The chalet's booked, the salopettes are at the cleaners, and you've even had passport pics taken for the ski pass ...

The only drawback is that festive gluttony is still a recent memory.

Your waistline looks like a sack of spanners, and the mere thought of climbing the stairs makes you reach for a comforting Mars bar.

Obviously this will go some way to eliminating you from the on-piste beautiful people contest.

But more seriously, warn sports physiotherapists, lack of preparation for a vigorous skiing holiday can lead to serious and painful injuries.

The British Ski and Snowboarding Federation's honorary physiotherapist Liz Mendl says getting fit for the slopes is crucial to enjoying your week in the white fluffy stuff.

She outlines a six-week plan to strengthen muscles and aerobic capacity before you clap eyes on your first button lift of the season.

She says that any sport which involves running, twisting and jumping can be ideal preparation for hitting the slopes.

"Power, endurance, flexibility and agility are important," she says, adding that in exercising to prepare one's body for skiing, particular attention should be paid to the quadriceps (the muscles at the front of the thighs), hamstrings (at the back of the thighs) and the stomach muscles.

Giving yourself a few extra moments between dragging yourself out of bed and going for a morning lesson is crucial, she says, as warming up is a must before skiing.

For strength, a warm up should include quarter squats or knee-bends. These exercises should be carried out slowly.

Controlled sit-ups, lying on the back with knees bent, tightening stomach muscles and curling the shoulders from the floor, are also good for strength.

Well-postured stepping up and down a stair is good for endurance.

Agility can be maintained by jumping from side to side with feet together and knees slightly bent - as if you were skiing.

Finally, quadricep stretches are very important for flexibility.

Stand on one leg, hold onto the back of a chair for balance and bend one leg behind you, holding the ankle and keeping both knees together. This stretch can be extended by pushing the hip forward.

Ms Mendl says that skiers should take skiing lessons on dry slopes prior to their holiday.

But she adds: "Avoid them in the two weeks prior to departure - you don't want to cancel your holiday because of an injury sustained before you even leave home."

Once on the slope, a couple of things to bear in mind are food and clothing.

Skiing requires a lot of energy - but this should be ingested in the form of complex carbohydrates such as potatoes and pasta rather than fat.

A combination of fatty food and heavy apres-ski could result in you putting on weight, despite exercising all day.

On the subject of apres-ski, Ms Mendl also warns that no-one should attempt to ski if they feel at all unwell.

She says: "This could affect your judgment and could lead to an accident. Skiing and snowboarding are not only physically strenuous, but need mental concentration as well."

Clothes need to allow free movement, and should keep you warm. Layers are much better than one thick item of clothing.

The sun can also wreak havoc on normally office-confined skin.

So while toiling to perfect your parallels, wear very high factor sun cream and lip salve.

Ms Mendl's last word of advice is: "Forget about that one last ski run. Skiers are more likely toi have an accident at the end of a session that at any other time.

"Fatigue, combined with cold, can to poor judgment and accidents."