North Melbourne is set for a freezing start to its camp in Utah with snow falling two weeks earlier than normal in the north of the state.

In previous years the Roos have arrived during October in the midst of light snow fall which increases towards the end of the camp. This year looks likely to be a much different story with the team touching down in mid-November.

To combat the affect the heavy snowfall could have on the camp, the training regime will be altered according to nutrition and conditioning coach Jona Segal.

“The focus of the Utah trip is a little bit different this year, there’s certainly a higher skill focus,” Jona told kangaroos.com.au.

“It’s more a high volume skill camp but fortunately we can do it at altitude and get the physiological benefits of that as well. There’ll be a lot of outdoor running sessions and if we do come across some heavy snow during some of those days, we might drop elevation.”

Powder Mountain Resort in Ogden, just over an hour away from Park City near where the Kangaroos are staying, recently received 30 inches of snow and has been filled with keen skiers ahead of what promises to be a very cold and snowy lead up to winter.

According to the National Weather Service, Salt Lake City doesn’t normally get its first measurable snow at the airport station until November 7th or 8th.

Colder temperatures and extra snow will mean more indoor skills sessions and less lengthy mountain hikes which the players have endured during the last two camps.

“The hiking is a lot less of a feature as it was in previous years as we focus on a heavy volume of skill work this time,” Segal said.

“Ultimately we won’t know exactly what we’re going to get weather wise until we get there. We’re really lucky that the relationships we’ve formed in Utah allow us to have access to some fantastic indoor facilities which we will get to take advantage of.”

The fitness and coaching staff are prepared for whatever mother nature will throw their way and are confident the group will get the right combination of intense fitness training while still reaping the benefits of high altitude.

“We’ll stay as high as we can for as many sessions as we can and then if we have to go lower, we will.”

“We’re ready to experience a variety of conditions over the three week period and it won’t matter what comes our way, the guys will be pushed to their limits no matter what.”