SEELEY LAKE - Montana’s own Race to the Sky 37th anniversary sled dog race, will be held Feb. 11-15. This year there are 28 mushers in the field - 12 competing in the 300-mile race including local mushers Jessie Royer, Josi Thyr and past-resident Cindy Gallae, now from Wykoff, Minnesota. In the 100-mile, there are 16 mushers with the closest musher being Nicole Lombardi from Lincoln, Montana.
This year’s race will pay tribute to Dave Armstrong. Armstrong passed away at age 100 last spring. He was one of the original founders of the Sacajawea Sled Dog Club in the mid 1970s. It is now called Montana Mountain Mushers, the only mushing club in Montana. Armstrong was also one of the original board members, helping shape Race to the Sky, then called the Governor’s Cup Sled Dog Race and was an integral part of mushing in the state.
Armstrong was also a veteran of Camp Rimini War Dog Reception and Training Center outside Helena, Montana where he was stationed during World War II to train sled dogs for the invasion of Norway. When that was cancelled, these highly trained sled dogs and their trainers were relocated to sites where there were downed planes. These dogs were used to bring back equipment, soldiers in remote parts of Baffinland, Greenland, Alaska and more. They retrieved many thousands of dollars worth of equipment and sometimes brought back soldiers for a proper burial.
An Iditarod qualifier, the 300-mile Race to the Sky begins and finishes near Lincoln, Montana. The 100-mile starts in Lincoln and ends in Seeley Lake.
The race kicks off with a 300-mile vet check on Friday, Feb. 11 at Hi-Country Trading Post in Lincoln from 1-3:30 p.m. The vet check for the 100-mile adult and junior teams will be held Saturday morning from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Hi-Country. Both vet checks are open to the public.
The races start Saturday at Hi-Country Trading Post at 2 p.m. Races travel through the Whitetail Ranch Check point in Ovando to the Morrell Creek Trailhead for the 100-mile finish. 100-mile racers are expected to finish between 3 a.m. – 12 p.m. Sunday. The 100-mile awards ceremony will be Sunday around 1 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall.
The 300-mile racers will come through Seeley Lake Sunday and Monday and then head north to Owl Creek Primitive Check Point. They have a mandatory layover at one of the checkpoints. The public can visit with the mushers, handlers and see the dogs in the outdoor areas behind the Community Hall.
The 300-mile teams will then return through Seeley Lake and head back towards Lincoln for the 300-mile finish. Finishers are estimated to start arriving Monday night through 12 p.m. Tuesday, the final cutoff for finishing. The 300-mile race awards ceremony is at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Hi-Country Trading Post.
Race to the Sky would not be possible without the small army of volunteers each year and sponsors of the race. If interested in helping out, there are a variety of opportunities and there is no special training required.
To volunteer, become a sponsor, read musher profiles or for more information, visit http://racetothesky.org/, email info@racetothesky.org, call 406-881-2909 or follow Montana’s Race to the Sky on Facebook for GPS maps and updates.
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