October 23, 2025
There was a time Bob Klein snowboarded more than 100 days a year. In the 1980's he was at the top of his game, a snowboard pro, endorsing big name companies including Burton, teaching snowboarding in Aspen and running his own snowboard shop. His active lifestyle at the time was almost unmatched and as a young man in his 20's, he had a feeling it would never end. Klein has remained active into his 60's, but as much as he wants to believe he can still do what he once did on the mountain more than 40 years ago, he recently faced the reality of age catching up to his body.
Who Decides When Knee Surgery is Needed?
Watch Bob Klein's incredible snowboarding comeback story after two knee replacements in this short video.
"What brought me to Denver Health was about 10 years of excruciating pain in my knees, due to arthritis," Klein said. His snowboarding skills started to decline and he was shredding less and less. Klein decided it was time to go see an expert to see what could be done. He came to Denver Health's Orthopedic Center of Excellence and saw hip and knee replacement surgeon E. Mark Hammerberg, MD. After examining him and looking at his X-rays, Dr. Hammerberg and Klein came to the mutual decision that, at the time, Klein was not a good candidate for surgery. "It's always up to the patient whether or not they need surgery," Dr. Hammerberg pointed out.
"Dr. Hammerberg was very open to explaining any of the questions that I had, and he told me to wait as long as I could, which I really appreciated because I've always tried to avoid surgery if I could," Klein said.
Total Knee Replacement at Denver Health
Two years later, in 2023, the pain got even worse, to the point where it wasn't just affecting his snowboarding, but also his normal daily activities, like walking. Unlike that first visit, it was more of a constant pain. Klein decided it was time to get a total knee replacement surgery in his left knee. The following year, he had the same surgery on his right knee. He's now made a full recovery from both and is amazed at how well he's doing.
"My knees are like machines now," Klein said. "They never hurt. I can do pretty much all the activities that I want, and I can do them for as long as I want. It's such a night and day difference. The physical therapy through Denver Health for me was really, really important and I couldn't have asked for better therapists."
Physical Therapy After Total Knee Replacements
"He progressed pretty quickly," said Kelly Kaems, Klein's physical therapist. "Six months after his surgeries, he was already back to snowboarding. He is definitely one of those inspiring patients. I would not be surprised though if he's still snowboarding when he's 80, because I don't think he's going to stop."
"He's back to doing what he loves and that's kind of the motivation that keeps us going," said Jacob Romanuski, physical therapy assistant.
Back to Doing What He Loves
"Denver Health completely changed my life," Klein reflected. "Getting back on skateboards, and snowboards, and skis, was especially satisfying. I'm able to do the things that I could do when I was 20, and I'll never quit doing them. Thanks to Denver Health, all the work that they've done to get me back to normal health is nothing short of amazing really."
