Ski Liberty 2/22
February 23, 2009
I went to Liberty yesterday for the first time and it was great! Although the mountain seemed pretty small, the conditions were pretty good and the lift lines moved along quickly. I had picked Liberty over Whitetail to try something new and because of what I read here that the backside of the mountain doesn't get as much traffic on the weekends as the congregation that meets at Whitetail:)
My buddy and I got the 8-hour Flex ticket and was surprised that they gave us 8.5 hours on the ticket. Do they give 30 minutes for us to get our things ready? Either way, we got there around 8:15 left around 4:00 after sneaking in at least 25+ runs. It was a great day and we might actually go back this weekend. Here's a short list of things I liked, things that can be improved from my opinion, and questions I have about the mountain:
+Conscientious and dedicated staff/ski patrols. They had people out making sure the lift lines were moving in an orderly fashion. They also had people blowing whistles at overzealous skiers zooming down the slopes.
+Safety as their top priority. The signage was clear and simple, safety first.
+Nice design of the mountain to separate the beginner trails from the blue and black trails to make the backside of the mountain relatively crowd-free.
-No high-speed lifts on the mountains. At one point, I swore one of those "J-tows" in the terrain park was moving faster than the Alpine Quad.
-Not a lot of trails on the mountain. I can see the beginning skiers get bored easily with only 3 green trails on the whole mountain. Not to mention too many beginners congesting those 3 trails.
-The runs seem to be a little on the short side.
Generally speaking, are the trails at Whitetail harder than the ones at Liberty? My buddy and I both went down White Lightning and Blue Streak that were labeled black diamonds only to find that it felt more like a blue on Whitetail and 7Springs. We ventured down a double black (Upper Ultra), and if you have actually seen me ski, there's no way I should be on a double black. Also, the condition, (very few icy patches) was actually one of the best I've experienced in my two years of skiing. Is that normal at Liberty?
Next time, I'll be sure to bring a camera and post some pictures!