T.Rice Orca All Mountain Snowboard

About the Lib Tech T.Rice Orca

Lib Tech’s 2021 Orca is a collaboration with snowboarding legend Travis Rice, aimed at creating the snowboards of his dreams. And being one of the greatest snowboarders on the planet, you can bet your bottom dollar that Travis Rice’s dreams revolve around the very highest levels of snowboarding performance and absolute dominance in every aspect of the sport. Behold then, the Orca! Lib Tech’s all-mountain freestyle technical powder predator!

The Orca is, in Travis Rice’s own words, “simply put, the best snowboard I’ve ever ridden.” That is extraordinarily high praise coming from a snowboarder of his calibre, and it probably has something to do with Lib Tech’s state-of-the-art construction techniques.

It features Lib Tech’s groundbreaking Whale Tail Technology, a tail construction developed specifically for this board. A fresh take on the classic fishtail powder-specific board shape, it features the classic swallow cut-out to help it sink into powder but has a very tight radius and a short, steep rise. This makes it incredibly responsive and manoeuvrable even in deep snow and really allows you to lean into the front of the board without ever burying the nose.

An Xtreme C2 Banana camber profile has been included which has been adapted from the award-winning C2 profile, and provides a shorter, more aggressive rocker between the feet with a longer camber that sits more underfoot. This makes initiating turns easy and helps maintain float in powder. This profile also contains extra tip and tail pressure to enhance pop, stability and precision.

This sharp short rise in the tail and a gradual rise to the classic extra-wide powder nose at the front give the board plenty of float, and in true directional board style, it has a long nose and set-back binding mountings for a tail-heavy, surfy stance. All this makes it the perfect partner for even the deepest of backcountry powder sessions.

However, what makes this board so dreamy is that, unlike most powder-specific fishtail boards, it also features plenty of tech that makes it just as fun to ride on the hard pack as in soft stuff. Lib Tech’s innovative Magne-Traction edge construction gives the board a serrated shape that digs into crust and grants absolutely effortless edge hold in the steepest and iciest conditions. The Aspen and Paulownia wood core is very lightweight yet strong, and features triaxial and biaxial fibreglass with Basalt Alloy struts. This creates outstanding torsional strength and stability, which makes it incredibly stable and responsive, even in the choppiest of chop and crust.

Coming with a generous wide waistline, this board is literally made for ploughing deep powder and carving up the corduroy. The wide shape allows you to really lay it over onto its edges without the slightest bit of toe drag, so you can edge out the biggest carves on the hardpack and the surfiest of deep powder turns. A deep 7-meter side cut will really get you laying out those perfect turns and massive snow sprays just like the master himself.

Lib Tech’s goal was to create a directional board focused on high-performance fun, and with the T. Rice Orca, they have done exactly that! If you love effortlessness carving around the resort and floating through the deepest pillowy powder, this board truly is the stuff of dreams.