JAY – A team of eight people plan to participate in the Maine Peak to Peak Challenge today through Monday by skiing at 17 mountains. The team will travel nearly 1,000 miles over three-and-a-half days, hitting 85 of the 560 trails.

The tour begins at 1:30 p.m. today at Spruce Mountain in Jay and concludes Monday at the Camden Snow Bowl in Camden.

The team’s goal is for each person to either ski or ride a snowboard down the featured mountains around the state.

They’ve collected pledges, which will be donated to the Ski Museum of Maine, located at Church Street Commons in Farmington, Bo Bigelow, project director of the Maine Ski Association, said Thursday. Maine Ski Association is a sponsor of the challenge and is a nonprofit trade association, Bigelow said.

“We’re raising money for the Ski Museum of Maine. Team members have already donated $250, the ski areas are making donations at each stop, and we’ll be distributing ski museum information at the stops,” Sweetser said.

Items from Maine’s ski and snowboard industry are preserved by the museum.

“Most skiers are not aware of the varied terrain, trails and character found at the 17 Ski Maine areas in the state,” Greg Sweetser, executive director of the Ski Maine Association, said in a news release. “There are 560 trails, 83 lifts and acres of glades covering our peaks. Ski Maine wants to challenge skiers and snowboarders to visit as many as they can during the 2007-08 season. There is so much skiing in Maine that it will take a person all winter to enjoy each of our areas.”

To get more information on participating in a winter-long Peak to Peak Challenge go to www.skimaine.com.

The challenge schedule is:

• 1:30 p.m., Spruce Mountain, Jay, departs 2:15 p.m.;

• 3 p.m., Lost Valley, Auburn, departs 3:30 p.m.;

• 4:30 p.m., Shawnee Peak, Bridgton, leaves 5:15 p.m.

• 6:15 p.m., Mt. Abram, Greenwood.

Saturday

• 8 a.m., Sunday River, Bethel, depart 9 a.m.;

• 10 a.m., Black Mountain, Rumford, depart 10:30 a.m.;

• 11:30 a.m., Titcomb Mountain, Farmington, leave 12:30 p.m.;

• 1:30 p.m., Saddleback Mountain, Rangeley, leave 2:15 p.m.;

• 3:15 p.m., Sugarloaf/USA.

Sunday

• 8:30 a.m., Baker Mountain, Moscow, depart 9 a.m.;

• 10 a.m., Eaton Mountain, Skowhegan, leave 10:30 a.m.;

• 11:30 a.m., Hermon Mountain, Herman, depart 12:30 p.m.;

• 2 p.m., Mount Jefferson, Lee, depart 2:30 p.m.;

• 5 p.m., Big Rock, Mars Hill, leave 6:30 p.m.;

• 7 p.m., Quoggy Jo, Presque Isle.

Monday

• 9 a.m., Lonesome Pine Trails, Fort Kent, depart 10 a.m.;

• 3:30 p.m.; Camden Snow Bowl, depart 5 p.m.