As Cross Country Yukon coach Alain Masson said, Saturday was the "perfect day for skiing, the conditions were ideal."

The sun shone and the mercury in the thermometer read not too cold, not too hot, just right, for the cross country Yukon Championships at the ski trails at Mount McIntyre.

Skiers of all ages, from U8 to Masters, took to their respective courses. All races were a free mass start. Masson said this is standard in cross country competitions, to have one race decide the winner.

Competing in the Yukon Championships was the Arctic Winter Games cross country team. The Games will begin March 15, and Masson said this race was a good tune-up for the Arctics.

"All the Arctic Winter Games team was competing," said Masson. "This was a chance to race on courses used at Arctics.

"They weren't exactly the same, the courses will be different per age group, but most sections will be used at Arctics."

The Arctic Winter Games will have U14, U16 and U18 age categories. Masson said it is important that those representing the Yukon to be consistently racing.

"You need to race at this time of year," said Masson. "You can never simulate the intensity of racing in practice and that's really important."

Masson said in practice they do try to emulate race situations, but the atmosphere around a day of competition is hard to replicate.

"The race simulation is not the same," said Masson. "There is no P.A. system, no officials, no media out taking photos."

Fans lined the course in the stadium and on the trails, shaking cowbells and cheering on the passing skiers.

"A lot of skiers commented on the number of people around the stadium and around the trails," said Masson. "It's a boost for the athletes. It's important for them to experience that."

The young, future skiers were the first to take the trails on Saturday. Masson said it's always nice to see them race.

"It's always fun to see the younger athletes compete," said Masson. "You get a sense on the younger skiers about who could potentially make the travelling team."

Masson also said it’s nice to see program consistency and to witness the work put in by the young athletes and their coaches.

The U8 and U10 boys and girls raced 0.7 kilometres. Erik Embacher, Oliver Kralisch-Seguin and Sam Phillips were the top U8 boys.

Maggie Jane MacDonald, Coco Madsen and Nevay MacKinner were the top three in the girls' U8 category.

Peter Embacher, Mavik MacKinnon and Sitka Land-Gillis were the quickest U10 boys, while Mahee Patera Marchand and Clementine Madsen were the first and second girls.

The U12 boys and girls competed on a 1.2-kilometre course. Nicolas Giangrande was the quickest boy followed by Finegand Bradford and Heron Land-Gillis.

Aramintha Bradford won the girls' U12 free mass start. Sarah Svoboda and Juliet Crowe rounded out the podium.

Jonah McConnell was the quickest U14 boy finisher on the 2.75-kilometre loop. Finnegan Gallant and Misa Svoboda came second and third respectively.

The girls followed the same course and Sophie Molgat came out on top. Tess Carins-McDowell and Cheyenne Tirschmann followed.

Cole Germain outpaced second-place finisher Noah Marnik by 14 seconds to secure the U16 boys' crown. Bruce Porter came third.

On the 5.5-kilometre course, Constance Lapointe needed only 19:26 to become Yukon champion in the U16 girls division. Abigail Jirousek and Kate Mason rounded out the top three.

The U18s, seniors and masters all competed on an 8.25-kilometre course.

It was only .3 of a second that separated the top two in the U18 boys' race. Derek Deuling just edged out his fellow Team Canada racer, Sasha Masson, to win. Victor-Emile Thibeault came third.

Sonjaa Schmidt became the U18 girls champion, Dahlia Lapointe was second.

John Parry and Emilie Stuart-Jones became the men's and women's senior champions.

Dominic Bradford outpaced the rest of the competition to win the masters men race. It was a ski-tip that separated second and third. John Stamp came in one second ahead of Jean-Paul Molgat.

Aisha Montgomery was the top masters women. Lois Johnston and Anette Kralisch rounded out the top.

There is no end in sight for the cross country skiers. Next weekend, they will race in the Yukon Ski Marathon, which is followed by the Buckwheat Classic on March 7.

Once the Arctic Winter Games are over, Masson and the Cross Country Yukon team will be headed to Nationals in B.C.

Masson said Nationals will be the most important races for the skiers this season because they determine selections for spots on Team Canada.

Masson said these are the races the skiers want to be at peak performance.