PERSPIRING, snow-caked and slightly bewildered, I thought the altitude was playing tricks on me.

Tracy Garneau, our guide and extreme marathon runner, had promised us a “quick and scenic” descent from a cliff top with a spine-tinglingly beautiful view of Jasper. But this was no normal skiing holiday.

We were in the Canadian Rockies, as part of Travel Alberta’s inaugural ski boot camp, designed to get us fit for the winter ski season.

The trip would involve skiing and snowboarding at some of Canada’s world-class destinations – in the alpine paradise of Jasper, a small mountain town of just 5,000 people, as well as Lake Louise and Banff.

But the focus was on training and developing our power and endurance in order to hit the slopes with more strength and agility.

We split into two groups. One doing press-ups and dips on a snow covered metal stand, while the others performed three sets of 50-metre stair-climbs.

It was not for the faint-hearted but it was hardly a military test – no one stood over us barking “more reps” or “dig deeper”.

Once Tracy – who runs more than 35 miles a day – was satisfied with us, we made a “quick” run across the ruggedly handsome terrain. I battled to stay with her, busting a gut and breathing hard, as she breezed along at the head of the group, telling us tales of seeing wolves and bumping into bears on this route – one of hundreds of established tracks on a 1,000km trail system.

She reassured us it was safe. But she could probably outrun anything...

When we reached the summit, or as far as our group could go without passing out – half made their way back the way we’d come – and the remainder continued with Tracy, on “a nice 15-minute run” to the bottom.

Several miles later, while getting out of the –15C chill and into thecoach, I realised how different a supreme athlete’s perimeters are from my own.

A few days on we met Tracy again at a local park – she arrived bright and breezy, ominously pulling dumb-bells and a series of medicine balls from her truck.

Despite a blizzard, we warmed up by twice running round a local park – not easy at the best of times, but in at least a foot of fresh powder and snow in your eyes, it tested the spirit.

Slightly breathless (but trying to hide it) we then split into groupsand did scores of step-ups on picnic tables and benches.

In Britain there’d have been some health and safety audit because of the snow and ice – but we ploughed on, the group now enjoying the sporty challenges flying at us thick and fast.

Away from boot camp stints, there is time to enjoy the locations, tear up the slopes and savour the scenery – which really feeds the soul.

Jasper seemed to sum up the entire trip for me – laid back (which defines most Canadians), peaceful and non-commercialised.

The town is part of Jasper National Park and strikes a fine balance between conservation and development, ecology and economics.

In its untamed heart, it’s a gateway to adventure within the largest and most northerly Canada rocky mountain national park, part of aspectacular World Heritage Site. You’re as likely to share a silent moment with grazing elk as you are with people. During our visit in late November, it was crowd-free – a skier’s paradise.

Marmot Basin is a destination that provides lasting memories – the slopes cover 1,675 acres and offer 3,000 vertical feet of superb terrain.

I hadn’t skied for more than 25 years, so I spent a lot of time literally hitting the slopes with various body parts. Already pretty spent from the training regime, my muscles were thoroughly tested having to repeatedly retrieve my face from the floor.

Banff is a skiing destination of genuine note and my lasting memory is of sprinting 100 metres across a thickly-blanketed field, pulling a 25kg weighted sled harnessed to my chest.

Personal trainers from the Banff Athletic Conditioning Club were providing this particular test.

There was the obligatory warm-up run round the field’s boundary, then an hour of interval training with various kit: weights to hold whilelunging; kettle bells to raise up high, developing strength; football posts to perform pull-ups and chin-ups on and medicine balls to hurl.

We also had two yoga sessions during the week – the most demanding at Banff’s Rocky Mountain Yoga Studio.

The word Ashtanga now instils me with respect and fear – though it was made infinitely harder by my stupid decision to wear a figure-hugging, heat-trapping sports top.

As Mindy, our instructor, journeyed through a catalogue of hamstringpulling and core trembling poses, or “asanas”, my top had to come offbefore I melted or drowned in a pool of perspiration. It was one of the toughest hours I’ve had and fulfilled its design – increasing heart rate, improving lung capacity and focusing on meditative breathing.

We were accompanied on our week-long trip by celebrity personal trainer Niko Algieri. A kick-boxing black belt and Cosmopolitan magazine’s official PT, he was an integral part of the experience.

He uses a TRX system – a cord with handles for your hands or feet – enabling a full body workout using your own body weight as resistance.

And one-on-one time really gives you a chance to learn how to reach your goals, both in and out of the white stuff.

Most boot camp sessions lasted an hour and we usually had two a day, in addition to the skiing and time with Niko.

With such a lot of time off-piste, Travel Alberta’s boot camp is hard work, with big physical demands placed on anybody who tackles it. But I doubt there’s a better way to get fit while having so much fun.