38th Year for Race to the Sky, a 300- and 100-mile sled dog race in Montana 80th anniversary for Camp Rimini

The 38th running of Race to the Sky is scheduled to take place on Feb. 10-14, 2023.

Pre-race events include a vet check on Friday, Feb. 10, for the 300-mile teams at 2-3 p.m. at Hi Country Snack Foods in Lincoln.

That evening from 6-8 p.m. is the meet the mushers pre-race dinner at the Lincoln Community Hall. Donations welcome. There will be a silent auction, opportunity to meet the mushers running this year's Race to the Sky and to enjoy good food. The mushers will receive their sled banners that will be displayed on their sleds for the entire race.

Saturday, Feb. 11 are the vet checks for the 100-mile teams from 11-1 p.m. The start of all races, with the 300-mile race out first at 2 p.m. followed by the 100-mile teams.

The teams will again have GPS tracking units on their sleds. If you go to the race website, http://www.racetothesky.org, once the race starts you can follow the racers as they run their races, going in and out of checkpoints.

Press releases will be posted three times daily at http://www.racetothesky.org. Another way to follow will be FaceBook as we post photos and information about the race. We will be expanding coverage by doing a "Trail Report" each day from a previous competitor of Race to the Sky. Those will also be posted at http://www.racetothesky.org.

Everyone is invited to come and experience the excitement of the dogs and cheer your favorite team on as they leave for their very own adventure. Events are free. Come show your support for Montana's last best race.

Once the teams start, they will be into the White Tail Ranch near Ovando, a private guest ranch, around dark on Saturday. The 300-mile teams will continue to Seeley Lake where that leg checkpoint will be moved to Morrell Creek/Seeley Creek trailhead just east of Seeley Lake. There will be activity at the Seeley Lake Community Center, but the 100-mile teams will finish their race at the trailhead and most likely the 300-mile teams will use the trailhead as a checkpoint this year because of logging operations. This is a temporary change for this year.

The awards ceremony for the 100-mile teams, which will finish their race early morning on Sunday, Feb. 12.

After Seeley Lake checkpoint, the 300-mile teams head to Owl Creek primitive camp and come back to Seeley Lake, on to White Tail Ranch checkpoint and on to the finish line. A first-place finish could take place early Monday evening depending on conditions. Watch your local news, newspaper or http://www.racetothesky.org and Facebook for updates.

The 300-mile field is smaller than normal this year, with 4 teams entered. Those mushers are: Clayton Perry of Power, Montana, Charmayne Morrison of Bozeman, Montana, Jessie Royer, winner last year and for the past several years of Seeley Lake and Erik Oline of Missoula, Montana. It is truly a Montana race.

In the 100 mile race are: Christina Gibson (winner of last year's 100 mile) of Carlton, Washington, Aidan Torres, Okanogan, Washington, Kevin Daugherty of McCall, Idaho, Jesika Reimer of Emigrant Gap, California, Maddie Longpre-Harrer of Power, Montana, Nicole Lombardi of Lincoln, Montana, Julie Ann Nelson of Divide, Colorado, Bucky Hasty of Bozeman, Montana, Hunter Hale of Seeley Lake, Montana, Shane Pearson of Power, Montana and Adrian Lopez of Seeley Lake, Montana.

This is also the 80th commemoration of Camp Rimini War Dog Reception and Training Center near Helena. It has been 80 years since the soldiers of World War II joined up as dog mushers and served at Camp Rimini to get ready for the invasion of Norway. When that mission was cancelled about a year and a half into it, many of the men and dogs, both sled dogs and pack dogs, were commissioned for search and rescue, finding downed airplanes and rescuing humans, equipment and what they could for the military. They were in such remote areas as Baffinland, Newfoundland, Alaska, Greenland and Labrador. More than 800 sled dogs and 100 pack dogs and about 125 men came to Camp Rimini to become dog mushers. They retrieved thousands of dollars of equipment for the US Government and became a legend. Race to the Sky commemorates each year this special camp which was one of only two such camps during World War II. It has been 80 years since that camp was in existence near the foothills of Helena.

For information, go to http://www.racetothesky.org or email [email protected]

The public is welcome and encouraged to come and participate in this great family event!