Lib Tech Orca Snowboard Review

* the 138 and 162 sizes are new as of 2022

Who is the Orca Most Suited To?

The Orca is best for anyone looking for a stiffer short/wide board and mainly wants to ride at speed, carve and find powder. Or for those with bigger feet, but still want something 159 or under, that wants that kind of freeride experience. 

Also for those looking to ride longer, more drawn out turns as opposed to short/sharp snappy turns and looking for something that is damp and smooth. 

Not a beginner or even intermediate board, IMO - advanced to expert. 

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 530mm (20.9″)

Stance Setback: Setback 64mm (2.5")

Width at Inserts: 276mm (10.9") at front insert and 275mm (10.8") at back insert  

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 175lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Salomon Lo-Fi

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M 

Damp or Chattery?

Really quite damp. Quite far up the damp side of the scale

Smooth or Snappy?

Smooth for sure. Again, quite far down the smooth side of the scale. 

Powder

No powder to test on unfortunately, as I think this board would be super fun in powder. 

Based on specs, it would be a powder lover for sure. A healthy amount of taper, heaps of setback, a longer nose than tail and rocker in the profile. 

Carving & Turning

Carving: Nice on a carve. Not a monster carver, but still really nice. Prefers long arcing carves to shorter sharper ones. 

Turning: Again prefers things to be a little more long and drawn out when making regular turns - as opposed to shorter, sharper turns.  

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Not terrible maneuverable at slower speeds. Takes some effort to switch edges at slow speeds. Starts to purr more when riding faster. 

Skidded Turns: Not great for skidded turns. Somewhat doable, but not super forgiving of them.

Speed

Performs really well at speed and prefers some speed behind. It feels like a much higher performance board when the mph is higher. And feels stable at speed too, when you open it out. In once sense this was quite surprising, given the length I rode (153) but in another sense it wasn't too surprising given how stiff it feels (7.5/10, bordering on 8/10)

Uneven Terrain

Felt great in crud - just smashed through it like it wasn't there. 

Not as good in bumpy terrain, particularly trying to weave through - not nimble enough to be great in there. 

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Jumps

OK butnot amazing overall. 

Pop: There's a good bit there, when you really give it some. But it takes quite a bit of effort to extract, IMO. 

Approach: Really stable for faster approaches, but not as nimble as i would like for slower, trickier approaches

Landing: Solid on landings for sure. Can really stomp it when you get it right, but not that forgiving if you get it wrong. 

Side-hits: Doable but not great. Not nimble enough for my liking and pop not easier enough to extract. 

Small jumps/Big jumps: Best for bigger jumps where you need good stability on approach and landing. 

Switch

Doable, as any board is really, but one of the less suited boards to riding switch. 

Spins

Being a shorter board, it wasn't too bad getting the spin around, but still not super spinny. Not great for landing switch or setting up switch - or any kind of tricky setup. So not ideal for spins, IMO. 

Butters

I found it surprisingly buttery for how stiff it is. I'd say as much as 3.5/5 for buttering, which really surprised me, given how the board otherwise felt. 

If you're looking for a damp, smooth board for long, drawn out turns but mostly want something that's effortless and floaty in powder. 

Make sure you like your board relatively stiff and wide and that you're an advanced rider - and if that all melds together, then this is a great option.