Whitehorse's Graham Nishikawa has earned another crack at competing against the world's best.

After a stellar 2010-2011 season that included five Nor-Am Cup wins – good enough to win the Haywood series – Nishikawa was named to the senior national cross-country ski team.

Winning that series qualified Nishikawa for the first of this coming season's World Cup races with the senior team – representing the first time he started the season on the circuit.

"I'll be in Europe to start the season and I've been given 10 World Cup starts,” he said. "My goal is to have a top 20 result early on.”

That goal is especially realistic given Nishikawa's best finish on the circuit last season, a top 30 finish at the World Cup in Sweden.

Nishikawa will leave for Europe on Nov. 5, and will compete in the Scandinavian Cup in Sweden before hitting the World Cup circuit.

He hopes his previous experience in Europe will help him re-adjust to the level of competition.

"It's not my first time going over,” he said. "You've seen how the level is so you know what to expect.”

The team will participate in a weeklong training camp prior to the start of the World Cup circuit in Beitostolen, Norway, on Nov. 19-20. The team will hit the start line for a FIS race in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, Nov. 11-13.

The remaining athletes will train at the Canmore Nordic Centre, and chase snow across the country before the start of the Haywood Nor-Am and Teck Sprint Series circuit at Sovereign Lake near Vernon, B.C., Dec. 11-12.

And Graham is not the only Nishikawa, or Yukoner, picking up more national team experience.

His sister Emily was also named to Cross Country Canada's Senior Development team last season, which means they are not part of the bunch that automatically qualifies for all the World Cup events of the season.

Fellow Yukoners Knute Johnsgaard, Dahria Beatty and Janelle Greer were also named to Canada's junior squad.

The Canmore-based skiers will get an earlier season than they're used to in the North.

Along with Canada's elite Nordic athletes, the Yukoners will gain early-season snow access at their home training centre thanks to an innovative project that stock-piles snow at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

The project, coined Frozen Thunder, is kicking off in sync with Cross Country Canada's naming of its 2011-2012 national ski team.

The initiative stored enough snow last spring to cover two kilometers of trail in a large pile under a thick layer of sawdust, used to insulate it during the summer months.

The Canmore Nordic Centre, which is the first facility in North America to take on the initiative, became the first Nordic venue on the continent to open (Oct. 15) for training and recreational enjoyment.

Modeled after similar snow preservation projects in Europe, Frozen Thunder originally piloted in 2009 with 400 metres of groomed ski trail.

Last year, the Nordic Centre expanded the terrain to a one-kilometre loop. Athletes will now have access to two kilometers of solid snow terrain.

"Having the ability to train, on snow and at home, not only provides a cost-effective alternative for our program that has traditionally seen athletes sent to Europe for early-season training, but it will help ensure our athletes are fully rested and prepared to compete at an elite level when the World Cup season starts in November,” said Tom Holland, high-performance director with Cross Country Canada.

"The Europeans have always had an advantage on us with early on-snow training.

This is a great addition to our national training centre which is very important for the development and preparation of the national ski team.”

The 2011 opening of Frozen Thunder falls in conjunction with Cross Country Canada unveiling its 2011-12 National Ski Team led by World Championship gold medallists, Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey. The Canadian duo shocked the world to win the team sprint in Oslo, Norway last February.

• With files from Justin Brisbane at the Rocky Mountain Outlook.