Yellowknife's Bristol Pit is becoming a snowboarding haven

The Northwest Territories is famous for its rugged landscape. Its snowboarding? Not so much.

In fact, the nearest commercial ski hill is about 1,600 kilometres from Yellowknife.

But that's beginning to change at the Bristol Pit in Yellowknife.

Spearheaded by Andrew Matthews and some dedicated volunteers, the city's snowboard club is maintaining the slopes at Bristol Pit, adding obstacles and holding classes for youngsters looking to try out the sport.

The Ragged Riders SnowboardClub launched earlier this month, with children between the ages of five to 15 getting outfitted for snowboard gear and learning the basics during weekend classes.

"Most of them have never snowboarded before this year," Matthews said. "We're really teaching them the basics of how to snowboard, getting them into the sport and sharing how amazing the snowboarding community is here."

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Matthews is from Yellowknife and spent 10 years snowboarding competitively, including in the World Cup. Now that he's moved back home, he's giving back to the next generation.

"It gives the kids an outlet, something to do, to get outside and enjoy the outdoors and snowboarding is an amazing way to do that," he said.

"When I was growing up, we didn't have our own spot, so we'd just make our jumps here and there it probably wasn't the safest thing to do," he said. "To have a place that's safe and regulated that's beneficial for them."

For 15-year-old Robert Paddock, the goal is to compete in the Arctic Winter Games in 2018. Matthews lets him use some of his old gear and the two work on some of the finer points of the sport.

"You can tell they really care about the sport itself," Paddock said. "They come out here every Saturday, every Sunday, they run the lifts and use the gear. It's a great place to come."