Just below the Pisa Range snowline, herds of merino sheep graze. On the snowpack, some 200 metres above the furry mammals, a trio of Canadian cross-country skiers prepares to start their day.

They step out of the lodge, ski boots crunching in the snow, before clipping into their skis and gliding down the trail.

There are no trees on the Snow Farm on New Zealand’s South Island and the group of young athletes is treated to stunning views of the valley below.

For three weeks in the late summer Canadian National team skiers Emily Nishikawa, 27, Dahria Beatty, 22, and Maya MacIsaac Jones, 21, relished the opportunity to ski on snow every day.

Thanks to the reversal of season, the skiers took off from balmy roller ski conditions in Canmore, Alta. and landed in a wintery wonderland in New Zealand – at least at the Snow Farm’s base 1,500-metre elevation.

Located near Wanaka and Queenstown, the Snow Farm boasts 55 kilometres of groomed trails, a cozy lodge with beds and meals, making it the perfect summer training location for a team of skiers hoping to log quality snow time.

“It’s an amazing place for a training camp,” says Whitehorse native Nishikawa, speaking after a physio session in Calgary. She is now based in Canmore with the rest of the Canadian cross-country ski team.

Last season Nishikawa was the lone woman to represent Canada on the full world cup circuit. She won two gold medals – 5K and 30K classic – during the national championships near the season’s end in Whitehorse.

“That was really special and really fun,” she says of racing in front of a raucous hometown crowd, “a good way to finish off last season on a high note.”

Nishikawa was joined in New Zealand by fellow Whitehorse native Beatty and Albertan, MacIsaac Jones. They ran their own camp, dialling in technique they’d practised on roller skis earlier in the off-season. The Canadian biathlon and para-nordic teams were also running camps at the Snow Farm.

“That was a good learning experience for us,” says Beatty, who was in New Zealand for the first time.

It’s not uncommon for skiers to search out snow during the summer months.

Roller skis simulate the motion, but nothing can replace the feeling of being on snow.

In the past they’ve done camps at altitude, such as at Alberta’s Haig Glacier. But they’re at such a high elevation, they can only really do long distance training. It’s too difficult for the body to recover from other sessions. For their hard intensity, or race simulation workouts, they’d have to come of the glacier in a move Beatty referred to as yo-yo-ing.

The facility in New Zealand was perfect, at a Goldilocks altitude, allowing the trio to log many hours on the trails.

Beatty, who is also based out of Canmore, spent some time in the lowlands as well, exploring the area by foot as she ran and hiked through Mount Aspiring National Park. She describes being in a temperate rain forest and all of a sudden coming across snow and descending back down into cattle-grazing lands.

“(You go) through a lot of different climatic zones really quickly,” she says.

Beatty is fresh off a breakout season, which saw her claim the NorAm Circuit title – a domestic race series; post her best-ever world cup finish – 15th in a classic sprint at Canmore’s Ski Tour Canada Stage Five race in March; win two national titles in front of a hometown crowd – 10K freestyle and skate sprint; and be named FasterSkier’s Breakthrough Skier of the Year for Canada, alongside teammate and fellow Yukoner Knute Johnsgaard.

“I think the whole Tour was amazing and definitely a good confidence booster for me,” she told Cross-Country Canada.

“It showed me that if I put my mind to finding that extra gear inside me and putting it all out there, that I can produce good results.”

This year she’s qualified for the full world cup circuit, thanks to her NorAm win and top 30 world cup finish in Canmore.

“For me this is a big change,” she says.

What awaits her starting mid-November? Four race weekends with nine world cup races, all before the Christmas break.

After nationals she had this to say to Cross-country Canada: “Emily is a very strong skier, but I think we have a group of girls now ready to join her at the World Cup level. At least we are certainly ready to try. I think it is time we have a real women’s team over in Europe, which is definitely going to make us strong if we continue to push each other.”

This November, she’ll get her shot.

“I’m excited about this season and it will be a big learning curve,” she says.

“(It’s) a tough place to start, but I’m really looking forward to the experience.”