Well, Hello! Fancy seeing you here

While Prince Charles and his retinue remain faithful to Klosters, other members of the Royal family have looked further afield for their skiing thrills. Diana has discovered the joys of Lech in Austria, and two years ago she kicked up a flurry of excitement when she hit Vail (the cod Swiss skiing village in Colorado favoured by Tom Hanks and John F Kennedy), and provoked much speculation about a romance with a local business- man. The Princess Royal skis at Morzine in France, and Prince Edward, longtime fan of St Anton, has been seen on the slopes of Whistler in British Columbia. But for Fergie, the comparative peace at Klosters has become an increasingly attractive alternative to her pre-Andrew haunts of glitzy St Moritz and Verbier.

The popularity of Swiss ski resorts with the international jet-set has probably more to do with the country's excellent banking facilities than its skiing conditions and Royal patrons. Gstaad is renowned for its unpredictable snowfall and yet boasts a strong celebrity following. David Bowie, Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews, and Roger Moore - none of whom are noted for their skills on the piste - all have homes there. Meanwhile Elizabeth Taylor has graced Zermatt with her presence, though whether she was there for the skiing, the shopping or the socialising is not known.

Italian resorts don't seem to attract many famous faces, but devotees include Julia Carling and Claudia Schiffer, who was apparently assaulted by a man wielding a bobble-hat while she was staying at Colfosco in the Dolomites. For classy apres ski sessions, and a spot of alternative royal watching, you could head for Austria where Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and obscure Swedish Royals are said to squeeze into their salopettes and slip on their skis alongside the likes of Peter Gabriel and Kim Wilde.

Over in the States, Aspen has long been the favourite resort of the Hollywood set, and this is the time of year to catch the likes of Jack Nicholson, Don Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Cher, Harry Hamlin, Steven Spielberg, Martina Navratilova and Barbra Streisand, on the piste. It was rumoured that Hugh Grant was looking for a second home here, presumably won over by talk of Aspen's divine landscape.

Back in the Forties the great and the good of the film industry would have packed their skis and headed for Sun Valley, Idaho. Here you might have gawped at the likes of Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. These days the resort is back in favour with Hollywood and Sigourney Weaver, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis have all been spotted going through their paces. Should a celeb hunt in Sun Valley prove fruitless, the automated snow system, which is one of the largest in the world, will at least guarantee plenty of snow and good skiing.

Working its way up in the popularity stakes is Telluride in the spectacular San Juan Mountains of Colorado where Sylvester Stallone has a ranch, and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got hitched five years ago. The nearby Beaver Creek resort is the haunt of Gerald Ford, Dan Quayle, Oprah Winfrey and Brooke Shields.

For Ivana Trump, one time Czech National Ski Team member, nowhere beats the Bugaboos in Canada, and she should know as she's skied at all the key European and North American resorts. She, like John Denver and King Juan Carlos of Spain, is a keen fan of heli-skiing.