It was anything but easy for biathletes in this past weekend's Yukon Championships.

As a result of a heavy downpour of snow, coupled with cold temperatures, competitors had to work extra hard in each of the three races.

Volunteers and organizers also had to put in a little more effort, including grooming the trail from 5:30 a.m. right up to noon on Sunday.

The snow was soft and slow because of the cold temperatures over the two-day competition. The different races included an individual, sprint and relay. All of the participants were from Whitehorse.

"There was some really good shooting," said Vicki McCollum, president of Biathlon Yukon. "Saturday was a very slow, kind of overcast, lots of snow and then Sunday it was still slow, but it was a sunny day. So that, sort of, I think boosted everybody's spirits and shooting was a lot better."

Saturday's results saw Ryan Burlingame take first place in the youth men 12.5-km individual event.

Burlingame had a result of 1:04:40, which was more than 20 minutes faster than second place finisher Jeremy Johnson.

Erik Jacobsen was the third and final competitor in the youth men field to cross the finish line. Jacobsen came in at 1:37:50.

In the senior girls' 7.5-km race, Aliye Tuzlak placed first with a time of 0:53:07 and Evelynn Kitchen came in second at 0:58:11.

Erin Oliver-beebe finished first in the junior girls' 6-km distance, while Jennifer Curtis came in second and Olivia Findlay placed third.

Christopher Anderson finished on top in the junior boys' 6-km race.

In Sunday's sprint competition, Burlingame also placed first in the youth men category. Burlingame completed the 7.5-km course in just over 30 minutes.

Other category winners included Tuzlak, Oliver-beebe and Anderson.

"I was very impressed with the effort," said Judy Hartling, head coach of Biathlon Yukon. "Every racer, despite the conditions, finished the race."