Lib Tech La Nina MC Snowboard

Lib Tech La Nina MC In Depth Review

The Lib Tech La Nina MC Review by The Good Ride
 Size 162

Days-3
Riders-5’10? 195lbs Size 9 Shoe
Bindings- Union Atlas
Boots- Burton SLX 

The Lib Tech La Nina MC was designed by someone who rides in a place that gets a ton of snow.  It’s worse season on record is 500? and it’s best is 1,200? so if you compare that to anywhere else in the US it’s just plain nuts when it comes to powder. The designer understands what he wants in powder and makes a board for mostly directional riding that is just plain fun.

So like we said above the La Nina MC is a very new and interesting board with new tech similar to many boards but still very unique in it’s own way.  This is more than just a powder board but it still has a few all mountain freestyle limitations.  It’s really hard to classify who would like this and what world this board should live in.  It’s catch free and pretty loose for a freeride board so you can butter around but it’s also comes in bigger powder friendly sizes.  So now to the review.

Groomers- This isn’t a bad board for groomers and it handles very well.  We’d rather be out on the Lib Tech Jamie Lynn or Lib Tech Travis Rice but it’s still a good board when it comes to fresh morning groomers.

Powder- It’s tough to say if this will be excellent for everyone but it will be excellent for most. Some live for a tapered directional board and others love a directional board with directional rocker to get them off when it’s deep.   Still this will float in just about anything and is better for the rider who wants to ride in one direction in the deep stuff.  You can ride switch in the powder but this is made to ride way set back. The camber in the back made it fun to pop off a little lip but also still made it easy to lean back with very little rear leg burn because it’s still rockered up.  I liked this a little better than the boards with true camber in the back.
Turn Initiation/Carving- The C1 shape makes the La Nina a more fun board to turn regular instead of switch.  It’s incredibly easy to transition from edge to edge.  Even though an advanced to expert rider would appreciate this board the best a beginner to intermediate freerider would be able to learn on this board if they wanted to fork out the cash.  When it came to carving it was fun to lay into a turn and lean back into the tail.  It was pretty easy to stay into a carve untill you were going back up hill.  Very fun here as long as you don’t ride switch.
Speed-This is pretty stable for a hybrid rocker board but it still feels more comfortable staying on edge than flat basing in harder to icy conditions.  You don’t really have to worry about that because the rider who gets this board will be more interested in powder or riding in good conditions than hard pack and might never find this quality out.
Weight- This is like all Lib Tech boards.  Not too heavy and not to light.  It’s always right in the middle.
Edge Hold- The La Nina has a mellow MTX side cut similar to the Jamie Lynn and we really liked this.  It seems just slightly more aggressive between the feet but I could be wrong here. It held an edge well where ever we were and at the same time wasn’t ultra grippy in softer snow which is a common complaint amongst the more aggressive lib tech MTX boards.
Flex- The La Nina doesn’t feel as stiff as the flex rating but it’s still no soft park board. It’s not ultra friendly when buttering around but you can still bend the board past the natural rocker points.

Switch- It’s very different riding switch but you can get use to it.  This is a set back directional board with different rocker in the nose than the tail so you should expect this.  Still it’s ok for riding switch on a traverse to good powder or the occasional switch landing of a natural hit.

Rails/Jibbing- Not that great in the park.  It’s pretty big and uneven when it comes to sliding around on a technical rail.  Still it’s a Lib board and they make sure just about any board can go anywhere.  You can stop at the park on your way back to the gondola if you want to.
Pipe- The edge hold is there and this board is forgiving but I can think of so many boards out there that would be better for riding the pipe.  

Jumps- As you can see from the other Park categories that this won’t be ideal in the roller coaster park but it will be really fun for a method off a natural hit. The little bit of camber in the tail made it an easier time to generate your own air when riding so set back.

All in all this was a very fun board and had that signature Lib Tech Rocker/hybrid rocker feel.  I would say it felt more like a C2 BTX board but with a little powder extra.  This is a great powder+ board and it won’t slack off too much if you have to ride when there isn’t powder.  All in all this is a great mostly mountain to powder snowboard.  If you aren’t into the loose ride that many directional hybrid rocker boards offer there are other hybrid camber boards that will accomplish about the same ride and offer a more stability between the feet.  It’s all personal preference so if you like the loose feel that hybrid rocker offers this is a great board.  Well done Lib Tech.

A Quick Look at the 2013 Lib Tech La Nina MC

A Quick Look at the 2012 Lib Tech La Nina MC

Lib Tech La Nina MC Gallery

2013

2012

Lib Tech La Nina MC User Reviews