Construction and Materials
Lib Tech are on the map for many things: a weird and wonderful array of snowboards; a primo team of all-round rippers; and tech that has transcended the brand and become industry norm. But perhaps more than anything they’re known for their commitment to eco-friendly manufacturing.
Yes, we know all production has to have a footprint of some kind, and we’re not saying they’re perfect by any means, but all brands under the Mervin umbrella demonstrate a clear dedication to their responsibility for keeping things as green as possible, while still churning out premium products. The Rocket uses water based inks, plant based topsheets, and recycled ingredients throughout to ensure that they’re honouring Mother Nature both on and off the mountain.
Internally, the Rocket is leaning into the best of both worlds blend. A dual-wood core uses majority lightweight Aspen with some Paulownia to bolster the durability, and this is sandwiched with a mix of triax and biax fibreglass. This fibreglass weave adds some torsional rigidity to allow you to really push the performance, but it’s not so nuts it’ll buck you off when the conditions aren’t primo.
“The Rocket uses water based inks, plant based topsheets, and recycled ingredients throughout to ensure that they’re honouring Mother Nature”
Roundup
One of the coolest boards in Lib Tech’s ExperiMENTAL division, the Rocket is all round fun from start to finish. It’s a no holds barred directional ripper that’ll get you down and dirty into carves, float like a butterfly in the powder and sting like a bee on groomers. Surf’s up brah.
Pros:
- As close to surfing as you’ll get up a mountain
- The Rocket is a really manoeuvrable and nimble board in deep snow
Cons:
- Lets be honest, switch riding isn’t gonna be great
Tester’s Verdict
Ed Blomfield – Editor-At-Large, Whitelines
“Who said volume shift boards can’t be versatile? We’d been blessed with some late season snowfall at the board test in Flachau, so I grabbed this fish-like deck from Lib in expectation that it would maximise the fun in powder. It did just that – the heavy taper makes it floaty yet super nimble; perfect for greybird tree lines. But with the snow melting rapidly I soon found myself back on piste, and by the late afternoon I was riding it in full-on April slush. This thing didn’t miss a beat. It’s agile when you need to change edge but stable running flat-based at full throttle. Turns feel surfy – soulful even.
Sure, I didn’t feel comfortable spending much time going switch, but for tearing up the resort on the coattails of the riders we were shooting, the Rocket was ideal. When you’re a photographer carrying a bunch of heavy kit you want a board that feels natural from the off, something with a mellow-ish flex that you don’t really have to think about or work hard to control, whatever the conditions. Yup, it totally ticked that box – in fact I enjoyed it so much I kept hold of it for the next couple of days.”
Trade Secrets
Lauren Lidford – UK Sales Agent, Mervin
“We put a huge amount of energy into designing and refining all the Lib X Lost snowboards. All of the Lib X Lost boards feature a focus on surf “bottom turn” minded carving with progressive radius sidecuts this is especially the case with the powerful playful Rocket. The Rocket is designed and tested at Mammoth Mountain with our design team of Steven Cobb and Pete Saari working closely with Matt Biolos, Tim Gallegher and Devin Tubbs from Wave Rave Snowboard Shop…both Tim and Devin are amazing carvers and slice up the widely varied terrain from top to bottom. The rocket is clearly directional but the tail is kicked up enough to make it freestyle and switch friendly. Matt’s sexy tail design is pretty intricate and challenging to finish for our craftsmen but the final look is more than worth the effort.”
