Liberty Mountain Resort is just over the Mason-Dixon Line in Pennsylvania, but many of their skiers are Maryland residents. Liberty is the closest mountain to the DC area, between familiar towns Emmitsburg and Gettysburg, PA. Liberty is more crowded than other mountains because of its proximity, but most visiting skiers are beginners or in the terrain park, so the blues on the backside have shorter lift lines. Liberty is covered in snow makers and they use them at every opportunity, so even though they get less natural snow, they open runs quickly and stay open late in the season. Some runs open later than others, but the mountain is generally 100% open in about a month, much faster than other mountains. This analysis is intended to provide skiers an idea of what to expect when they visit Liberty!
Green - Beginner
Blue - Intermediate
Black - Advanced
Dipsy Doodle: The only green accessible from the top of the mountain. The top bend is the steepest point on a green trail at Liberty, forming a bowl. Go the far right of the bowl for the easiest way down, while the skier’s left of the bowl is steeper. The bottom of the trail runs into Nova. There is a clearly marked entrance at the top of the mountain, but there is also a cut through the woods at the bottom of Upper Heavenly on the left near the entrance to Whitney’s Way. One of the first trails to open.
First Class Area: It has a chair and a magic carpet, so you can work your way up in challenge level if you’re a first-timer.
Lower Blue Streak: Be careful, because beginners and experts flying down Upper Blue Streak combine here. For some reason this run is never crowded, so beginners can ski it more.
Nova: The very flat bottom of Sneaky Pete. Best run for beginners.
Sneaky Pete: A short cut-through from the chair lift to Nova.
Snow Cat Alley: The least steep run. Intended for first-timers and those taking lessons.
Adventure Alley: A spur around the terrain park that usually has boxes and some smaller terrain features.
East Side: This part of the park usually has intermediate boxes and rails.
Lower Heavenly and Lower Ultra. These two trails are very similar. They are groomed but tend to get bumpy by the end of the day on weekends due to traffic. The runs are very wide to accommodate traffic. These two are probably the most skied blues. The steepest section is at the bottom. Steeper than Whitney’s Way, but not as steep as Lower Strata. Heavenly usually opens before other blues.
Lower Eastwind: Like Heavenly and Ultra, except with consistent moguls. Underneath the chair is left for ungroomed and natural snow.
Lower Strata: The steepest of the blues on the backside of the mountain. Usually one of the last trails to open. Also has the most areas for natural ungroomed snow skiing.
Sidewinder: An easy spur for those that don’t want to go down the double black diamonds to reach the blues.
Upper Heavenly: Has the most traffic. It technically has two runs entrances from the mountain top that converge into one run. By the end of the day there are usually lots of large mounds and it resembles more of a mogul field than a groomed run.
Whitney’s Way: The easiest blue on the backside. The entrance is somewhat hidden off the skier’s left side of Lower Heavenly or the skier’s right side of Dipsy Doodle. Very wide and less skied, good for practicing turns
West Side Park: This part of the park usually has large jumps and larger features. The skier’s right usually has more intermediate boxes. The park's steepness is not black diamond level, the classification more-so represents the feature difficulty.
White Lightning and Upper Blue Streak: These two are very similar. They usually open later than other runs. They don’t have moguls. They tend to get icier than other runs because they face a different direction. A lot shorter than they look on the map.
Upper Eastwind: The steepness is that of a single black diamond, but the moguls are some of the hardest DC and Baltimore skiers can find within 2 hours. Most skiers stick to the right or left, where the moguls tend to be smaller.
Upper Strata: Has the same moguls and steepness as Upper Eastwind, but is much shorter. For someone first trying these runs, I would recommend first going down the skier’s right of Upper Strata. It has the moguls, but is the shortest track down either of the two runs.
Upper Ultra: Double black without moguls. Usually well-groomed.
Vertigo Park: This part of the park has the largest jumps and long rails and pipes.
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