The year 2004 was certainly one of the busiest ever for the Yukon sports scene, and as we ring in the New Year, it doesn't look like the schedule will get any easier for our local athletes.

With events such as the Western Canadian alpine skiing championships, the Firefighters combat challenge competition and the national mixed curling championships being hosted in Whitehorse in 2005, the territory will once again be showcased around the country.

Here is a look at the next 12 months in sports, starting with the beginning of the curling season ths week.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Yukon curling championships will be held at Mount McIntyre, with both men's and ladies teams fighting for the right to represent the territory at the Karcher junior nationals in February.

Also this month in curling, the women's, men's, masters and senior's championships will also be held at Mount Mac. The women will face off for a spot in the Scott Tournament of Hearts, which also takes place in February, while the men will try to earn a spot at the Brier, which will be held in March.

Yukon swimmer Mackenzie Downing, who is now training and attended classes at the University of Victoria, is hoping for another banner year after picking up numerous provincial and national medals last season and just barely missing out on qualifying for the Athens Olympics. Downing will hit the water for her next major competition in February, the Canadian Interuniversity Swimming Championships in Edmonton.

While those of us living in the territory will be trying to make it through the cold Yukon winter, cross-country skier Graham Nishikawa will be touring Europe in February.

Nishikawa has been selected to represent Canada as part of a national ski team contingent heading off to Europe, competing in OPA European Cup races and the World Under 23 Championships.

Of course, the Yukon winter wouldn't be complete without the annual Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race will start in Whitehorse this year and finish in Fairbanks.

As of race deadline Dec.15, 23 people had signed up to run this year's Quest, although more applications could be received in the mail, if they are post-marked Dec.15. Notable local mushers registered in this year's Yukon Quest are Ed Hopkins (Tagish), Frank Turner (Whitehorse) and William Kleedehn (Carcross).

Mount Sima will play a significant role on the local sports scene this spring, as they host the 2005 Western Canadian apline skiing championships. About 100 skiers, plus parents and coaches, will descend on the territory in March and at least a couple of the territory's athletes should lay claim to a few medals of their own at the event.

Yukon coach Dick Eastmure, who was named Canadian coach of the year in November, is currently working with the team at Mount Sima, as well as preparing for a couple of Outside trips before March.

The first competition for the team is in mid-January, although Sammy Kent, who will also be training with the Vancouver ski team this winter, had some FIS (Federation International de Ski) races in December.

Also in March, the Yukon pee wee, bantam and midget AA rep hockey teams will be travelling to the B.C. provincial championships, in Osoyoos, Terrace and Quesnel and respectively.

The Bantams finished in third place at their last tournament in Prince George, B.C., a AAA event in Dec., while the midgets had a tougher time in Quesnel, B.C., but are hoping for an improvement this spring.

The bantams will tune up for provincials with another AAA tournament in Langley next month. The idea, said coach Mike Young, is for the team to get a lot of experience at the AAA level where teams are better, so when they go to the AA provincials they stand a better chance of winning gold.

'Provincials is the one we want to win,' he said. 'It can be disheartening when you don't win against the teams at these tournaments (AAA), but it will hopefully pay off in the end.'

Midget coach Joe Martin admitted his team needs a good game plan if they're going to be successful at provincials. And success is exactly what the coaching staff is aiming for, despite the set back.

'Unless every player here quits, nothing would make me change my mind (about winning provincials). They all have something in them that would help us win provincials. I just have to get it out of them.'

If any snow remains in Whitehorse come the last week of May, it will surely be melted by the approximately 100 firefighters arriving in the capital city for a Canadian combat challenge event. Whitehorse combat squad member James Paterson called the event 'the most important one of our lives,' because it's at home.

'It's May 21st at the S.S. Klondike. This is the one we've been waiting for.'

As residents of the territory welcome the summer months, visitors will also be embracing the warm Yukon weather, as hundreds take part in both the annual Yukon River Quest and the Kluane Chilkat Internatonal Bike Relay.

New to the territory this year will be Ride Yukon '05, as more than 1,000 motorcycles are expected to desend on the Yukon next June, organized by the local Harley Davidson dealership.

'I'm probably more optimistic about it now than ever before,' stated Dick Watts, the principle owner of the dealership. 'The response has been so overwhelming.

'Everyone thought I was absolutely, totally nuts to try and organize this. Now we'll see.'

Dozens of young athletes will have the opportunity to represent the territory in August, as they gear up for the 2004 Canada Summer Games in Regina. Yukon youth will compete in sports such as athletics, cycling, soccer and volleyball.

Camps for all of the team sports are scheduled over the next few months, with final selections taking place in the late spring or early summer.

The Whitehorse men's soccer team will also be heading south this year, taking to the field at the Canadian Men's Club Championships in Calgary Thanksgiving weekend. The team is already holding open practices, with about 30 athletes showing up on a regular basis.

And for just the second time in history, Whitehorse will host a Canadian Curling Association-sanctioned championship in November.

The 2006 Canadian mixed curling championship will be staged in the Yukon's capital, November 19-26, 2005, with games of course taking place at the Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre.

Mount Mac also hosted the 1990 Canadian senior men's and women's championships.

'I was very pleased with the news, as was Dave (Thompson, president of the Whitehorse Curling Club) obviously,' said Derek Charlton, the director of publicity and membership for the club, in an interview Monday. 'We were both heavily involved in working on the bid. I'm very happy for the club and for the city.'

As if all of those events weren't enough, Yukon swimmers, cross-country and alpine skiers, weightlifters, table tennis and badminton players, skippers, runners, cyclists, speed skaters, snowboarders and boxers will be involved in numerous competitions throughout the year.

All of which just goes to show, 2004 may have been one of the busiest years for local sports yet, but as impossible as it may seem, 2005 and 2006 could very well be even more hectic especially with the 2007 Canada Winter Games just over two years away.