2022 LIBERTY ORIGIN 101 SKI REVIEW

Spring has sprung here in Vermont. Temperatures have been hovering in the high 50s and lower 60s over the past couple weeks and we’ve been thoroughly enjoying the corn snow harvest those temps have provided. Despite the warmer-than-usual weather, our ski testing hasn’t slowed, and the variations in snow surface from morning to afternoon (firm to corn) have provided some excellent testing conditions. Maybe it’s the bright orange graphic, or maybe it’s the wider, twin tip shape… I’m not sure why, but for some reason I have gravitated to the new 2022 Liberty Origin 101 over the past couple weeks. Sure, I’ve skied other stuff too, but I’ve certainly found (created?) a lot of excuses to ski these skis. Ultimately, it’s been a nice opportunity to put them to the test, and I’m quite pleased with their performance.

Liberty has refined their line of Origin freeride skis for 2022. We get a new construction method as well as a new width, this Origin 101 we’re going to talk about today. The collection in general ranges from 96 mm underfoot all the way up to 112. There are 4 skis in total: 96, 101, 106, and 112. The shapes all pretty much stay the same from previous years, although obviously the 101 is a completely new ski, so that shape never existed, but the other skis stay the same and this 101 follows suit. The best way to describe the Origin 101 is as a directional twin tip. The tip rocker is noticeably longer than the tail rocker, and the recommended mount point is 7.5 cm back from the true center of the ski. That’s relatively close to the center of camber, as I measured tip rocker to be about 43 cm and tail rocker about 33 cm in length. So, in theory, you could move the midsole up about 2.5 cm before you moved yourself too far forward in the cambered portion of the ski, which would make sense for someone looking for a more centered, freestyle-inspired feel. There’s a little bit of taper in the Origin’s shape, but not a lot. I might not even go as far as calling it taper, but it’s also not extended sidecut. It’s just a nice rounded off tip and tail shape, which I think strikes a nice balance between retaining a long effective edge at a high edge angle and providing a maneuverable feel when keeping the ski flatter.

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Let’s talk about the new construction, as that’s a very important element in these new Origins and a key to their new performance. To start, the Origin skis have always boasted a really good blend of feeling lightweight, maneuverable, and quick with stronger torsional stiffness than you might expect. If you go back to our review of the Origin 96, that’s something we talked about at length. These new skis basically that that idea to the next level. The new Origin skis are now built with Liberty’s new VMT 1.0 core. If you’ve been following Liberty in recent years, you should be somewhat familiar with VMT. Liberty is one of a handful of companies that are laminating metal vertically between wood stringers in their core. For the Origins, there is just 1 sheet of vertical metal, right in the center of the ski (a quick note that the 2022 Evolv skis now have 3 sheets of vertical metal). This single metal strip is laminated between poplar and bamboo, which is further enhanced with pre-cured carbon fiber stringers along the top of the core and a sheet of rubber foil underneath the core. The idea is to give the ski more power and stability, without adding unnecessary and excessive weight.

Does it work? You betcha! I love that they gave these skis a little more “oomph,” but what’s most impressive about it is they’ve retained all the things I enjoyed and appreciated about the 2021 and previous Origin skis. Having tested a lot of skis this winter, it always feels nice clicking into a lighter weight ski. Testing heavy, stiff, powerful skis is fun, but can be tiring both in a given day and over the course of a full season. I’ve had similar reactions to other skis… Reckoner 102, Ranger 102 FR, even something like the Rustler 10. Clicking into those skis leaves me feeling something along the lines of “Oh! This is going to be fun.” The Origin 101 definitely has that feel. The swing weight is minimal and I found myself doing that thing in the lift line where you pick up your skis and swing it side to side, then look to the guy next to you and say “these are really light!” If that’s just a thing that I do, forgive me for calling it a “thing.”

That light swing weight carries over to their feel when you start heading down hill. The amount of tail rocker coupled with the lighter weight feel allows for incredibly quick and easy edge release in the tail. You can throw them sideways very easily, which really came in handy on those softer spring days when the snow starts to get a little heavy. They’re quick, they’re agile, and they’re very responsive. The construction of these skis, as I alluded to previously, retains good torsional stiffness. Carbon provides a snappy flex pattern, so when you tell the skis to do something, they do that thing. They’re not floppy, so you don’t feel like you’re going to wash out in steeper, more technical terrain, but they still have a playful, fun-loving feel when you’re making quick turns. I even found they wanted to get a little airborne in between turns more than most skis, which is super fun. It’s really easy to load up the tail and do a mini ollie/pivot maneuver when you’re skiing technical terrain. It’s one of those skis where you don’t need to go fast to feel like you’re making expert-level turns. It’s agile, precise, and fun all at the same time even at slower, more methodical speeds.

When you start opening it up, however, is when you really start to benefit from the new VMT core. As I mentioned, the previous skis still had good torsional stiffness, so you could still ski them relatively aggressively and the ski would hold in a turn, but there was a limit to their raw stability. It still wasn’t the type of ski you wanted to just point down the fall line and let it run into reckless speeds. Sure, there are still plenty of skis that are stiffer and more powerful than this new version, but it definitely takes the Origin to the next level in terms of stability at speed. I was thoroughly impressed with how they handled the bumpy, choppy snow conditions we’ve had. The shape allows them to kind of skip over things when you want to, but now they feel like they’ll cut through snow better than they did before. The ski basically just stays more composed in its longitudinal flex pattern, so you get more consistent edge contact with the snow, and thus more control over the ski.

When you combine their newfound stability at speed with their playfulness, agility, and quickness, you get a really fun ride. You can rip around at high speeds, then do a massive slash, dump a ton of speed, and make a couple lightning-quick turns on the side of the trail. They love to be skied in a variety of different ways. You can make traditional, round turns and just link them down the fall line, you can ski with a straight-sideways-straight technique, or you can blend it all together and leave your own personal signature on the slopes. It’s an extremely well-rounded shape that allows for a lot of different techniques, which basically means it can be enjoyed by a huge range of skiers.

All in all, I’m really happy with the new Origin series, and the 101 is my favorite of the group. I’m not sure if it’s a personal preference for that width range or that it just feels like that width can do a little bit of everything, but I’ve had a blast skiing them. It’s still very much a Liberty Origin. It carries forward everything the previous skis did well, it just gives you a little more of that “oomph” for more aggressive skiing, which I’ve really enjoyed.

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Written by Jeff Neagle on 04/15/21