REVIEW Liberty Skis – Australia’s Latest Ski Arrivals

July 2nd, 2010



Will Clifford trying out the new Liberty skis

SKI REVIEW | WIll Clifford/Michelle Hampton
Images | Ben Hansen

Chillfactor met up with the crew from Liberty Skis Australia on Monday to test drive the range from this just-arrived-in-Oz future-forward ski brand.

Liberty Skis originated in Colorado and the small ski company is really progressing fast into one of the big names in all mountain skis. They were the first to use the bamboo core and are the only ski brand using bamboo in all their skis, which is cool cause bamboo is light, springy and eco-friendly!

Will Clifford on trying out the new Liberty skis
Who says twin tips are no good on groomers – Will carves it up

Team riders Simon Dawes Blondel and Andrea Berchtold brought us the range to have a go on and skier Will Clifford stepped up to put each of the three park/all mountain skis through their paces. Owing to early season conditions he didn’t strap on Liberty’s two grand-daddy big mountain skis, the Double Helix and the Genome, and we didn’t put him on the pink girls’ ski – the Jinx – though having tested it ourselves Chillfactor thinks the Jinx could have handled anything Will tried to get it to do. But we gave to Michelle Hampton, who rocked the pink.

NB: One of the cool things about Liberty skis, the different lengths in each model are a different colour (same graphics though)

 

The freestyle ski of Liberty range, this is one of the snappiest twin tip skis around. The wood core of the ski is made out of bamboo which really gives a new feeling to the ski. I skied them in a 171cm (83 under foot), a little short for me but I really enjoyed them. In the park they really excelled, no problems with stability on the landings. The Lte to me was very impressive all round ski, it handled the hard packed groomers we had to ski to get to the park great too. They definitely perform in the park, but you could enjoy them as an all mountain ski as well. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a park ski that’s not going to let them down when they have to ski back to the lift and anyone who likes a quick, fun, snappy ski to eat up the mountain.

Liberty team rider Andrea Berchtold
LTE 157, 164, 171
116-83-105
Radius: 18.5m

LTE 178
116-87-105
Radius: 20.5m

 

Liberty is really trying to change the perception of twin tips in Australia. Like the Europeans they are aiming their bigger twin tips as all mountain skis. The Morphic I tried was a 181cm and 94 under foot, getting to be a big ski! Though they were very light skis on your feet – What a fun, easy-going ski it is. You could shred the groomers early and they’ll make you think you’re on a fun-carve all mountain ski. Then hit the Park up for a quick play and you’ll love the twin-tip effect. Ski the ice home and they’ll stick under you like a world cup race ski. The Morphic is truly an all mountain ski aimed at anyone, not just park rats on a powder day! You will be very impressed as soon as you click into them! If you’re running a one-ski quiver these would suit you, especially if you like doing a bit of everything and having a ski that’ll perform.

MORPHIC 164
115-85-110
Radius: 16.5m

MORPHIC 171, 181,186
126-94-119
Radius: 17.0m

Will testing the Morphic in the park

Still in the all mountain category, the Helix are very similar to their younger brother the Morphic. The main difference is the width, 105 under foot, which would be more then enough width needed for pow pow, but yet still nimble enough to attack the day to day conditions. I skied the 176cm on an icy / hard packed day and I still had a lot of fun on them. They’re not a prohibitively stiff ski, which means they let you turn them easily, even though they bigger then most skis amd they are not for the faint hearted – you will feel like you’ve got some serious ski going on – but every one needs to have a go of it because it’s seriously fun! These are a great Aussie pow ski because they’ll also work for you on the piste, so you can justify buying them!

HELIX 167, 176, 187
135-105-122
Radius: 22.0m

The Liberty lift – Chillfactor crew and Will

 

I’m the first to admit I know very little about what goes into making a good ski…and up until yesterday, I also had the opinion that latest model skis can’t differ that much from brand to brand in terms of quality and performance. But after testing Liberty’s new Jinx all-mountain female skis, I’ve completely changed my opinion. Hands down, it’s the best set of all-mountain skis I’ve ever tried… here’s why:

  • Carving is almost effortless – even in really shitty snow conditions, the skis handle both long and short radius turns with absolute ease and precision
  • Although it’s a super light ski (due to its bamboo core), it’s amazingly stable with zero chatter when you get going fast
  • The skis seem to have incredible stability and strength – for example they glided over death cookies and changes in snow conditions without compromise
  • Being a twin tip ski means there’s also a lot of fun to be had and although it’s essentially an all-mountain ski, you can still have your fun in the park which is great when conditions are less than ideal, I think the skis actually made me feel like a better skier (even though it probably didn’t make me look better!).

While the colour of the 164cm ski wouldn’t be my first preference (it’s mostly pink), I forgot about it as soon as I made my first turn.

JINX 157
113-80-103
Radius: 15.0m

JINX 164
115-85-110
Radius: 16.5m

JINX 171
125-93-115
Radius: 17.0m

The Jinx