MLK Weekend 2025

[KingsFourMan]

Shaping up to be one of the best MLK Weekends in years with lots of open terrain, great conditions, and great weather. Should be a great holiday weekend for the mountain and local businesses. Great to see.

Will be heading up tomorrow evening and hitting Stratton on Friday with K4Woman and her bum knee, then logging some miles on the VAST trails on Saturday with my Plymouth neighborhood riding buddies and hopefully taking the first sled ride of the season down to the Long Trail Brewery. The Bush is on tap for Sunday with K4W and her bum knee for the first time this season. Hoping the Castlerock and Slide Brook lifts will be spinning which they should be. They've picked up over a foot in the past 2 days and are 99% open.

K4Woman has been fighting through her bum knee but it looks like the time has come for a knee replacement after this season. Anyone have any experience with a knee replacement?

[newpylong1]

I don't think the chances of Slidebrook spinning are good at all for this weekend.

[KingsFourMan]

I don't think the chances of Slidebrook spinning are good at all for this weekend.

Why?

[newpylong1]

It hasn't run all year, there has been no activity whatsoever to inspect the lift as the limited lift staff has been putting out fires everywhere else. Castlerock isn't even inspected yet.

[KingsFourMan]

Wow, that’s unbelievable with one of the busiest weekends of the year coming up. Good thing the don’t have a Bushzone.

[Stormchaser]

Wow, that’s unbelievable with one of the busiest weekends of the year coming up. Good thing the don’t have a Bushzone.

That site is X-Rated...

[newpylong1]

Place is a hot mess this year.

[KingsFourMan]

Place is a hot mess this year.

I had no idea, was just reading about it on AlpineZone, sounds like a hot mess. I knew they had snowmaking issues early on but didn't know about the lift issues.

[asher2789]

Shaping up to be one of the best MLK Weekends in years with lots of open terrain, great conditions, and great weather. Should be a great holiday weekend for the mountain and local businesses. Great to see.

Will be heading up tomorrow evening and hitting Stratton on Friday with K4Woman and her bum knee, then logging some miles on the VAST trails on Saturday with my Plymouth neighborhood riding buddies and hopefully taking the first sled ride of the season down to the Long Trail Brewery. The Bush is on tap for Sunday with K4W and her bum knee for the first time this season. Hoping the Castlerock and Slide Brook lifts will be spinning which they should be. They've picked up over a foot in the past 2 days and are 99% open.

K4Woman has been fighting through her bum knee but it looks like the time has come for a knee replacement after this season. Anyone have any experience with a knee replacement?

my mom just got hers done on long island - peconic bay hospital, i can get you the drs name if youd like. she was happy with the outcome and fully healed and is now relearning how to walk better after 20 years of hobbling and making it work. due to major PTSD for both of us regarding my dad who died of medical malpractice, we decided to forgo inpatient rehab (where he died) and had a visiting post op PT person who worked directly with the doctor come to the home to work with my mom 3x a week for 3 weeks. and then i was drill sergeant making sure she did her PT exercises multiple times a day daily and corrected her form when she was initially cheating them.

my biggest piece of advice is rent the ice/compression knee wrap machine! rent it for like 3 weeks! seriously, best money ever spent. really helped her healing. we also replaced her recliner with one that lifts and fully reclines flat - theres gonna be 3 weeks of frequent reclining to get the swelling out. also, idk if K4W is in the same boat as my mom but my mom is borderline diabetic. for the two weeks post surgery she was mostly eating the asher2789 vegetarian diet but with very little bread/carbs (i love carbs) as i was preparing food for her. she lost 20lbs in the matter of a few weeks after the surgery compared to her pre surgery weight. diabetics are at an increased risk of complications post surgery so gotta have a very strict diet for a couple weeks after and then one can go back to normal. when we would go out to eat she would usually get a fish dish - salmon.

also idk if K4W is like my mom but my mom is obese - i wish she got on the ozempic bandwagon for at least half a year before her surgery as prior weight loss would of helped her healing as theres less force on the joint due to reduced weight. and with weight loss she might of lost the diabetes too making complications less likely. but her doctors were inexplicably against it?

and a final note - be careful with the opiates. its not just addiction thats a risk. my mom and i havent fought since i was an annoying teenager but we had a pretty big blowout fight a few days post surgery (to be fair i hadnt lived with her in a decade and tensions were high). the meds just dont make you think too good. and i almost quit working for her when she sent out an invoice with a 75% discount to one of her main clients - when that mistake was caught i went over every single invoice so long as she was on drugs and i made sure she didnt make any major decisions since her thinking was very impaired but the impairment is so subtle its almost invisible. make sure K4W has all their ducks in a row and doesnt need to make any major decisions for a few weeks post surgery as opiates greatly impair judgement.

if youre local, rutland does great orthopedic work. i had a traumatic leg injury (unrelated to skiing) that they sewed up and the hospital staff was incredible. my ex's father and a friend of mine both got hips replaced at rutland and were happy with the outcomes. what i love about rutland is its an independent hospital... i think the conglomerates provide worse care.

[Stormchaser]

Shaping up to be one of the best MLK Weekends in years with lots of open terrain, great conditions, and great weather. Should be a great holiday weekend for the mountain and local businesses. Great to see.

Will be heading up tomorrow evening and hitting Stratton on Friday with K4Woman and her bum knee, then logging some miles on the VAST trails on Saturday with my Plymouth neighborhood riding buddies and hopefully taking the first sled ride of the season down to the Long Trail Brewery. The Bush is on tap for Sunday with K4W and her bum knee for the first time this season. Hoping the Castlerock and Slide Brook lifts will be spinning which they should be. They've picked up over a foot in the past 2 days and are 99% open.

K4Woman has been fighting through her bum knee but it looks like the time has come for a knee replacement after this season. Anyone have any experience with a knee replacement?

my mom just got hers done on long island - peconic bay hospital, i can get you the drs name if youd like. she was happy with the outcome and fully healed and is now relearning how to walk better after 20 years of hobbling and making it work. due to major PTSD for both of us regarding my dad who died of medical malpractice, we decided to forgo inpatient rehab (where he died) and had a visiting post op PT person who worked directly with the doctor come to the home to work with my mom 3x a week for 3 weeks. and then i was drill sergeant making sure she did her PT exercises multiple times a day daily and corrected her form when she was initially cheating them.

my biggest piece of advice is rent the ice/compression knee wrap machine! rent it for like 3 weeks! seriously, best money ever spent. really helped her healing. we also replaced her recliner with one that lifts and fully reclines flat - theres gonna be 3 weeks of frequent reclining to get the swelling out. also, idk if K4W is in the same boat as my mom but my mom is borderline diabetic. for the two weeks post surgery she was mostly eating the asher2789 vegetarian diet but with very little bread/carbs (i love carbs) as i was preparing food for her. she lost 20lbs in the matter of a few weeks after the surgery compared to her pre surgery weight. diabetics are at an increased risk of complications post surgery so gotta have a very strict diet for a couple weeks after and then one can go back to normal. when we would go out to eat she would usually get a fish dish - salmon.

also idk if K4W is like my mom but my mom is obese - i wish she got on the ozempic bandwagon for at least half a year before her surgery as prior weight loss would of helped her healing as theres less force on the joint due to reduced weight. and with weight loss she might of lost the diabetes too making complications less likely. but her doctors were inexplicably against it?

and a final note - be careful with the opiates. its not just addiction thats a risk. my mom and i havent fought since i was an annoying teenager but we had a pretty big blowout fight a few days post surgery (to be fair i hadnt lived with her in a decade and tensions were high). the meds just dont make you think too good. and i almost quit working for her when she sent out an invoice with a 75% discount to one of her main clients - when that mistake was caught i went over every single invoice so long as she was on drugs and i made sure she didnt make any major decisions since her thinking was very impaired but the impairment is so subtle its almost invisible. make sure K4W has all their ducks in a row and doesnt need to make any major decisions for a few weeks post surgery as opiates greatly impair judgement.

if youre local, rutland does great orthopedic work. i had a traumatic leg injury (unrelated to skiing) that they sewed up and the hospital staff was incredible. my ex's father and a friend of mine both got hips replaced at rutland and were happy with the outcomes. what i love about rutland is its an independent hospital... i think the conglomerates provide worse care.

Opiates and drinking - BAD. I spit right in my best friends face and climbed out the backseat window of a moving car.

[Low Rider]

With the conditions and forecast, it will be interesting to see how this weekend plays out as far as crowds. In recent years I almost feel as if the weekends before and after a holiday weekend were the busier ones (presumably because of all the IKON blackout / base passes - but of course weather certainly has an impact on all of this)

[Skid Mark]

.

[Big Bob]

Shaping up to be one of the best MLK Weekends in years with lots of open terrain, great conditions, and great weather. Should be a great holiday weekend for the mountain and local businesses. Great to see.

Will be heading up tomorrow evening and hitting Stratton on Friday with K4Woman and her bum knee, then logging some miles on the VAST trails on Saturday with my Plymouth neighborhood riding buddies and hopefully taking the first sled ride of the season down to the Long Trail Brewery. The Bush is on tap for Sunday with K4W and her bum knee for the first time this season. Hoping the Castlerock and Slide Brook lifts will be spinning which they should be. They've picked up over a foot in the past 2 days and are 99% open.

K4Woman has been fighting through her bum knee but it looks like the time has come for a knee replacement after this season. Anyone have any experience with a knee replacement?

One of the better ones right in Rutland.

https://www.rrmc.org/doctors/profile/boynton-melbourne. Freind of mine had hers done by this surgeon a few years back, no issues, just don't huck any cliffs was his advice.

[KingsFourMan]

Shaping up to be one of the best MLK Weekends in years with lots of open terrain, great conditions, and great weather. Should be a great holiday weekend for the mountain and local businesses. Great to see.

Will be heading up tomorrow evening and hitting Stratton on Friday with K4Woman and her bum knee, then logging some miles on the VAST trails on Saturday with my Plymouth neighborhood riding buddies and hopefully taking the first sled ride of the season down to the Long Trail Brewery. The Bush is on tap for Sunday with K4W and her bum knee for the first time this season. Hoping the Castlerock and Slide Brook lifts will be spinning which they should be. They've picked up over a foot in the past 2 days and are 99% open.

K4Woman has been fighting through her bum knee but it looks like the time has come for a knee replacement after this season. Anyone have any experience with a knee replacement?

my mom just got hers done on long island - peconic bay hospital, i can get you the drs name if youd like. she was happy with the outcome and fully healed and is now relearning how to walk better after 20 years of hobbling and making it work. due to major PTSD for both of us regarding my dad who died of medical malpractice, we decided to forgo inpatient rehab (where he died) and had a visiting post op PT person who worked directly with the doctor come to the home to work with my mom 3x a week for 3 weeks. and then i was drill sergeant making sure she did her PT exercises multiple times a day daily and corrected her form when she was initially cheating them.

my biggest piece of advice is rent the ice/compression knee wrap machine! rent it for like 3 weeks! seriously, best money ever spent. really helped her healing. we also replaced her recliner with one that lifts and fully reclines flat - theres gonna be 3 weeks of frequent reclining to get the swelling out. also, idk if K4W is in the same boat as my mom but my mom is borderline diabetic. for the two weeks post surgery she was mostly eating the asher2789 vegetarian diet but with very little bread/carbs (i love carbs) as i was preparing food for her. she lost 20lbs in the matter of a few weeks after the surgery compared to her pre surgery weight. diabetics are at an increased risk of complications post surgery so gotta have a very strict diet for a couple weeks after and then one can go back to normal. when we would go out to eat she would usually get a fish dish - salmon.

also idk if K4W is like my mom but my mom is obese - i wish she got on the ozempic bandwagon for at least half a year before her surgery as prior weight loss would of helped her healing as theres less force on the joint due to reduced weight. and with weight loss she might of lost the diabetes too making complications less likely. but her doctors were inexplicably against it?

and a final note - be careful with the opiates. its not just addiction thats a risk. my mom and i havent fought since i was an annoying teenager but we had a pretty big blowout fight a few days post surgery (to be fair i hadnt lived with her in a decade and tensions were high). the meds just dont make you think too good. and i almost quit working for her when she sent out an invoice with a 75% discount to one of her main clients - when that mistake was caught i went over every single invoice so long as she was on drugs and i made sure she didnt make any major decisions since her thinking was very impaired but the impairment is so subtle its almost invisible. make sure K4W has all their ducks in a row and doesnt need to make any major decisions for a few weeks post surgery as opiates greatly impair judgement.

if youre local, rutland does great orthopedic work. i had a traumatic leg injury (unrelated to skiing) that they sewed up and the hospital staff was incredible. my ex's father and a friend of mine both got hips replaced at rutland and were happy with the outcomes. what i love about rutland is its an independent hospital... i think the conglomerates provide worse care.

Thanks, I appreciate the insight. She is really on the fence about it. She's in great shape otherwise, she was a competitive swimmer in college and still works out aggressively at the gym at least 5 days a week and has always been that way. For the most part, it doesn't bother her any other time except for when she skis which is why she is so hesitant to have such major surgery.

But when she skis, it's been bad, and then it messes up her workout routine which really throws her off. This will be her first time out this year, so we'll see how it goes but if it's like it was last year, she is seriously thinking about taking the plunge because otherwise her skiing days are over which is unthinkable for both of us. She's tried the cortisone shots which she thinks made it worse and the jell shots which did nothing and has had every kind of knee brace known to man. I'm not overly optimistic about tomorrow but we'll see. We plan to take it easy.

One thing about NJ is that I think it has some really great hospitals and doctors. I had a nasty break years ago and ended up with 21 screws and two plates in my tib/fib and ankle that eventually came out. The doctor was amazing and is known for being the surgeon that all the other surgeons in the area go to. I'll never forget as they were wheeling me into the operating room, he said to me "don't worry, we've performed hundreds of these sex change operations." Funny guy.

[Bubba]

Vermont Orthopedic is a great place for joint replacements. My wife has had her hip done there and is scheduled for shoulder replacement shortly. Dr. Marsh has been great as is Dr. Boynton. Dr. Gammons is super for non-surgical work. We, unfortunately,, have experience with all of them plus a few PAs.