Some of the Yukon's best ski trails were on display this past week for a group of cross country skiers from Canmore.

After just under a week in Whitehorse, the first-ever skiing exchange program between the two communities came to end Wednesday.

The 13 participating Alberta skiers left Whitehorse today at 6 a.m.

"It's just a taste," said Val Thompson, Canmore's co-ordinator of the exchange. "It's been a tease and all the kids, myself included, were all talking about coming back with our family to do the Chilkoot Trail or canoe the Firth. Everyone is excited about coming back again."

The exchange program was funded by Heritage Canada. The program not only has the goal of providing youth with the opportunity to visit other parts of the country, but it also fosters friendship with other Canadians through sport.

There were 15 kids, aged 11 to 14 years old, on the Whitehorse-side.

In the middle of March, the Whitehorse group travelled to Canmore, where they skied at Canmore Nordic Centre, went downhill skiing at Lake Louise and participated in a race on the final day.

Moya Painter was one of the Yukon participants in the exchange program. She said she enjoyed travelling to Canmore.

"It was really beautiful," she said. "I was surprised how warm it was thought."

One of Painter's highlights in Canmore was going up a mountain in a gondola.

"It was a really beautiful view from up there, and also I though skiing at the Nordic centre was really fun," she said. "They had really nice trails."

Eleven-year-old Caelan McLean also had fun travelling to Canmore.

"I thought it would be a fun experience," he said.

The Canmore kids arrived just in time to take part in the 23rd annual Buckwheat Ski Classic, held on Saturday, near Skagway.

Other activities included going toboganning in Carcross desert, ski orienteering, gold panning at MacBride Museum and skijoring at Marsh Lake.

One of the longer skiing trips involved starting at Fish Lake Road and skiing over Mt. McIntyre.

"It's funny, the (Yukon) kids say we did too little skiing on that end and too much on this end, so between the two we balanced it out," joked Lauren Crooks, coach of green squad for Cross Country Yukon and one of the chaperones for the exchange program.

Crooks said the exchange was an amazing experience.

"Canmore and Whitehorse seem so well-matched, great kids from both ends, no problems whatsoever," she said. "Kids really grow through this, it makes them enjoy their sport more, I could just here them. They are so proud do show off their place."

Despite living in Canmore her whole life, 11-year-old Lauren Turcott is no stranger to travelling to Whitehorse. Her mother grew up in the Yukon capital and Turcott has an uncle who still lives in the territory.

Turcott said she really liked coming back for the exchange program.

"We have never come up in the winter, so it was really nice," she said. "Normally I come up and I just stay at my uncle's house and do stuff around there and this time we were skiing and doing a lot more stuff."

Stefan Martin, 12, was also one of the Canmore kids to travel to Whitehorse. Martin said he didn't have any expectations for his first trip to Whitehorse, but admitted he thought the city would be bigger as a result of it being the Yukon capital.

"For me I don't think I have any highlights, I just think the whole thing was great," he said.

Thompson said it was a nice experience for her whole group.

"We have had an incredible week here," she said. "(We were) very struck by the strong sense of community within the ski club and within Whitehorse and how unbelievably willing everyone was to really go out of their way to make sure our visit here was incredible."