Yukon snowboarders took three athletes to Calgary to compete in the Western Championships slopestyle competition at the Calgary Olympic Park last Sunday.

Snowboard coach Bert Faulds joined the three snowboarders in Calgary and said they had to battle challenging conditions on the mountain.

"It was rough conditions," said Faulds. "It was plus nine (C), so the jumps got beat out. There was six-inches of slush. It makes it a lot harder to do rotations because there is no edge."

In the slopestyle competition, there were 93 competitors. Each rider had two runs in qualifications and the top 16 went to finals.

Lewis Bunce, competing in his first Western Championships, came in 69th. Faulds said Bunce was competing in his first real competition outside of the Yukon.

"He did a great, awesome job in his first real competition," said Faulds. "(For him) it was about checking out the competition and learning how it works out of the Yukon. He landed his first run and fell on his second."

The other snowboarders, Sammy Mather and Ben Machtans, have more competition experience and last competed at the Canada Winter Games. This experience helped as they had more exposure to competing in slush, said Faulds.

Mather, who won the B.C. provincial series this year, made it to the finals and placed 13th. Machtans landed his first run but missed on his second. Machtans just missed making the finals and placed 21st.

Faulds said the three athletes had really good days on the mountain.

"Totally couldn't have asked for better results," said Faulds. "There is close to 100 people competing, it can be a little much and easy to get into your head. These are the best results at Westerns for the Yukon."

With the Westerns over, the team will turn their attention to the Nationals, which will also take place in Calgary. Both Mather and Machtans will be competing, while Bunce will be headed back to the Yukon.

Mather and Machtans will be competing in the open and junior categories. Junior is 16 and under and open is 13 and up.

Faulds said medalling in junior is the goal.

"For Ben and Sammy, it would be sweet to podium in juniors," said Faulds. "It is a possibility. In the open, we want to get into finals."

While competing in slopestyle at the Nationals, the Yukon athletes will be doing two different courses. The course for the open category being more difficult.

During a slopestyle competition, Faulds said the first run you do in qualification should be a run you can hit so that in the finals you can go for it.

"In a competition run, you are doing a run you can already do and a run you can put down," said Faulds. "We call it a safety run, and then you get into your harder run in the finals."

The halfpipe competition is the first to go at the Nationals but the Yukon athletes will not be competing in it. Their training for the slopestyle open competition will begin Wednesday, and the competition held on Thursday.

They will then compete in big air on Saturday and the junior slopestyle competition on Sunday.