2019 Liberty
Liberty doesn’t roll over its model line on a fixed schedule, instead instituting changes whenever inspiration strikes. Hence models like its top-selling Origin 96 may undergo several design refinements without earning the sobriquet of “new model.” When Liberty does...V92
What a lovely ski. This was the first season that Realskiers engaged with Liberty, catching the brand just as it debuted a new series of Frontside models with a fresh technical story. VMT stands for Vertical Metal Technology, a process that uses two strips of 5000-series aluminum alloy laid vertically between bamboo laminates that straddle the core’s centerline. Two full-length carbon sheets and a central carbon stringer create a powerful platform that’s reinforced with steel mounting plates. While other brands are busy trying to make their tips lighter, Liberty has tacked on metal tip and tail protectors that add mass and damping. Put it all together with a cambered baseline with just the slightest tip rocker and a 92mm waist and you have the V92.
Origin 96
The Liberty Origin 96 is a little bit Pipe & Park, a little bit backcountry. Its grandparent was the Origin 116, an indication that the 96 will retain a surfy attitude in its shrunken dimensions, and indeed it does. In the 3-4 years since its inception, the Origin...V82
The Liberty V82 is a carving ski that thinks it’s an all-mountain model. It doesn’t know it’s supposed to be a specialist, laser-focused on maintaining snow contact as it stitches an endless braid of medium-radius turns. Of course it can do that if that’s what you like, consider the box checked, but if that’s all you ask of it, shame on you. No other ski in the category is as open-minded about turn shape. Not only will the V82 make short-radius turns, it will make them to order. It has the same as-you-like-it attitude towards turns medium and long. Whatever the V82 does, it does with distinction. It matches its pilot’s moves as if it were his shadow.