Liberty Mountain Ski Resort

My last memory of skiing was not a good one. Some 30+ years ago, I went skiing in the Poconos with my family and came back scarred physically and mentally. I swore I would never ski again. Now that I have a  family of my own, I felt that it would be unfair to prevent them from having a ski experience of their own. After a long deliberation and blocking the thoughts of injuries and a trip to the emergency room from my mind, I brought up the conversation to the family and just my luck, the response was a very loud and resounding "YES!". Of course, my daredevil daughter put the icing on the cake by telling me she had no interest in the skiing part and that she has always wanted to try snowboarding.  Well, you can only imagine the pictures that went through my mind at that point, but it was too late to take back the offer.  After asking around and doing some research, we narrowed it down to Liberty Mountain Ski Resort....the closest thing to the "beginner" hills that we could find.

Just a short 75 minute ride from where we live in Potomac, MD, Liberty Mountain Resort is one of three ski resorts (RoundTop and WhiteTail) frequented by the locals.  We bought a beginners package (ski or snowboard) which included entrance, lift tickets, a lesson, rentals, and access to the First Class Quad and the Dipsy Quad for $89. It's cheaper if you go during the week but I still thought the price was reasonable.
http://www.libertymountainresort.com/learn-to-ski-ride/ski-snowboard-school/lessons-packages.aspx

Everyone chose to ski except my brave child who decided to snowboard and went off on her own to take her lesson. The rest of us muddled through the ski lesson, including my mother who never gave up despite how many times she ended up on the ground. She eventually went down the whole hill and as she put it, "had an award-winning ride down". I managed to get through the lesson and barely made it down the whole hill. (The trainers are great and they don't mind if you "take them out" because you can't figure out how to stop.)  Eventually, the women gave up and sat out the afternoon while the husbands and kids spent the rest of the day on the slopes. They had a great time!!!

Also, for the less adventurous or if the little ones are not ready for the hills just yet, they have great snow tubing here as well. $30 for a couple of hours and fun for the whole family! There's a lodge to keep warm if you just want to watch but how can you resist the urge to go sliding down the hill? Tons of fun!!! http://www.libertymountainresort.com/mountain/snow-tubing/snow-tubing-at-boulder-ridge.aspx

It's a great day trip but I highly recommend you get there early (opens at 8am) before the tour buses and groups arrive, and if you are on a budget, pack a lunch.  Make sure you wear lots of layers, scarves, gloves, hats, ski masks, goggles, snow pants, ....get the picture?

Kid's View: "It was so much fun. Snowboarding was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm glad I did it. I would love to do it again but I think they should have more easy hills for beginners to practice on. I thought it was cool that there were mini-blizzards throughout the day where it would get dark and cloudy and then snow like crazy and then five minutes later the snow would stop and the sun would be out. I had a blast when I went tubing too. I would love to do that again too. I think Liberty is a cool place to spend the day with the family."

http://www.libertymountainresort.com/