Lib Tech Orca Snowboard Review

These are older reviews of the Lib Tech Orca. Even though the Orca hasn’t changed my review format and information I could provide about it did. So the main review is the best, but if you are into some old BS, then feel free to check these older video and written reviews below

Lib Tech Orca 2019-2021 Snowboard Review

Swipe Right: Excellent Grip. Turns easy for a T.Rice board. Excellent Ollie Power.
Swipe Left: Grabs a bit much in soft to wet snow. Loose between the feet one footing and flat basing.

Summary
I guess we are technically the same species as Travis Rice, but his boards never made us feel like we were. The main thing is his boards don’t like to turn. However, this somewhat short/wide, tapered directional, easy turning, semi-buttery, the slashy, forgiving board works really well for us. In fact, I’ve owned a 153 in the past and now own a 150.  This still has that aggressive, straight-line kind of Travis personality to it, but for the first time, it also works with us mellow-riding mortals.

The 2019-2021 hasn’t changed, but we get to know it better each year and try different sizes, so we updated it.

Ethics Statement: The manufacturer doesn’t pay us 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 rider’s perspective.

Lib Tech Orca 2021 Snowboard Review- How it rides and who it is for

How This Review Happened: We had some demo laps, owned a 153, and now own a 150
Size: 150 and 153
Days:  5+
Conditions: Everything from really hard snow to good snow to a few laps in some deep (approx 2′ of powder)
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs), Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs), Grant (Size 11 6’ 160lbs),
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Bent Metal Axtion

Set-Up: 21.5”-22.5” Wide. 21 front -6 back, 21 front -3 back, 21 front 0 back.  Close to Reference and Set all the way back.

Similar Boards (but not the same): Gnu Gremlin; Never Summer Harpoon; Lib-Tech Quiver Killer, Yes Y, Yes Hybrid, Endeavor Scout, Prior Legacy, Jones Hovercraft, Burton Kilroy Pow, Korua Dart, Korua Pencil, Korua Café Racer,

Approximate Weight

The Lib Tech Orca feels pretty normal in terms of its overall surface area.

Sizing 

We all matched up well the the 150 Lib Tech Orca but it was best for Peter and I. The 153 we rode and owned before worked well too but that was better for Jimbo and his size 11 US boots. 
Boot Sizing Break Down
147: 7-9
150: 8-11
153: 9-12
156: 10-12
159: 11-12

Shape/Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

We are not that into the loose feel underfoot when one is footing or flat based on harder conditions. The Orca does skid turns easily, and once that edge is set, it grips like a champ.  While we have had more pleasure carving with lots of C3 camber boards like the Rocket, this does really well for a C2 board. Even though its edges can be grabby in soft to wet snow, it has a very set-back, easy floating ride in a powder that’s way better than any other T.Rice model.

Flex/Pop/Buttering

The surprise here is that the 150 can butter really well. So could the 153. This Lib Tech Orca is stiff, but the rocker in the middle seemed to make it all much easier to butter than you would think. It also pops hard and has lots of energy underfoot. It had really easily accessible Ollie power and great pop from the center or tail of the board.

Speed

The base on the Lib Tech Orca isn’t going to win the glide award on a long traverse, but it doesn’t suck. It is a great base for those who don’t always like to wax. The overall construction is damp, and if you set the edge a little when pointing it, the Lib Tech Orca can point it.

Uneven Terrain

It doesn’t have that bucky; bouncy feel that many shorter/wider boards have in uneven terrain, which is pretty cool.

Edge Hold

The massively disrupted sidecut with the Lib Tech Orca grabs hard in hard-to-icy snow but does a little too much in soft-to-wet snow. If you tell us that you ride in hard to icy conditions like the East Coast US, then we say get this.

Turn Initiation

The 150 Lib Tech Orca had that quick, easy turn initiation that I really liked. So did Peter and Jimbo. The 153 felt a little slow for my size 9 boots and rode a lot bigger than a 153 when it came to turning. Even with that much deeper sidecut, it was slow. The 150, however, was just about right. I’d rather have a board err on being too quick than too slow, as I like turny rides.

Turning Experience/Carving

Hybrid rocker boards like the Lib Tech Orca aren’t usually ideal for laying into a hard carving turn because the rocker in the middle hurries you up through the turn. This does have some of that hurry-up, but it does a very good job of laying out a hard turn.

Peter Carving

Powder

I only had one powder day on this. There were about 2 feet, and my friend let me take a few runs on his. The Orca floats really well. It should have a decent amount of taper, a rocker in the middle pointing the nose up, and a setback on the board of 4.125″ back from the center of the board with a 21.6″ stance width set all the way back.  Even though the tip/tail doesn’t come all the way back to the snow after the camber, there seems to be a little early rise in the nose.

Getting Air

What we liked about the Lib Tech Orca is that even though it is pretty far back towards the tail, there is still enough there to make you feel comfortable launching it. There is some tail there for awkward landings and it approaches a jump well.

Conclusion

The Lib Tech Orca is especially great for those who see hard-to-icy snow often but want to be ready for the deep days.The only drawback is that it’s so popular that you might find yourself skating up to an Orca Pod in the lift line and feel like you haven’t made an original choice.

2019 Lib Tech Orca Review

The Lib Tech Travis Rice Orca continues on from the Climax and Gold Member and goes shorter, fatter, more set back, more directional in shape, has a deeper sidecut, and a decent amount of taper. It’s one of the first Travis Rice boards that we felt we had a connection to, and it is a great choice for those who want an alternative to a freeride shape that can hold an edge in just about anything but also be a fun board to bomb and carve with. Especially for a hybrid rocker shape.

How This Review Happened: We had a couple of laps on a frantic, manic demo day, and then I bought it, rode it a few more days, and gave it to a friend.
Size: 153
Days: 5
Conditions: Firm to hard CO snow, Firm PNW snow, bumpy groomer snow, and pretty clean, well-groomed med/soft snow.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs),Grant (size 10.5, 165lbs 6′)  Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV for all
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Bent Metal Transfers, Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union Falcor,
Set-Up: 21.5″ to 22” Wide. 21 front -6 back. 21 front, 0 back.  Close to Reference and Set all the way back.

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To

Burton Skeleton Key, Gentemstick Mantaray 156, Korua Dart, Korua Pencil, United Shapes Orbit, Yes Optimistic, Rome Pow Division MT, Salomon Sick Stick, and a few more.

Approximate Weight

You can feel a little weight to this for a 153, but it’s about on par with a middle-ground weight for the surface area.

Sizing

I felt like the 153 might be a little bit much for me to handle, but it worked as long as I wasn’t in tight spots. The 153 was fine weight-wise, but the 153 felt a little slow boot-wise for size 9’s. Now that there are 150 options, I would have liked to try them. Still, the 153 felt like it was the closest a T.Rice board ever came to fit my specs, as it usually makes a better experience for those with more of a mid/wide boot size. If you are more like a size 10-11 boot, the Lib Tech T.Rice Orca will be a great fit, but it can work with a slightly bigger boot size, and it’s still very doable with a little smaller boot size like mine.

Flex/Buttering

I could butter off the tail a bit, but it’s not the easy buttery feel you get from many hybrid rocker boards like this. There is lots of potential energy underfoot pop-wise if you have the strength to make it do so. It feels like there is some stiff wood underfoot, and it pops well off the tail with good effort.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns

While the Lib Tech T.Rice Orca is still one of the most aggressive hybrid rocker boards I’ve tried, and it has a little more consequence than most hybrid rocker boards if you get off your game and need to skid a turn but less than most of its hybrid camber peers. I think this will play out well for those who want a shorter, fatter, aggressive ride but with less consequence than you would think for its stiff flex/the way it rides.

The hybrid rocker profile doesn’t have much going on in the front half, but then going to a pretty short, curvy camber in the back foot makes for a somewhat stable ride in harder snow that can feel a little loose one footing off a chair or flat basing on a cat track, but overall it’s more stable than most hybrid rocker boards. When the snow is softer, it feels close to some hybrid camber boards but not quite there. It has that T. Rice let’s go straight personality, but it isn’t as overboard as some of his other rides.

Edge Hold

It has a super strong grip, which is great for those who often see hard-to-icy snow. Some might complain about it being overly grabby in softer conditions like a foot of thick wet powder, but it’s not a deal-breaker for all. Some get used to it, and some don’t.

Turn Initiation

It isn’t a quick turner, but it turns easier and tighter than most of the super straight-liner T. Rice boards in the line we tried—and we tried them all.

Turning Experience/Carving

The Lib Tech T.Rice Orca carves pretty hard, and while it isn’t a super carver compared to some boards we compared it to above, it is the one I want to take out when it’s hard to icy, and I still want to have strong carvy turns. Like a lot of T. Rice boards, it’s more of an across-the-groomer carver turner, but I felt like I could force this into a circle carve easier than most T. Rice boards. So it really likes more of a longer S-Turn over tighter turns. It’s a fun board to turn and has a good spring. There isn’t much of a washy feel off the back foot, but it does still like a little more

Powder

At a 21.75″ stance width when set all the way back, it has a difference between nose and tail of 8.25″ and a 4.125″ set back from the center of the board. That is a lot of directional floats, and even more than the already generous 2.5″ setback on sidecut would lead you to believe. Combine that with 10mm of taper, a big ass nose with a very mellow camber under the front foot that rises up before, and a small tail you have a very floaty small ride. The grab-in thicker powder might turn some people off, but it’s not like the old full mag days.

Speed

This can bomb even though it has a rocker in the middle. It’s decently damp, too. The base glide is ok but not up there with the best of them.

Uneven Terrain

Going through bumps is not particularly easy for my size 9’s on this ride but it’s the best it’s ever been with a T. Rice board. I could actually weave through bumps with a bit of work. It can power over things.

Conclusion

So overall, the Lib Tech T.Rice Orca does a lot more to appeal to more average riders, and it’s a great call for those who want an alternative freeride/shorter, somewhat fatter hard snow specialist that can still

This is the review of the board we tried at the demo was not ready for primetime. The edges weren’t properly de-tuned and it did not feel right. However, the production model that Grant and I got on was much much better.