@andjules. In a word, Yes. I exercised a certain amount of caution and moderation both during the recovery and the return to the water.
As others have posted, exercise before and after the operation. I went with light weights, at 1st limiting the range of motion, but gradually increasing to normal over about 6 mos. I saw a personal trainer once a week and we worked on balance, flexibilty and rom. Lots of good leg exercises on the TRX, kettle balls, bosu balls, etc. I am fortunate to have an excellent PT, Shelley Wagner, who was instrumental in my recovery. She skis so she was familiar with which muscles needed to be worked. The muscles came back relatively quick. But to be pretty much pain free from a joint stand point, it was probably almost a year.
My Dr said I could not ski for 90 days after surgery. After the 90 days, which would have been mid Sept, I borrowed my neighbors 68 inch Sixam 2.0, which is considerably larger than what I normally ski on (depending on mfg typically 65.5 or 66) as I weigh 160 lbs. No doubt my hip was less flexed on the deep water starts. Nothing fancy just up and down the lake at 30 mph. After that I had proved to myself that I could ski again, I shut it down until the next spring and kept exercising. Next spring the bone had pretty much grafted to the metal rod and cup and I started skiing the course again, gradually increasing speed and decreasing the ski size. The joint pain was there, but at a lower level.