American Steve Nyman clocked the fastest time in training on Thursday for the season's opening Alpine World Cup downhill while the all-conquering Austrians occupied six of the top 11 spots.

After overnight snow delayed the start of the session for the second consecutive day, Nyman, the fourth skier out of the gate, set the early pace by blitzing down the Olympic course in a time of one minute, 49.88 seconds.

Austria's Christoph Gruber, who was fastest in opening training on Wednesday, followed up with another solid effort and posted the second best time of 1:50.41 ahead of Sweden's Patrik Jaerbyn in 1:50.66.

"Today was good, another good wake-up call," Nyman told reporters. "My confidence has been up there and training has been great. I feel like I learned a lot last year and prepared mentally and physically to be at the top."

Several familiar Austrian names also found their way into the top 10 times with World Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer clocking the sixth best effort behind team mate Werner Franz, who is making a comeback bid after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

Overall World Cup winner Benjamin Raich, who opened the defence of his crown with a victory in the season-opening slalom in Finland, was 10th quickest and was followed across the line by last year's Lake Louise downhill winner and 2002 Olympic champion Fritz Strobl.

Hermann Maier failed to make an impression however, posting the 28th best time as he continued to battle sinus problems.

"At the moment I am not in the best shape but maybe it is getting better," said Maier. "Because of this I can have no goals."

Despite Maier's struggles, the Austrians will be expecting good results from Saturday's downhill and Sunday's super-G.

Lake Louise has been a happy hunting ground for Austrian skiers, who have won five of the six downhills and four of six super-Gs staged here since 1999.

Outspoken American Bode Miller, who won the 2004 Lake Louise downhill to interrupt the Austrian dominance in the Canadian Rockies, continued to adjust to new equipment but was just 1.51 seconds off the pace, clocking the 13th best time.