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Lib Tech Lost x LIB Rocket 2022-2023 Snowboard Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the Lib Tech Lost x LIB Rocket

  • Price: £555 / €630 / $630
  • Category: All-Mountain
  • Sizes: 152.5, 157.5, 161.5
  • Flex: 7/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Combo
  • 3D: No
  • Base: Sintered

Why We Chose The Lib Tech Lost x LIB Rocket: Surf meets snow in this amalgamation of all things standing sideways.

The flagship board in Lib Tech’s Lost x Lib Collection, the Rocket was dreamed up by legendary surf shaper Matt Biolos. Our favourite place to ride the Rocket was in the spring slush, but that’s not to say it can’t handle firmer conditions or steeper terrain.

The profile and construction of the Rocket mean it’s a veritable demon in deeper snow and it’ll dig a trench with the best of them – just as any great freeride focussed snowboard should!

“The Rocket uses width as opposed to length to up the surface area, float and manoeuvrability”

Who Is The Lib Tech Lost x LIB Rocket For?

You’re a strong rider who wants a powder board that can be taken out of the locker any day of the season. You’ll ride a bit of anything, but your park rat days are probably behind you. Surfy turns and eurocarves are more your bag than front boards and down-flat-downs.

MORE INFO:
LIBTECH.COM

 

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

Creativity reigns supreme with the Rocket. Even just at a glance, you can see how it subverts the traditional snowboard shape and draws inspiration from short, stubby surfboards.

As is the case now for many modern powder boards, the Rocket uses width as opposed to length to up the surface area, float and manoeuvrability. The 151 comes in with a bodacious 25.6cm waist, but that’s not the only way to skin the cat when it comes to performance in deeper snow.


The Rocket has a 2.5” setback, and an intricate tail design to reduce the volume, therefore helping it sink into the snow. And while these features make it a great deck for surfing pow, they also play a part in its performance on the hardpack.

You’re probably familiar with Lib Tech’s signature MagneTraction edge profile, but the Lost x Lib instead uses a progressive radius sidecut. This is more akin to a traditional snowboard feeling, but still delivers locked in carves thanks to the dynamic C3 Camber profile and construction, take into account the width again, et voila! Toe drag (even when you’re elbows down) is a thing of the past.

“It’s a no holds barred directional ripper that’ll get you down and dirty into carves”

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
SHOP ALL SNOWBOARDS ON

 

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.”

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