Sunday, February 25, 2018

winter [sports]?

pyeongchang wasn't the only place to see incredible athletes compete at the top of their game this past month.  little known fact i discovered recently, the town of camden, maine hosts the annul us national toboggan championships!  upon discovering this, i knew this event needed to be seen.

a broken clutch saturday morning meant my wife and i would have to check out the second day of the toboggan championships.  although we missed all the "fun" on saturday which i heard is filled with costumes and parades, sunday was the actual competitions, which was still entertaining.  driving up to camden we discovered a wonderfully quaint little town right on the coast, with the ski mountain just a few miles away. being from kansas, as well as "relatively" new to maine, venturing to a snow covered ski slope still has an awe inspiring feel to it. walking past the ski lodge and seeing the low hanging clouds hiding the top of the mountains only added to the feeling.  we found the crowd next to the chute and enjoyed several hours of toboggan racing.  i'm not sure i learned much about this sport, other than the fact that to go faster, the riders basically lie down on the sled.  this may help reduce wind drag, but it basically meant that all i saw was an odd kama-sutra-esque mass of arms, legs and stocking caps flying by; but isn't it that sense of togetherness and closeness of a team that brings home the gold.

it may not be the "exact" same thing as watching bobsleds race by during the olympics, but for two people trying to make the most of the winter months of maine, it was a wonderful way to enjoy a winter-y weekend.



























































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