After a career encompassing X Games wins, bar-raising video parts, highly ambitious (and occasionally misguided) film-making odysseys, and now the dual challenges of both running and competing in one of the most logistically-taxing competitive tours in any sport, you’d forgive Travis Rice for displaying an absence of chill. However, as this recent edit shows, he still knows how to arse around like the best of ‘em.

In what is essentially a showcase for Mervin Manufacturing – parent company of Lib Tech and Gnu, and one of the few still producing decks in the USA – Trice gets his hands dirty as he goes through the steps to make a new 2024/25 Lib Tech T.Rice Pro.

Is the hat part of the joke? Perhaps we’ll never know – but in any case, kudos to Travis and Mervin for sidestepping the snoozefest pitfall that most factory spotlights find themselves in. And if you’re anything like us, then Communion: A True Story has just gone to the top of your to-read list.

Watch the video above or read on for a guided tour of the Mervin MFG HQ where T-Ricky builds his collection of signature snowboards including the Orca, T.Rice Pro, Golden Orca and more…

CORE SHOP

Our journey starts in the Core Shop where Mervin use renewable FSC certified lumber from various tree species to assemble each snowboard’s core with different thicknesses and patterns to better accentuate it’s performance & personality.

This is also where we find the start of Mervin’s eco-manufactoring processes, as the sawdust left over from shaping the wood core is collected and recycled into soil.

PRINT SHOP

Next we head over to the Print Shop where a proprietary eco-sublimation process puts the “zero” into ZERO HAZARDOUS WASTE manufacturing. This revolutionary process not only keeps toxic silk screen run off out of the water supply but it also creates incredibly brilliant, vibrant renderings exactly how the artist intended for them to be seen. 

PARTS

Time to grab the last parts that make up every Lib-Tech board, some universal across the Mervin range, and others that are unique to each snowboard. Magne-Traction® edges are added to the base material here and UHMW tips and tails of various makes are added to the wood core before the whole kit heads to lay up.

LAY UP

With the bread and the filling all ready, it’s time to make the sandwich. The steady hand of the Lib Tech crafter lays down the performance fibers unique to each board and then applies the perfect level of low VOC resin. From here the board goes into a high temperature / pressure snowboard press before heading off to the final stage –  Finishing. 

FINISHING

The snowboard is almost slope ready but not until the final couple steps of master crafting seal the deal with excruciating detail. In Finishing excess material needs to be trimmed off along the edges and the boards tip and tail shape is created with no metal guilds, just skilled crafters.

To ensure the cleanest of finishes, Mervin use a water cleansed finishing system to pull dust and particles out of the air and prevent contaminants.

QUALITY CONTROL

Trav’s new dream board is all but ready to rip it just needs to be reviewed by a team of Quality Control experts looking for blemishes in every aspect of the board. If they find a small cosmetic blemish it get’s designated a “b-grade beauty” and will be available to shops and costumers at a discount. Finally two stickers are slapped on the board to declare a job well done – a QC sticker certifying it’s built to standard, and Mervin Mfg. sticker signed by the crafter who finished the board. Everyone get’s their due credit here!