They may not have had an official ski hill to practice on all season, but that didn't stop the seven participating Whitehorse snowboarders from wowing more than a few people at Sunday's Arctic Winter Games (AWG) trials competition.

The event was put on by the Snowboard Yukon Association and held for the first time at Mt. Maichen in Watson Lake.

"The kids were really prepared, that is the thing I was impressed with," said Chris McNutt, president of Snowboard Yukon. "By the time the Sunday competition came around they were doing well, they were laying down some good tricks. So I was just impressed with their dedication and wherever they have been able to find the space to ride this winter that they have been doing it."

The snowboarders from Whitehorse were the only ones who participated at the trials, which consisted of a slopestyle event and big air competition. Both competitions were judged by three members of Snowboard Yukon.

Snowboarders at the trials were evaluated in four main categories: the height of the jumps made in a run, rotation, the difficulty of the trick and the overall impression.

Out of the seven, five snowboarders were selected for the team. Participants had three runs each for both events, with the lowest mark being discarded. The two highest scores in each the slopestyle and big competitions were then tallied up and added together for a final mark.

There are two categories for snowboarding at the AWG, being junior and juvenile. Juniors are those born in 1989 or younger, while juveniles are individuals born in 1991 or younger. A maximum of two individuals per category can be chosen to represent the Yukon at the AWG.

Despite all of the competitors being young enough to compete in the juvenile category, the two highest male scores were selected to for the junior age group at the Games.

Alexander Chisolme and Sam Ferguson will compete in the junior male category. Chisolme finished with a combined score of 84.4, while Ferguson's final score of 81.7 was good enough for second place at the event.

Max Melvin-McNutt came in third place with a total score of 75.2 and will participate in the juvenile male category along with Patrick Parker. Parker finished a close fourth with a combined score of 72.

Beth Ferguson was the lone female participant at the trials and will represent the Yukon in the juvenile category. She finished with a total score of 47.9.

At the 2008 AWG, there will be four events for snowboarding that all of the competitors must take part in. Three will be judged and one will be a time-based competition.

Normally, the trials are held at Mt. Sima, but due to the closure of the hill, announced earlier in the season, it had to be relocated to Mt. Maichen.

Both parents and members of Snowboard Yukon constructed the slopestyle course on Saturday. The course consisted of two large jumps and another one that lead into a rail.

Also on Saturday, the Team Yukon head coach held a training session where she took all the athletes out on the hill and gave them tips about technique and what to expect at the trials. She also watched them in action and provided feedback on how they were doing.

McNutt said the purpose of the training session was to prepare the snowboarders for the trials.

"In a normal season, we would have had training sessions and weekend long camps to work with the coach just to develop the athletes' skills and we just haven't had the ability to do that, which is really unfortunate," he said. "So it was kind of like a little cram session."

The trials began on Sunday at 11 a.m. with the slopestyle event. After it had concluded, one of the larger jumps on the course was built up even more for the big air competition.

McNutt said he was happy with the way the course turned out.

"It was as good as we could have done in the short time and it was enough of a quality course that we did have a good competition, which is really what you are looking for," he said. "Considering the circumstances it was the best we could do."

He said he was impressed by how well the trials competitors did.

"They all really wanted to be on the team and it worked out well," McNutt said. "They kind of pushed each other and it was a good kind of competitive edge in the air during the competition and they did well. We have a good team going to Yellowknife."

McNutt said there is no pressure for the snowboarders going to the AWG and that Snowboard Yukon is focussing more on personal bests than medal totals.

"I think what is really important is just for them to develop as athletes," he said. "We are not looking at medal haul, if there's any goals it's just for them to go and do the best they can and if they can lay down the most solid run possible and it gets fifth, well then that's great. That's the victory in itself just doing what you can do. We are not counting any medals or we are not going to be disappointed if there are no medals, but we just try to prepare them as the best we can."

The five competing snowboarders will be heading back to Mt. Maichen for one final weekend session before the Games begin on March 9.