LINCOLN – The 2018 Young Living Race to the Sky, Montana’s premier sled dog race, runs Feb. 9-13.
This year there are 20 teams registered as of Feb. 5. This includes teams from Montana, Utah, Idaho, Washington and Minnesota.
Seeley Lake’s Roy Etnire will be running in the 100-mile race again this year. Etnire is a 62 year old millwright who runs Alaskan huskies. He operates Mystik North Sleddogs and has been mushing for eight years. He won the 2014 Eagle Cap 100 and the Race to the Sky 100 in 2013 and 2014. He also received the Best Cared for Team Award at Race to the Sky. In the lead will be Sidney, Gondor and Chattie Kathy.
Past resident Cindy Gallea, who now lives in Wykoff, Minn., is back to run in the 300 mile race. Gallea is a nurse practitioner who has been mushing for 30 years.
This is Gallea’s fifth Race to the Sky. She finished in second place in 1995 and 1997. In 1995, she was just four minutes behind the first place finisher. She has run Iditarod numerous times with her Alaskan huskies. In the lead will be Casper, Doubleshot and Missoula.
Complete musher biographies are available at http://racetothesky.org/musher-list/
Schedule of Events:
Young Living Race to the Sky starts Feb. 9 with the 300 mile vet check at Hi-Country Snack Foods in Lincoln from 1 - 3 p.m. followed by the pre-race dinner at the Lincoln Community Center at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 the 100 mile vet check will run from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. at Hi-Country Snack Foods near Lincoln. After all the teams have been given a go-ahead to run the races, the 300 mile teams will start at 2 p.m. followed by the 100 mile Junior and Adult teams under the Hi-Country Snack Foods start and finish archway.
From there, the teams will travel 50 miles to the White Tail Guest Ranch near Ovando. After a short lay-over, teams will travel to Seeley Lake/Morrell Creek Trailhead for the 100 mile finish. Teams are expected to arrive between 4 a.m. – 12 p.m. The 300-mile racers be in and out of the Seeley Lake Community Hall from 2 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday during their mandatory break.
The 100 mile awards ceremony will take place on Sunday around 1 p.m. at the Community Center. The public is invited.
The 300-milers will continue 50 miles north to the Owl Creek Primitive Loop and then return the same route back to Lincoln. The finish of the 300 mile race is expected to begin early evening Monday night, Feb. 12 and continue until midday Tuesday at Hi-Country Snack Foods. The 300 Mile Awards Ceremony will be held at the Hi-Country Trading Post at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
For up-to-the-minute information go to http://www.racetothesky.org and find Montana’s Race to the Sky on Facebook. Each musher will have a GPS unit on their sled and can be tracked on the map available on the website.
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