Almost five years after my hip replacement, I am enjoying a good ski season.
My wife and I skied about four miles of cross-country trails this morning. My replaced hip was totally fine. No pain and no stiffness. I couldn’t be happier with it. (The other hip may need surgery, but so far presents only occasional and minor discomfort.)
I tried skijoring with my border collie, Nell, pulling me with a long, elastic lead rope. That was no more than a token success, as Nell hasn’t figured out when to pull and when to come back and lick my face.
In the past month I’ve had three days of downhill skiing at Okemo and Killington. I tried to avoid the moguls on expert slopes, having been warned by my surgeon not to ski bumps. At 75 years of age, I like skiing the groomers. But when there’s soft, new snow, mogul runs are fair game.
Next week, Toni and I are off to Steamboat and Aspen. Pray for snow!
So if you’re a skier and are worried about how hip replacement will affect your snow sports, my advice is stop worrying. My enjoyment of skiing is undiminished.
–Rob Taylor
GetHip! 