For those either considering or preparing for a ski holiday this season, either for the first or the umpteenth time, the requisite level of your personal health before and during your trip should be top of your checklist of things to accomplish. I do not attempt here to give you the definitive article on all and everything that can be done in this regard, but rather highlight a few areas which should help toward an enjoyable winter vacation.

Lack of preparation for a vigorous skiing holiday can lead to serious and painful injuries, says Liz Mendl, honorary physiotherapist to the British Ski & Snowboarding federation. Getting fit for the slopes is crucial to enjoying your week (or more) in the snow. She advocates a 6-week plan to strengthen muscles and aerobic capacity, targetting the quads, hamstrings and stomach muscles, and emphasises warming up, food intake high in carbohydrates, plus correct clothing (layers). She also tells you to listen to your body when it is fatigued, rather than going for that one final run (which reminds me of the joke: "How many people break their leg on their last run of the day?" Answer, 100%).

There are a myriad of ski-fitness programs you can undertake in all sorts of fitness magazines, many gyms in the UK run specialist ski-preparation classes and many programmes are detailed on the Internet. One that caught my attention is California's Heavenly Resort which has recently launched the first on-line ski-conditioning class. The site leads you through a step-by-step programme designed to improve your strength, flexibility and aerobic fitness. Bottom line, one size does not fit all. Gear any program to your own age, general level of fitness and health, and needs. And by the way, Neilson's "HOT TIP! HOT TIP!" in their brochure to lean with your back against a wall with your knees at a 90% angle holding the position for several minutes and repeating 4-5 times, does not cut it. Aside from being impossible to keep this up, you could do serious damage to yourself trying.

If you haven't skied before, or are in need of a tune-up, taking to one of the 83 dry slopes in the UK can be a good idea - either for lessons, or to get your ski-legs back again. (see www.natives.co.uk/dryski.htm). There are of course two schools of thought here. Because it is, in my opinion, considerably harder to ski on the dry slopes, if you accomplish some improvement here it will greatly cut down your time being spent on the nursery slopes and, for the better skiers, enable progression when you are at the resort, rather than spend the week getting back to where you left off last time. Alternatively, if you fall and hurt yourself, this may cause you to miss your vacation altogether if it is not far off, or give your confidence a setback, and skiing is very much about confidence. A personal decision at the end of the day.

Fitness is one thing. Dealing with altitude is another. If you were contemplating a trip to Colorado say, then combine a skiing altitude of 9,000-12,000 feet, anything from 10 to 15 hours of flight time, and a 7-hour time difference, and no matter how fit you are, your body will be punished. Locate the Resort's piste-maps, pocket guides, vacation tips - literally anything which has free advice on skiing at altitude - and there's usually plenty of it. Drinking extra water, and frequently, is all too often overlooked by the unwary.

Then there's the equipment. There is no doubt that the advances in ski and boot technology have enabled skiers to progress much quicker than even 10 years ago, let alone in the days of wooden skis and leather bindings. But there are other items of equipment out there which can help if you feel the need.

Firstly, ski helmets need not just be the preserve of children. In this era of Ski Areas including the in-bound trees of their resorts within the total skiiable acreage, avid tree skiers might want to consider lessening the likelihood of serious injury (or even death) by donning a specialist helmet.

Secondly, kneepads, whilst bulky, can protect and warm the joints, especially the neoprene variety. A whole range of knee supports exists, to hinged injury rehabilitation models, to those for everyday protection.

Thirdly, if you own your own boots (highly recommended), consider investing in some custom-built specialist insoles. The foundation of skiing starts at the feet, and the insoles are sucked on to mould perfectly with the contours of your feet. This stabilises the rear foot and stops arches collapsing. You'll be amazed at the difference to your skiing!

Finally, heed the 'Ski Friendly' advice, codes of conduct or whatever individual resorts request of you to make skiing safely on-mountain a priority. The European resorts are following the land of litigation (America) by taking steps to counter bad behaviour on the ski slopes by introducing regulations to enforce codes of conduct drawn up by their respective ski federations. Although they are tough to apply, a change of attitude is being sought rather than a desire to go to court to punish the reckless.