MSA's Trans-Montana Ride coming though Lincoln Feb. 7

The Montana Snowmobile Association's annual Trans-Montana week-long charity ride will take place from Feb. 6-11, to benefit the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

There are currently about 28 riders signed up for the event which will start in Seeley Lake and come to Lincoln that night.

The rides are all guided by local snowmobile clubs, and Ponderosa Snow Warriors president Mark Christian has organized the guides for the Lincoln area ride on Friday, Feb. 7. After breakfast at Lambkins, the group will enjoy seven hours of riding in the Lincoln area before heading on to Butte, bound for West Yellowstone. 

All Butte events will be hosted and organized by the Wise River Jackpine Savages and the Mining City Trail Riders Clubs. These events include two full days of riding along with the annual MSA Board Meeting, keynote speaker Rep. Kerry White, and the banquet and benefit auction, which will be held at the Copper King Inn. 

Riders will spend the next day on a seven-hour ride of the West Fork area and finish up the trip with two full-day rides in the West Yellowstone area. The final awards banquet will be held in West Yellowstone. 

In 2018, the Trans Montana ride raised $19,000 for NAMI, which became the focus of their fundraising in 2014. Composed of an auction and six full-day rides, the MSA has been running this event for 25 years. According to MSA Treasurer Connie Walter they rode for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America for many years. She said it was headquartered in Great Falls and provided a great support system for all areas of the ride, but when the organization pulled out of the state, many MSA members wanted their donations to stay in state and settled on NAMI.

The MSA ensures money raised by the ride will benefit Montanans living with mental illness and highlights several of the ways NAMI supports mental health efforts across the state. This includes services for all ages, from helping fund children's mental health services to supporting veterans with PTSD and others in need of mental health services. 

For more information or to participate and "Ride the Rockies," individuals can contact the MSA Chairman and ride leader Ron Albee at (406) 535-4852.