Snowmobilers converge on Haugan for poker run

The Montana Night Riders Snowmobile Club held its 20th annual $1,000 Super Poker Ride at Lincoln's 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar in Haugan to the usual crowd of riders and volunteers last Saturday.

The ride, which was a fundraiser for the Montana Night Riders Snowmobile Club, consisted of a course with five different checkpoints. The first and last checkpoints were at the Lincoln Silver Dollar and there were three more checkpoints along the trail. At each checkpoint, the rider drew a card and wrote it down. Jokers were wild, and at the end of the ride the riders with the best hands won.

Fifteen prizes were awarded with the first place winner getting $300 and the 15th place competitor fetching $25. Riders bought hands for $5 apiece, and could purchase five hands for $20.

This year, 223 riders bought 553 hands, and 680 were played, including the free hands from the $20 purchases. The total pot for the entire event was $2,106, according to Brooke Lincoln of Lincoln's Silver Dollar and one of the coordinators of the event.

In past years, the entire length of the ride has been around 50 miles. This year, however, the ride was shortened to 36 miles because of the depth of the snow, said John McGuiness. The poker run began at 9 a.m., and ended about 5 p.m.

Lincoln said that some of the riders and participants in the event have been attending since the ride started in 1989, and each year the ride attracts new participants.

"We ride here all the time. They're just good people here," said Ed Green, a resident of Spokane, Wash. Green and his wife Ronda have been coming to the event for the past 10 years.

"You won't meet people like this anywhere else, and the scenery is beautiful," Green said. "Plus, there's a great party afterwards."

John and Shawna McGuiness of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, said that they enjoyed the ride because the checkpoints gave them time to warm up before they continued. "The snow in Montana is awesome," said John McGuiness. The ride is suitable for all abilities of snowmobilers, he added.

"It's a fun run," said Lincoln, who's been involved in the planning of the event since it started. Each year, Lincoln Silver Dollar donates $1,000 to the event to help sweeten the winnings. "That's $20,000 over the years," Lincoln said.

The first event was to raise money to buy a groomer for the club. The money from the event is used to keep the groomer in working condition and the rest goes to a local charity, according to Lincoln, although the Montana Night Riders have not yet decided what charity they are going to donate to this year.

All participants in the ride were required to wear a helmet. Riders that became too inebriated to drive could have their hands revoked, said Lincoln. "The alcohol's never really been a problem; people pretty much police themselves on that," Lincoln said.

There are five members of the Mineral County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue Team that scatter themselves throughout the ride and make sure everyone stays safe throughout the day.

"This trail is a particularly easy trail," said Mike Byrnes of the Mineral County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team. "As far as the natural danger goes, it's minimal," he said.

Despite the nature of the trail, Saturday had a high avalanche danger, so the search and rescue team was especially careful, according to Byrnes.

Byrnes said the search and rescue team always carries with them a probe poll to find avalanche victims, a shovel to dig them out with and an avalanche beacon, which can be used to help located someone buried underneath the snow. He said there were no reports of problems at this year's event.

"The most likely person to pull you out of an avalanche alive is your buddy right beside you," said Byrnes, who recommended that that all riders carry an avalanche beacon, shovel, probe poll and a map.

"Always ride with someone else; don't ride beyond your ability and don't ride in areas you don't know about," Byrnes said.

He said that he has had to dig a rider out of a small avalanche on this rider, but no one has ever been seriously hurt. ?????

"This is a ride for anything from novice to advanced riders," Byrnes said. "Anyone could ride this ride and be safe about it."