third Place:
#211, Hell Freezes Over - Beta, 17.715
Walker Aprill (Stockton, NJ), Eric Doherty (Lawrence, NJ), Ehren Doherty (Trenton, NJ) and Mike Hathaway (Neshanic Station, NJ)

EXPERIMENTAL DIVISION
#407, Team Chisel, 17.598
Mike Reed, Kevin Page, Brian Harper and Scott Naegely (Thomaston, ME)

FASTEST ALL-FEMALES
#266, The Camden Comets B4, 8.890
Jennifer Gromada (Camden, ME), Vivian Reccoppa (Tenants Harbor, ME), Heather Weeks (Tenants Harbor, ME) and Deanna Smith (Tenants Harbor, ME)

FASTEST STUDENTS
#66, BOLT #6, 9.004
David Rubenstein (Franklin, MA) and Devin Price (Peppersell, MA)

OLDEST TEAM
#165, Frog on a Log 3, average age of 84 years
Scott Chierekpko, Travis McNeese and Landon McNeese(Chesapeake, VA)

BEST CRAFTED TOBOGGAN
#216, Tabor Forge Flyers 1
Peter Berke (Rockport, ME), William Smith (Camden, ME), Matthew Peacock (Camden, ME) and Sean Dempsey (Bethesda, MD)

 BEST COSTUME
#86, Sasquatch Revealed
Matt Pollis (Rockland, ME) and Sarah Woods (Searsmont, ME)

FASTEST QUALIFYING RUN
#237, BOLT #4, 8.842
Trey Shupert (Charleston, SC), Allen Hoy (Fairlawn, OH), Pete Karakis(Creston, OH) and Craig Soule (Medway, MA)

• WINNER of the ARIENS Path Pro Single-Stage Snowthrower •
#13, Floggin' My Toboggan, Too
Gianna Calderon and Jenn Scott (Monmouth, ME)

Cold, yes. More like frigid, with a bone-chilling wind cutting in from the Arctic. Still, bitter cold makes for fast runs down the Jack Williams Toboggan Chute, and that is what everyone wants at the U.S. National Toboggan Championships, that annual spirited and creative celebration of winter on Camden's frozen Hosmer Pond.

The 34th annual Championships are underway at the chute this weekend at the Camden Snow Bowl, with locals and visitors setting up camp, cooking over portable stoves, playing on the ice, warming by the fires, parading in costumes, and cheering whoever is speeding down the chute. 

Saturday, which presented temperatures hovering around 15 degrees F and and dangerously cold wind chills, began under a light snowfall with the National Anthem at 8 a.m. and ended just before 4 p.m.

"It was a wicked cold day of toboggan racing today, but it made for fast times in the chute despite the fresh 4 inches of snow everywhere," said Holly Anderson, co-chairman of the U.S. National Toboggan Championships.  "The cold made for fast ice and the snow slowed the toboggans sliding across Hosmer Pond, making for a quicker walk back up the hill."

For those remaining in the competition, there is a night's pause before the final runs begin again Sunday at 8 a.m.

Preliminary results have been posted at the Championships' website. 

The chute — a 1936-built handmade wooden trough that is flooded with ice, is the focal point of the annual winter mecca to Camden, where racers carefully wax their prized toboggans to test speed and skill against other like-minded competitors.  

"We were grateful to have the folks live streaming Saturday's racing at StreamState.tv and I heard from several racers who had family and friends watching, including an out-of-state grandmother who was happy to be able to see the event," said Anderson.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2, the Toboggan Nationals picks up where it left off late Saturday afternoon, with four-person teams taking their second qualifying runs.

The food vendors will be firing up the grills, and replenishing their hot chocolate supplies, ready to feed the racers and spectators that will also come out for the Finals and the award ceremony Sunday afternoon.

Free shuttle buses will be running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., picking up at the village green on Elm Street.

The Snow Bowl will be open for skiing and tubing Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.