With a couple of months to go, you still have time to get fit and ready for the season. Follow our five tips and you'll really improve your holiday.
Get fitter
Preparing your leg muscles for a mogul-bashing time away will undoubtedly improve your skiing or snowboarding trip. In Cheshire, Physiofit (0161-926 9988, physiofit.co.uk) runs a Prepare to Ski with Pilates course over six weeks for £60 – the next one starts in January. Bath's RJS Fitness (07811 430762, bit.ly/vEwe3J) has six similar sessions for £90, while Cardiff's Barefoot Studio (01446 775772, bit.ly/u8lR3l) charges £48 for a six-week course. Pilates4Sport in St Helens, Merseyside, has a pilates and yoga ski class (01744 751115, bit.ly/uVeaQG, price based on the length of course you need).
Londoners have the Appi Health Prepare to Ski Clinic (020-8879 7711, bit.ly/tRj0Cr, prices from around £30 a session) which throughout January is running a course that assess past injuries, puts you through biomechanical tests and creates a bespoke programme of fitness and core stability. The Putney Chiropractic Clinic (020-8785 6144, putneychiropractic.co.uk), where Ski Sunday's Graham Bell goes, offer a similar service for £125, analysing your skiing posture, and x-raying problem areas if necessary – further chiropractic sessions then cost £38.
In Edinburgh, Studio Eh1 (0800 083 5022, tinyurl.com/eh1ski) has a Ski-Fit course using Powerplate – a vibrating machine that helps recreate the shocks and forces your legs will have to get used to out on the slopes. It's £355 for a 10-week course. Alternatively, go full posh and get a bespoke workout with a ski-savvy personal trainer such as Brighton-based James Bartram (07958 495895, bfit.co.uk) who charges £40 per one-hour session or £350 for 10 sessions.
Get some new kit
A little retail therapy is perfect for ramping up the holiday excitement, but getting the wrong kit can ruin your hard-earned break. Enter the Demo Day, where prospective buyers can try out the latest snowboards and skis at many of the UK's indoor snow slopes. The Snowboard Asylum (0844 499 1414, snowboard-asylum.com) has shops at Tamworth's SnowDome, and Milton Keynes, Castleford and Glasgow's Xscape slopes. On special demo days, you can take any of their boards on to the indoor snow for free, and if you like the board enough to buy it, they'll knock your lift pass price off the final sale – check the website for dates.
The Ski Club of Great Britain (020 8410 2000, skiclub.co.uk) is running test evenings on 29 November at Chill FactorE in Manchester (0161-749 2222, chillfactore.com), and on 1 December at The Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead (0845 258 9000, thesnowcentre.com) in conjunction with Snow+Rock (0845 100 1000, snowandrock.com), who will have their full range of skis and snowboards for users to try out. Ski Club of GB members get 10% discount on any kit bought as well as a free lift pass for the evening; non-members must buy a pass costing £34. Snow+Rock are also putting on a ladies-only demo night on 9 November at Hemel – same details apply. And to be doubly sure of having comfy ski boots, take them straight to the experts at Profeet in Fulham (020-7736 0046, profeet.co.uk) who can digitally map your feet, video-analyse your skiing stance and simulating the shocks and pressures you're likely to encounter. By heat-moulding the boots' hard, plastic outer, and cutting, moulding and re-shaping the inner boot (as well as tuning the flex and gait of your boot), the Pro Feet technicians effectively "pimp" your ski-boot ride, and promise increased comfort, reduced pain, improved performance and a reduced risk of injury – all for £150, purchase price of the boots not included.
Stay safe
For those thinking about heading off-piste this winter, North Face (0800 328 0012, uk.thenorthface.com) are bringing Chamonix-based ski guide James Morland to various Snow+Rock stores throughout November for a series of avalanche awareness lectures – see dates on the North Face Facebook page at on.fb.me/saucLp, tickets £7.
If you'd prefer a more hands-on course, Yorkshire-based Alpine Guides (0113 815 1904, bit.ly/vesLRz) are running a weekend Avalanche Awareness course in Ilkley on the 26/27 November for £120. Expect a morning of classroom theory followed by on-hill searches using avalanche transceivers.
Alternatively, Mountain Leader Gary Hodgson (07720 001326, bit.ly/vwTwBx) has been running his Winter Skills Courses – including a one-day avalanche awareness programme training with search and rescue equipment, £125 – on Ben Nevis for ten years. Do the full course and you'll be able to dig a snow pit to check the likelihood of the slope sliding in the first place, as well as rudimentary survival techniques for those stuck in the backcountry. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland (01738 493942, bit.ly/cxbHr) are also running avalanche awareness day courses in January and February costing £40 for members and £50 non-members – see website for dates. There's classroom theory in the morning, then you head up to either the Aonach Mor or Glencoe ski areas in the Nevis Range for an afternoon of practical demonstrations.
Unleash some new skills
Virtually every dry ski slope and indoor snow facility have ski and snowboard instructors itching to sharpen your skills before the holiday, but Huntley Nordic Outdoor Centre near Aberdeen (01466 794428, hnoc.nordicski.org.uk) are the only UK venue offering cross-country skiing courses. Dates will be up on the website from 6 November. Or if you fancy impressing your fellow holidaymakers with a pirouette or two on your chosen resort's frozen lake, how about a private lesson with Strictly Ice Dancing winner Zoia Birmingham (who partnered Arsenal's David Seaman)? Zola can be booked through Queens Ice Rink in Bayswater, London (020-7229 0172; queensiceandbowl.co.uk) for around £40 per hour lesson, plus £10.50 entry to the rink.
And for those who like to impress, why not tune your fellow chalet-goers skis and snowboards to perfection? Jon Coster runs a unique Ski Tuning Workshop in Nottingham (07875 720780, bit.ly/rV1UdY), £70 for a half day). Jon promises a one-on-one masterclass, and aims to give serious skiers and snowboarders a glimpse behind the curtain on the "dark art" of ski maintenance.
Spread the love
If your family are reluctant skiers, introduce them to the potentially awesome thrills on offer through Manchester's Chill FactorE Snowsports Academy (0161 749 2222, bit.ly/vtLwNs). The Infant Academy is open to four- to five-year-olds (£80 for three 50-minute sessions), and the Junior Academy from six- to 12-year-olds (£125 for three sessions). Both aim to give kids the opportunity to sample both skiing and snowboarding, as well as introducing them to uging, sledging and simply playing in the snow.
Alternatively, the Warren Miller Ski and Snowboard Film Tour hits cinemas around the UK between November 2011 and January 2012 (warrenmiller.co.uk) and might tip the scales, with beautiful, slow-motion shots of deep powder skiing and beautiful mountain views.
For those looking for love on the slopes, the original Gay Ski Week (gayskiweek.com) is scheduled to take place in Aspen from 15-22 January 2012, while the spin-off European Gay Ski Week (europeangayskiweek.com) is scheduled for Alpe d'Huez, 24-31 March, while for straight skiers and snowboarders, there's no shortage of companies selling "singles" snowboard and ski holidays, with neilson.co.uk/ski/solo-holidays, alpineelements.co.uk, and pistepals.com leading the bunch. If you want to meet someone before you go, Fitness Dating (bit.ly/rKA1BL) claims to be the "world's largest online dating site dedicated to people into skiing and an active lifestyle", with a promised network of UK-based snowsports fans where, ahem, relationships always "workout".
