The 2022 Liberty Helix 88 is an amazing choice for park and pipe athletes who are looking for a competition-ready ski. Conversely, it’s also a fantastic ski for all-mountain terrain, just with more of a freestyle flair. One of the big things that makes it adept at park and pipe skiing is the symmetrical shape. By having the ski built the exact same from tip to tail and tail to tip, freestyle skiers will get the utmost in balance, especially when center-mounted and spinning. If you’re using these as more of a directional ski, they will complete some of the most even and satisfying round turns, just with that tail coming around a bit too much for higher-speed carving. But for park and pipe purposes, it works really well. When you’re spinning in the air, it feels like you’re perfectly weighted, allowing for greater confidence in the air, leading to progression in the sport, and that’s a good thing.
ROCKER PROFILE
Rocker / Camber / Rocker
CORE MATERIALS
Carbon Stringers
PREFERRED TERRAIN
All Mountain, Groomers
From a construction perspective, the Helix 88 gets Liberty’s Speedcore Carbon build, consisting of wider bamboo stringers and narrower poplar bands. This combination of wood is a nice blend of energy from the poplar and dampness from the boo. The bamboo in the core is a huge thing with Liberty skis, as it provides a unique and different feel that a lot of skiers (me!) really enjoy. It’s very quiet and silent, and offers a different kind of response than a full poplar wood core. On top of that, Liberty adds their carbon stringers to boost the stiffness of the ski, and it makes a lot of sense in this application, as freestyle skiers are looking to get the most pop possible out of the ski, and the carbon does a very nice job of that when you’re carving off the lip of a big jump or the pipe wall. It’s not too noodly like some other park skis are, so if you’re looking for more of a buttery ski, this one has more power.
Jeffrey Siegel skied the 175 and noted it was a good length for him. He gave top marks of 5’s out of 5 for quickness, maneuverability, playfulness, and overall impression. A lowly 2 for flotation is likely accurate, but the rest of the scores as 4’s puts it into the high-overall score category for sure. Jeffrey states that “In my youth I have skied in the park, but I’m not a park skier and never really was. I’m past 40 and I’m probably not going to start hucking myself off of park features now. That said, I’m getting a pair of these. This ski was so much fun. There was so much rebound, I was in the air off every bump I skied over. But it was so smooth, the ski never tossed me. The skis were solid and stable through everything and I was able to punch through heavy spring mush without any difficulty. It was definitely hard to give this ski back.” Maybe Jeffrey will find one this winter!
In the world of park skiing, there are some specific traits that skiers are mainly looking for, and the Helix 88 has a lot of them. Symmetry, pop, and light weight stand out as some of the best, and the best part is that the ski is able to be used in an all-mountain format for skiers who are looking for energy and quickness. For a lot of different reasons, the Liberty Helix 88 is an awesome ski.
