Lib Tech Golden Orca snowboard 24/25

Travis Rice has made an impact with the introduction of his Orca snowboard. A very fun board, with a short kinked tail, that you have to ride considerably smaller than normal. From his experiences with the Orca, inspiration arose for the development of another pro model: the Golden Orca. This new board from Travis Rice picks up where the Orca left off. This Golden Orca has a longer tail, making switch riding and airs landing easier. The Golden Orca is a directional freeride board, fairly stiff, pretty hi end. As you would expect from Travis. This is the board he actually designed for the Natural Selection competition. If you missed that. still check it out: freestyling in the backcountry!

Please note: ride this board 1-3 cm shorter than your usual board!

Type: freeride / freestyle / all around fun
Flex: 8 (out of 10)
Construction: Firepower Contruction

Profile: C2X
To give all terrain boards a perfectly balanced profile, Lib Tech has teamed up with Travis Rice to develop the C2. Mild rocker between your feet with powerful camber at the tip and tail. Enough pop for the park, precision for the best lines and float to go loose in the powder. The C2e variation makes the profile more playful and the C2x provides even more precision.

Shape: Directional
A directional board has a nose that is longer than the tail of the snowboard, giving more control on steep sections and less effort in powder. The board's flex is also asymmetrical with the tail usually being stiffer for better turns and stability. The nose is often made less stiff giving you better float. The stance of the board is more towards the tail with the amount of this being indicated by inches. Directional boards can be ridden both ways but its strength lies in riding the preferred side.

Core: 60% aspen / 40% paulownia
The combination of aspen, paulownia and basalt gives you a core that reacts super directly and conveys more feeling.

Glass: Tri-ax / Basalt alloy / Carbon x

Top: Eco sublimated bio beans topsheet

Base: Sintered
A sintered base gives you the best glide. Taking off your binding or walking on a path will happen to you a lot less because this base just wants to keep going. The base consists of small plastic granules that are pressed together, leaving air between them for wax to enter. You do have to wax a sintered base more often, but if you do this properly, you will notice it! Especially in warmer conditions, you will keep sliding while an extruded base creates a vacuum which slows it down.

Sidewalls: UHWM sintered / birch internal
UHWM is one of the strongest thermoplastic plastics currently available. This ensures that you don't have to have your board repaired every time you hit a box, rail or skis. On the inside of your sidewalls is a thin layer of birch, this type of wood is very strong and flexible which allows your sidewall to better distribute and absorb the force of an impact.

Edges: Magne-traction
If you've ever ridden on ice, you know how quickly you can lose control there. Magne-traction cuts through ice and hard snow with 7 wavy bumps. Simply put, your steel edge bites into the ice instead of cutting just like a serrated knife does into bread. But in normal snow on the slopes, it gives control and hold which gives you the confidence to maintain speed. You will feel this especially with turns where you put power in or while carving.