Nothing quite matches the physical and mental demands of winter sports. Watching the Winter Olympics in Italy over the next two weeks will remind you just how exhilarating and challenging these activities can be.

But if you are heading for the piste this winter, are you really prepared? According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents more than 10,000 people visit British hospitals each year as a result of skiing and snowboarding accidents — ranging from broken bones,concussion injuries and torn ligaments.

So what goes wrong? Most people are simply not fit enough to cope with the demands of a week on the slopes. “Exhaustion and a lack of fitness are the main reasons people hurt themselves,” says Matt Todman, a consultant physiotherapist at the Sports and Spinal Clinic on Harley Street in London.

“It is tougher than they expect.” He and other experts recommend at least four weeks of sport-specific conditioning to get ready for a snow-sport holiday. Yet more than half of skiers and snowboarders questioned in a survey, commissioned by Direct Line insurers last month, admitted they did no extra exercise to prepare for their trip.

It is not just novices who are prone to falls resulting in sprains and strains, the survey found. Beginners tend to be cautious, but hurt themselves through lack of balance and technique. While experienced skiers and snowboarders say that they have found themselves struggling on a difficult slope with injury often being the outcome. As a result, 15 per cent of skiers are forced to sacrifice more than three days of their holidays after hurting themselves.

SKIING:

Slippery slope: British champion Graham Bell, a fitness adviser to the Ski Club of Great Britain, says that revolutions in ski design mean “it is easy to roll your skis on to their edges and carve into the turn like racers. But that leads to greater centrifugal forces being transferred up through the body, creating even more work for weary legs, and falls often result.” Todman says that the most common ski injuries are to the medial collatoral ligament (on the inside of the knee), caused by pressure during repeated turns, and to the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee, when the upper leg twists one way and the lower leg the other.

Damage limitation: A good level of cardiovascular endurance is crucial and Bell recommends 20-minute to one-hour sessions of cycling (favoured by World Cup skiers), running and ice skating or roller-blading (which require similar lateral movement to skiing) three to four times a week for six weeks before your trip. Stretching before you ski helps you to turn more freely, Bell says (see www. skiclub.co.uk for sug- gested stretches). The American Council on Exercise says 70 per cent of lower-leg fractures and serious knee injuries are caused by ski bindings failing to release, so have them adjusted correctly.

Limbering up: Strong core muscles (see Gabby Logan, page 19) are important both for preventing falls and helping you to get back on your feet if you do tumble. “It’s easy to forget how physical a day’s skiing can be,” says Bell. “You do four to six hours of physical exercise with bursts of effort followed by recovery on the lift. And at high altitude.” The result is improved endurance.

SNOWBOARDING:

Slippery slope: Fractured wrists are the most common injury — twice as likely for snowboarders than skiers. Ankle injuries are also common as a result of “less support around the ankles from the soft boots”, says Todman. He adds that boarders are prone to whiplash injuries when attempting moves on harder snow and to dislocated shoulders.

Damage limitation: The snowboarding action comes from the trunk muscles and legs, and Pilates exercises are a great help, Todman says. Improve your balance by using either a “wobble” board in a gym or put a tennis ball under a piece of wood and stand on it. This also strengthens the legs. Todman advises snowboarders to do simple exercises every day before going away. “Squatting on alternate legs for three minutes while you are in the shower can help to prepare your muscles,” he says. “But the real key is to be aerobically fit.” A helmet and wrist pads are a good idea to protect in a fall.

Limbering up: Physical benefits are similar to skiing, but because of the jumps and moves it involves, the leg muscles tend to become stronger more quickly. Snowboarding is particularly good at strengthening the thighs and buttocks. Since even proficient boarders spend much of their time on the floor, the arms get a workout too as they push you to a standing position. The better you become, the more calories you burn (beginners burn around 350 calories an hour while experienced snowboarders can use up to 450).

ICE-SKATING:

Slippery slope: Unfortunately, falling is part of the learning process in this sport. Most recreational skating injuries occur above the waist as a result of falls with wrists, elbows and shoulders commonly affected. For sufficient ankle support and overall control, your boots should fit snugly — you may need to come down half a size from your regular shoe size. Badly fitting boots can lead to tendonitis (and inflamed and painful Achilles tendon) as they rub against the heel.

Damage limitation: Todman recommends Pilates-style Swiss ball exercises to strengthen the core muscles and resistance training for the legs. “A vigorous form of dance, such as salsa, which improves cardiovascular fitness, co-ordination and balance will help you to get fit for skating,” says Louise Sutton, lecturer in health and exercise science at Leeds Metropolitan University. “And inline skating, which mimics the action, is undoubtedly a good way to train for the ice.”

Limbering up: Skating is not an eyeballs-out kind of sport — you may not even work up a sweat — but it is a great way to tighten up the leg, buttocks and stomach muscles. Rather than burning calories and hugely improving your stamina, its biggest benefits are improved flexibility, strength and, of course, balance.

Number crunching

15 per cent of skiers lose three days’ holiday after injury
20 per cent of holidaymakers still go skiing or snowboarding without any insurance cover at all
43 per cent of those who break a wrist doing winter sports are first-time snowboarders
450 calories are burnt an hour skiing and snowboarding
£34k is the highest winter sports claim that Tesco Insurance has received to date for a skier who collided with a ski lift
1.25 million Britons will hit the slopes this year

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