CAMDEN (AP) – The National Toboggan Championships is more about clowning around than winning the race down the chute, but the fun came to an abrupt end with a collision that sent injured tobogganers to the hospital a year ago.

Determined to avoid a repeat, new safety precautions were in place over the weekend to ensure no participants were injured on the 400-foot-long wooden chute.

“Last year a lot of small things went wrong at the same time and added up to a big problem. The primary issue was one of communication, and we’ve solved that,” said Jeff Kuller, director of Camden Parks and Recreation and general manager of the Snow Bowl ski area.

Participants including Flying Beer Boys, Three Big Kahoonas, Unguided Missiles and Uptown Sorority Girls made runs during the two-day event that ended Sunday.

All told, about 370 teams from as far away as California raced down the chute and came to a stop on frozen Hosner Pond, where spectators gathered.

Ken Bailey, who was announcing the races, said the event is always successful because it’s “weird.”

“Also, there’s the fact that anybody can become a national champion,” he joked. “All you need is a toboggan and some luck.”

Last year, it was a chaotic scene when one team’s toboggan overturned near the bottom of the run. At the top, another toboggan was sent down the chute, causing a crash.

The competition is held to raise money for the Camden Snow Bowl, a nonprofit, municipally owned ski area on 1,300-foot Ragged Mountain.

The toboggan chute dates to the 1930s and has been rebuilt twice, most recently in 1990.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-02-08-09 1526EST