Lib Tech Stump Ape Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews. We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

How This Review Happened: We had a couple of laps on a frantic, manic demo day.

Size: 157
Days:  1
Conditions:  Firm to hard CO snow.
Riders: Stephen (6’3″, size 12 left and 13 right, so we just say 12.5 and 210 lbs)
Boots:  Burton Imperial
Insoles: Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Bent Metal Transfers
Set-Up: 24” Close to reference stance 15 front -9 back

Approximate Weight

Feels normal for this much surface area.

Sizing

The Lib Tech Stump Ape is for guys with bigger feet and guys with big feet that are also big-boned. Size 12 is the starting point, but it really starts to make sense at bigger sizes. 13-14 is a good size to ride this.

Flex/Buttering

To Stephen, the Lib Tech Stump Ape was a lot of board as he’s at the low end of the sizing. It was not an easy board for him to butter. It has a lot of snap to the flex, though, and it’s a very poppy ride.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns

The Lib Tech Stump Ape is a hybrid rocker (called C2x), and it has a short but abrupt bend in the middle going to a long semi-mellow camber that doesn’t touch the ground at the end until you step on it. Wood bends differently in the curing process, so the tip/tail isn’t always the same height off the ground from board to board. Some are a little more stable, and some a little looser, but overall, this is on the more stable side for this hybrid rocker profile. If you are a big-booted guy, this will be semi-stable in most conditions except for softer snow, and it will be pretty forgiving in all conditions. For most, it will skid turns pretty easily, but the less you weigh and the closer your boot size is to 12, the more challenging it will get. Still, this is good with most intermediate to expert riders.

Edge Hold

Grips really well for hard to icy snow. It can grab a little bit in soft snow.

Turn Initiation

Not super quick edge to edge, but once the sidecut is engaged, it speeds up. It’s just wasn’t super quick for Stephen with his barely True Wide boots.

Turning Experience/Carving

For a hybrid rocker board, this carves hard. What is good about the Lib Tech Stump Ape is it has the ability to carve well in harder conditions, so it will perform better there than some full camber boards. In good conditions, it doesn’t have the spring out of the turn, and the rocker hurries you up through the turn a bit. You need more weight on the back foot to keep this from washing, so it’s more work on the back foot on groomers but less in powder.

Powder

We only had some hard snow to deal with. However, the 20mm taper, bigger nose than a tail, rocker, set back on sidecut, and probably a good bit more on board makes us think this should do really well in powder. This would be a great compliment to the Skunk Ape for those big-footed riders who want a really fun directional ride.

Speed

Pretty wide and stable for a hybrid rocker board. It can chatter a little bit, but it’s good for those who like to point it but still want a forgiving ride.

Uneven Terrain

The bigger your boot, the easier it is to turn through bumps, but it is pretty good powering over them. It isn’t as good as some boards out there, but that happens with boards that have this much pop, and they tend to chatter a little more in uneven snow. Still, it’s not terrible, and it’s a good compromise between pop and shock absorption without being like a lot of ultralight boards out there that fall apart in uneven snow. You can ride all day at a crowded resort with bindings and boots that have good shock absorption.

So, all in all, the Lib Tech Stump Ape is a good compliment to a big-footed/big-boned rider who owns a Skunk Ape and wants to build on their quiver or have a one-board quiver for more directional riding.