Dean Fairburn has dreamed of qualifying for the Iditarod since he got into the sport in the mid-1990s living in Alaska.

Now after winning the 200-mile Eagle Cap sled-dog race in Oregon in January, the Garden Valley, Idaho, man is one step away from achieving his goal.

Fairburn is one of nine rookies among 19 competitors in this year's Race to the Sky sled-dog race. The 350-mile race starts Saturday at Camp Rimini before winding its way along a loop between Lincoln and Holland Lake.

"That's neat to see," Fairburn said of all the first-timers. "I think we'll all learn a lot, help each other out and learn from each other. I think most of us would say we'd just like to finish and learn from it. At least that's my goal."

Qualifying for the Iditarod requires finishing in the allotted time in both a 200-mile and 300-mile race.

This is the second straight year after a seven-year hiatus that the Race to the Sky will start at Camp Rimini, just west of Helena on Highway 12, according to race secretary Pam Beckstrom.

Beckstrom said race officials love starting the race at Rimini, both due to its historical significance as one of two war-dog training centers for World War II and because it provides a fun experience both for spectators and mushers.

"It's so cool when the whole railroad bed is covered with spectators cheering," Beckstrom said. "The mushers love it. It's sort of a solitary sport when they get out on the trails, but it's really nice to have a crowd out to support them and send them out."

Beckstrom said the course will probably have to be altered due to this week's thaw, but that there is still good snow, and officials are committed to keeping the race a 300-mile Iditarod qualifier.

As in years past, this year's race has attracted competitors from all over the Northwest and beyond. Of the 19 mushers, eight are from Montana, three are from Idaho, and two each are from North Dakota and Washington, with one each from Oregon, California, Colorado and the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Longtime followers of the Race to the Sky will see some familiar faces among the new ones in this year's competition.

Beckstrom said the number of mushers is down somewhat from last year's 25. She said that is partly due to the fact that the John Beargrease Marathon Sled Dog Race in Minnesota was postponed until a week after the Race to the Sky due lack of snow. She said that didn't allow mushers who would have liked to run both to get their teams rested and ready.

Still, she said, the race should be competitive.

"We have some pretty nicely qualified people runing our race," Beckstrom said.

She named Deer Lodge's Bill Smith, Terry Adkins of Sand Coulee and Mark Stamm of Riverside, Wash., and Fairburn as among the favorites this year.

"It could be a really close race," she said. "I wouldn't want to even think about calling it."

Smith is on the other side of the experience spectrum from Fairburn and the other rookies.

Smith, 65, has been mushing for 35 years and has been involved with the Race to the Sky since its inception 22 years ago.

Smith sold his team and got out of racing for a while but got back into racing in 2003. He now breeds his own dogs and has a high-altitude sled-dog training center east of Deer Lodge where he trains novice mushers.

"I've trained a couple mushers who are in the Race to the Sky this year," he said. "I've helped several mushers who've gone on to be Iditarod mushers. I really enjoy training dogs."

Smith said he's qualified for the Iditarod in the past but has never competed in the event. He entered this year but scratched because he said he has young dogs and is about four dogs short of a strong Iditarod team.

"They didn't develop as well as I thought they would," he said. "You never ask them to do something they can't do. That's the secret to long-distance mushing."

Smith said he has raced most races in the Lower 48 states, and he thinks the Race to the Sky is as tough as any of them due to extreme elevation changes and sometimes-icy conditions. He said he has been told the course is far more difficult than the Iditarod., which is mostly run on frozen rivers, with a few hilly areas.

"This is an extreme course. You run into everyting - blizzards, mountain passes, icy roads," he said. "It's a lot harder course than the Beargrease. It's a wake-up call when people come from the Midwest. It'll be interesting to see how they do. It'll be an eye-opener for them."

Adkins is a veteran of both the Race to the Sky and the Iditarod, having finished the legendary Alaskan sled-dog race many times, according to Beckstrom.

Stamm took second in the Race to the Sky two years ago.

Fairburn, for his part, is not aiming for a victory. After mushing for nine years, he said, he took his training to a new level this year. He said just finishing the Eagle Cap was a new challenge for his team, and his success there prompted him to take the challenge of running the even-more-demanding Race to the Sky.

If he finds himself among the leaders as the race develops, though, he may push for it.

"I don't expect to be up front," Fairburn said. "There's some good teams with some good dogs. I'm still trying to figure out the strategy. I'd rather take my time and finish. That's my goal, I'd like to qualify (for the Iditarod)."

One thing this year's race will surely see is a new face in the winner's circle.

John Barron of Lincoln, who has won the race the last two years, will not be competing this year. Barron's family has had a lock on the top spot in recent years, with Barron, his son Jason and Jason's wife Harmony Kanavle winning each of the last four years.

Race to the Sky events

Friday, Feb. 9

(All Friday events take place in Helena)

10 a.m. to noon School visits

Noon-3 p.m. Vet check and sponsor photos, Costco parking lot

5-6 p.m. Business card social, silent auction, Wingate Inn

6-7 p.m. Ride auction, Meet the Mushers. Purchase a ride with the mushers as they leave Lincoln in Sunday's restart, Wingate Inn.

7-8 p.m. Live auction of goods and services, Wingate Inn

Saturday, Feb. 10

10 a.m. Official start at Camp Rimini, near Helena

3:30-5:30 p.m. Main Street Activities Deer Lodge

6 p.m. Dinner and Auction at the Pen Convention Center on Main Street, Deer Lodge (tickets available)

Sunday, Feb. 11

Noon-1:30 p.m. Restart, Lincoln Public School, Lincoln, passengers board sleds

5-8 p.m. Teams arrive at Cane Ridge West Checkpoint, Lincoln

Saturday through Thursday Checkpoints, Feb. 11-15

View teams at checkpoints: Official Start Camp Rimini (near Helena); Deer Lodge; Lincoln Public School Restart (Lincoln); Cane Ridge West (Lincoln); White Tail Ranch (Ovando); Seeley Lake Community Center (Seeley Lake); and Hi Country Snack Foods Finish (Lincoln). All checkpoints accessible by car.

Thursday, Feb. 15

6 p.m. 21st Annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner, Lincoln Community Center

Now through Feb. 28

Race to the Sky Art Show, Bernice's Bakery, Missoula