On March 7, cross country skiers Natalie Hynes and Simon Cash embarked on an epic journey – to ski all 94-some kilometres of the Mount McIntyre ski trails.

The duo accomplished the personal challenge in about eight hours.

Cash said he enjoys challenging himself as the reason to ski the trails that day.

"I just enjoy long stuff," he said. "I like these types of adventures. It was the longest ski I have ever done. I enjoyed challenging myself like that."

Hynes, who skis with the University of Alaska, said skiing all the trails in a day has always been on her to-do list.

"It's been kind of a bucket list thing to want to do all the trails in a day," said Hynes. "I've skied them all growing up in Whitehorse but not all in a day.

"I got to chatting with Simon and he made the most efficient route possible without much doubling back."

The pair said it was a great day to be out on the trails. They picked March 7 strategically, as it was the day after the Yukon Ski Marathon so the trails were nicely groomed.

"It was a beautiful day," said Cash. "We were discussing that if we did it in January, there would be no daylight and it would kind of depressing. March, it was sunny and there was no feeling of being the last ones out there.

"Most of the trails were groomed and there wasn't much powder," said Hynes. "I enjoyed the morning. We were skate-skiing so it was faster. There also weren't many people out yet."

They started their ski-odyssey skate-skiing in the morning before switching to classic in the afternoon. The pair did four laps of the trails, each ending back at the ski chalet so they could get some water and a quick bite before heading back out.

"We didn't come in to take long breaks," said Cash. "There was no relaxing. We'd refill water and grab snacks to eat while we were skiing.

"In the afternoon we changed from skate to classic so we switched our gear over."

Although Hynes has skied all the trails before, she said it was a different feeling doing them all at once.

"I've done every trail so much I feel like I've done it all," she said. "Doing it back-to-back was a whole new experience. Eight hours was so much tougher. All that distance covered hits you harder."

Cash's favourite part of the journey was the B Loops.

"They were Ski-doo-groomed and they were windy," he said. "They were like an eight-kilometre roller coaster.

"Definitely the hardest part was the ascent to Skyline. It's like 10 kilometres all uphill then back down. That was the toughest moment."

"Skyline was the furthest portion," said Hynes. "We didn't know if we would make it back in time before the chalet closed but we got back a half-hour before that."

However challenging some of the trails got, Cash said, he and Hynes worked as a team to accomplish the goal – even if they didn't speak much.

"We pushed each other out there," said Cash. "Even on regular ski days, we enjoy going hard. We didn't talk much but it was good; we kept chasing each other."

After such a long day of skiing, Hynes said she still felt fine – minus her feet.

"It didn't feel different than a race," said Hynes. "It took so long and felt like a day's journey and a long day's work. But nothing too crazy; there was no collapse at the end or feeling like I just needed to rest the next day.

"I was surprised how well my body felt, except for my feet. I've been getting blisters in my classic boots and my feet were feeling it by the end."

Cash said it was a different kind of energy used.

"Growing up, I did competitive races of five, 10, and 35-45 kilometres," he said. "I'm used to pushing my body. This was whole depleted energy. We changed to classic technique to switch the muscles used."

After such a long journey, the pair said they were unsure, at the time, how they were going to top the feat.