The benefits of high altitude training will be felt long after North’s pre-season training camp wraps up, Ed Vickers-Willis says.

Vickers-Willis and his fellow Utah travellers had their first training session of the pre-season campaign, and with training taking place in the snow covered mountains of Park City, the players are already starting to see the benefits of the camp.

“Today was good… (it was the) first time we got the footys out, so everyone was a bit rusty, I know I was, but really good to have a kick and it’s really snuck up on us how easily you blow up in the altitude and it ended up being quite a solid session,” Vickers-Willis told NMFC.com.au.

“People talk about it but I guess until you actually get here, you don’t really know. Your lungs just feel hollow.

“It’s a new experience but you can really see it’s paying dividends early.”

The 19-year-old missed a large part of the 2015 season after undergoing shoulder surgery, but is now up and running, taking part in full training with the rest of his teammates in America.

He said the pre-season camp would help ensure he was fit and firing when the entire playing group returns to training at Arden St in December.

“Speaking with the conditioning coaches, this first week (in Utah) is just about acclimatising to the conditions and getting used to the altitude so next week we can really have a crack and have three or four really solid days.

“When we get back, we can train harder and longer due to the altitude and that will really set us up for the Christmas break and then coming back and we’ll be flying.”

The players will have Thursday (Utah time) off, giving them a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving and recover from Wednesday’s gruelling session.

But there won’t be any turkey or stuffing on the plates.

“I was hoping we’d have a turkey, but I think it’s steak – it’s not the traditional Thanksgiving dinner but it will be good to experience over here, it’s a bit of a buzz.”