Adam Armington of Lovell, Maine, right, holds on as his team goes airborne as they cross the finish line during The Mattress Race at the Shawnee Peak ski area, Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Bridgton. The annual late-season event had a theme of “a tropical vacation,” but racers had to deal with mid-winter conditions and a wind chill factor of well below zero degrees F.
AP
Team Spirit heads down the slopes after getting a push from an official, rear, during The Mattress Race at the Shawnee Peak ski area, Saturday, March 11, 2017, in Bridgton. The event gave racers a chance to put their old, beat up mattress to good use while competing for a chance to win an overnight stay in the Pleasant Mountain Yurt or Cabin.
AP
BRIDGTON — Get your bed ’cause it’s time to sled.
Shawnee Peak hosted an unusual race Saturday that features riders atop mattresses sliding down the slopes at speeds approaching 30 mph.
Participants used standard mattresses, with a maximum of four riders.
Rules allowed riders to put a tarp or plastic cover on the mattresses to make them slide better. Many were decorated in keeping with the “tropical vacation” theme, and awards were offered for both the fastest mattress and the most uniquely decorated mattress.
Participants were probably wishing they’d tossed on a couple of extra blankets. It was blustery with a high temperature in the single digits on Saturday.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
