WETT places 3rd at national concrete toboggan race

Western Engineering News | February 7, 2020

wett2020-1.pngDuring the week of January 29 – February 2, 2020, members of the Western Engineering Toboggan Team (WETT) travelled to Toronto to compete in the 46th annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race with teams of students from across the country. The 2020 competition was hosted by the University of Toronto with many competition venues around Downtown Toronto and the race being held at Snow Valley in Barrie.

Each team was required to design and build a 300-pound toboggan that includes a steel or aluminum tube superstructure with concrete skis, can seat five people, and can withstand a crash of up to 5G’s from various angles.

In addition to the structure requirements, teams have to come up with a theme. This year, WETT took on the theme of Blue Mountain State, building their toboggan and technical display to showcase the theme, and even creating a Billy the Goat Mascot costume from scratch.

wett2020-2.pngOf the 21 teams competing, WETT received 3rd place overall, winning 1st in Ski Design, 1st in Theme, 3rd in Spirit, and 3rd in Toboggan Design.

“I am very proud of what our team was able to accomplish this year,” said Assistant Team Captain Artem Kobelev. “Over 60% of the team had never been to a GNCTR before, so seeing everyone come together, have an amazingly fun time, and compete our hearts out to a 3rd place finish was amazing to see. As a bonus, hitting 70km/hr on the radar gun and also surviving the race day hill were great accomplishments for our team.”