What's a nice guy like Andrew Hooge doing in a place like Chapel Hill? Not that there's anything wrong with Chapel Hill. It's just that when you're one of the country's top experts on ski and snowboard fitness, you might be expected to live somewhere more ... alpine. Not a place that averages seven inches of snow a year, that touts a 767-foot mountain (Occoneechee, in Hillsborough) as its highest peak, and that's 180 miles from the nearest ski slope.

"I'm here because of the School of Public Health," Hooge says to clear up the mystery. He's earning a master's degree in public health while forging a snow-fitness mini-empire that includes a book ("FitSkiing: Your Guide for Peak Skiing Fitness"), consultation with the U.S. Ski Team, creating and teaching two snow-fit courses at UNC Wellness Centers' Meadowmont facility and a Web site that will include more than 100 recommended exercises for snow conditioning.

His presence in the Triangle seems less perplexing when you learn that he learned to ski in Ohio, on a mountain "with something like a 400-foot vertical drop." (That would be the elevation change from the top of the mountain to its base. By comparison, Colorado's Vail ski resort has a vertical drop of 3,150 feet.)

And it makes even more sense when you consider that despite its moderate climate, its vertical challenge and its dearth of snow, the Triangle actually has a healthy population of skiers and snowboarders.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly how many skiers and snowboarders are here. But the evidence suggests the number is sizable.

The Triangle represents the second-largest market for Virginia's Wintergreen ski resort and is the third-largest supplier of skiers to West Virginia's Snowshoe Mountain, the largest ski area in the South. The Triangle supports five ski shops, and from January into March, at least one bus of skiers and snowboarders runs daily from the Triangle to Wintergreen. The local downhill population is deemed sufficient to warrant an annual showing of Warren Miller's ski documentaries.

To those of you anticipating the coming ski season -- which typically begins in earnest in mid-December, Hooge says now is the time to start getting your body ready.

"If you get into shape now," he says, "you'll enjoy the slopes more. You'll also reduce your risk of injury." A significant number of ski- and snowboard-related injuries are the result of fatigue, not their perceived inherent dangers.

And now, he says, is the perfect time to launch a ski/snowboard-specific exercise regimen.

"If you're in relatively good shape, a minimum of four to six weeks of [targeted] exercise should be enough," Hooge says. Less active types who plan to hit the slopes may need about twice that long to whip themselves into shape.

And regardless of whether you prefer one board or two, fitness is key. "Both require good conditioning," says Hooge.

To that end Hooge shares seven of the exercises he uses in his classes. Do them at least three times a week, he says, and you'll hit the slopes in good form.

LATERAL HOPS (WARM-UP EXERCISE) *

What you do: Slowly jump from side to side letting the outside foot hit first followed by the inside foot. Pick up speed as you develop a rhythm.

Props: Yardstick, broomstick or long piece of masking tape. (For extra effect, you can use a Bosu ball. But it isn't cheap.)

Reps: Three sets, 15-30 each side, with 15-30 seconds rest between sets.

Muscles worked: Quads, calves and, to some extent, the core. Especially good for getting your blood flowing.

FIT BALL PUSH-UP TO PIKE

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