One of the Yukon's top figure skaters is trying her hand at something new this season – pair skating.

Sixteen-year-old Bryn Hoffman has taken her talents to Calgary, where she is currently training with her new skating partner, 18-year-old Bryce Chudak of Edmonton, under the tutelage of former Canadian figure skating standouts Cody Hay and Annabelle Langlois.

Hoffman made the move to the Calalta Figure Skating Club in July, then spent the summer training with Chudak.

"I wanted to do pair skating,” she said when reached in Barrie, Ont. yesterday afternoon. "It is something I've always wanted to do. When I was little, because I'm really small, people always said I should do pairs. But because I was in Whitehorse, there was no partner opportunities.”

In March, Hoffman and Chudak completed a tryout in Calgary before both eventually decided to make the move.

The two were hoping to make their competitive debut this past weekend, but a botched throw in training recently resulted in a concussion for Hoffman.

"We were trying a throw triple loop,” she explained. "It was the very first time I tried it actually. Apparently it was good. I just clipped my heel at the end and fell back. I kind of bounced … I don't remember anything at all.”

The injury resulted in a few weeks off recovery time, but the pair has recently returned to the ice.

"I just started training last week again,” she said. "I'm pretty much back to normal now, but we lost a lot of training time. We're planning to compete in the middle of November at sectionals in Edmonton. We want to make it to nationals and hopefully place well – in both pairs and singles.”

Hoffman said training under Hay and Langlois – the 2008 Canadian national champions – has been an outstanding experience.

"They're really good and they're really knowledgeable,” she said. "I met them when they came to Whitehorse to a seminar last January. They thought I would be good for pairs and they looked around and found a guy who was interested.

"Right now, I'm competing in both singles and pairs. But I guess it's a lot easier to make it to nationals and international competitions through pairs, so I guess my long-term goal is pairs. But for right now though, I'm still training in both disciplines.”

While not at the rink, Hoffman attends the National Sport School in Calgary.

On Sunday, Hoffman had the opportunity to take in a live Battle of the Blades episode in Toronto. Her coach, Annabelle Langlois, competed in the show's second season with Georges Laraque.

No teams were eliminated from the CBC show this week, as the judges used this season's save to keep Shae-Lynn Bourne and Anson Carter in the competition.

Following the show, Hoffman and the group from Calgary were able to collect autographs from the figure skaters and former NHL players.

Hoffman said her two favourite skaters were Shae-Lynn Bourne and Jessica Dubé.

"It was really cool to see it live,” she said.

Hoffman, who attended Porter Creek Secondary School prior to her move to Calgary, is the daughter of Phil Hoffman and Cheryl Van Blaricom.

"It's a big move for her, for sure,” her dad told the Star. "I think she's thriving with the coaching there for sure. When the opportunity came up, she was sure keen on it. She wanted to grab it when it did come up.”