Its Dumping.. Hope everyone has a safe, face shot 09/10 winter...!

[powderhippy]

Greetings to all those skiers/riders who had their surgeries last winter and couldn't ski. Hope all have since gotten into great shape and will soon find out ( or have a big smile from skiing already) how great that new hip/hips works. To all those Hippy veterans, you know what I'm talking about.....LOL.
Wishing everyone face shots all winter but more importantly, a safe ski season.
From Snowy SW Colorado,
Shelly Perlmutter
Left Biomet
Dr. Gross
9/6/06

[Pat Walter]

Hi Shelly

Great news.  How about some photos of you skiing?

You have a great ski season too with that new hip!

Good Luck!

Pat

[stevel]

Hi Shelly,

I'm heading up to Eaglecrest, Juneau this AM for my first runs this season.  The ski area opened a couple of weeks ago, weekends only, with limited snow coverage.  The weather has been clear, sunny, cold and holding and no additional snow until later next week.  But the runs have been groomed and I'll move my gear into my locker.  I skied a couple of weeks at 6 months post-op at the end of last season, last April.  This season, I'm more confident and I'm in better physical condition to shred the slopes at 14 1/2 months post-op. I'll ski mostly corduroy today and evaluate and probably wait for more snow before skiing the off piste.

[JeanM]

I live in Utah and we had 40 inches at Snowbird in the last 48 hours!  Woohoo!  This was the first big pow day of the season and it was fantastic.  I'm one who did have to take most of last season off due to my surgery.  I was lucky enough to squeeze a couple of powder days in at the very end of last season. 

My hip felt fabulous today!  I never even gave it a second thought.  I rode better and stronger than I have in the last few years.  It's good to be back!    I'm so grateful for this surgery.  Thanks again to Pat and everyone who contributes to this forum.

I hope it dumps like this all season!

Jeanie

[powderhippy]

Yeah Jean..You guys in Utah always get the best snow. Remember last April.. Wow...
Steve. remember you were itching to go last winter. See how quick time flies..! You'll be a stud out there...
Again, thanx for this site Pat. I've already got a video and pic on this site, but if another epic day ( and a friend to slow down to take a picture) warrants it, it shall be done.  Anything to help soon to be fellow hippies see that life will be good and skiing will not be a memory for those that get this surgery...Best, Shelly

PS. Hey, John from Sun Valley, you out there? Hope your summer was great and you'll be teaching again this year at that grand old mountain..

[tedroberts]

After having both my hips resurfaced Jan 7th 2009 I am happy to report that I am back on skies and racing slalom and giant slalom again.  I did not ski at all in 2008 so being away from the sport for over a year was a shock.

Most importantly my hips feel great, my legs are stronger and have more range of motion than last time I skied and I am just getting stronger as I ski more.

I had my one year follow up with Dr. Nelson a little early to save on my insurance deductible.  Everything looked great which is good because I had gone skiing 5 times
before my appointment.

We are expecting a Christmas dump here in MN, but it doesn't really do anything for the skiing here like it does in the mountains....  Maye I'll get out there this year.

   

[powderhippy]

Hey Ted,
 Good to hear you're cutting it up on the race course and those 2 hips are working great. Some of the best racers come from those great little ski areas in the midwest. Skiing ice and hardpack makes you know your skis better then ever (former Vermont skier talking here.! ) Wishing you the best for a great ski season. This time next year I'll probably have my other hip done, so will enjoy the bluebird/powder days this winter with the utmost joy..I know a few other bi-lats who ski the steeps with no problems....The west awaits your visit for some epic pow days....Hope your Christmas was wonderful. I stayed away from the slopes (crazy Holiday crowds) and just did a classic X-Country trip in the woods.
Keep up the great ski comeback....
Best, Shelly
 

[stevel]

Skiied today at Whitepass Ski Resort located near Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Mountains in Washington.  Fast, hard packed powder on the groomed runs.  Off groomed was hard packed moguls with some branches exposed due to limited snow coverage.  Great view of the mountains on a partly sunny, cold, breezy day.  Some of the runs were fairly crowded as many skiiers were out this Sunday following Christmas.  I'm vacationing in Longview, Wash until January 2 and will visit at least one Mt. Hood, Oregon ski area next (Timberline, Mt. Hood Ski Bowl or Mt. Hood Meadows).

The only time I thought about my new left hip was during lunch when I described my resurfacing to a couple of skiers I met that day.  It's great to ski again without any limitations!

[John C]

Hello Shelly, thanks for asking. Yes, I am back in Sun Valley teaching eight hours a day in all conditions. In mid-December we took our annual vacation up to Mike Weigele's Helicopter Skiing operation up in British Columbia. Last year was the first year that I missed that trip in 15 years, since it was only four months after my surgery. The conditions this year were fantastic, with a few days of over-the-head powder. No problems with taking the occasional drops that are so common and so fun in the steep tree runs up there. The main residual that I feel from the resurfacing is when I am skating on my skis; I still feel twinges in the soft tissue. I am still a little uncomfortable with icy bumps or crossing chatter marks when running gates, but will grudgingly ski them when needed. At a year and a half, I am not one of those people who can say that they are unaware of their new hip, since I still think about it much of the time, but I can say that I am very happy with how it is performing in allowing me to ski very aggressively.


A happy hippy winter to all!

[powderhippy]

Ahhhh Heli Skiing. Nice John. I used to go a number of times with CMH in Revelstoke..My machine of choice now is a snowcat..!  I think as I get older I like to stay on the ground.. LOL.  Glad you had great snow up in Canada. Met a kid on the chairlift the other day who is from Ketchum, but is going to school here in Durango. Was telling us about the burn area on the Warm Springs side. Sounds like a nice tree run.
Good luck with the teaching this winter. For your hip, I've found X-Country skiing (classic style) and snowshoeing in the deep stuff really works those hard to get hip muscles that I can't get at the gym or on my bike. But it sounds you've reached that high fitness level just fine.....Keep up the teaching and helping skiers.  best, Shelly

[wayne-0]

John,

 That photo is sick. I'm so jealous.

Wayne