The profile is the same as what you’ll find on the Gold Member; a short rocker section in the middle, flanked by two considerable camber sections. The centre of the board works in tandem with the taper to keep you floating in the deep stuff, while the rest of the board delivers grip on firmer trails without feeling mega twitchy (as downsized boards often tend to do).

On the piste there’s the added benefit of Magne-traction edges. With a varying wave running through the steel, the relative lack of effective edge is less noticeable. Factor in the wider waist too, and you’ll be as confident getting your elbow down on this as you would with a true carving weapon.

“Tech wise, this hasn’t gone off the deep end…. it’s the shape that’s the star here”

Tech wise, this hasn’t gone off the deep end. It’s a step up from Lib’s ‘Original Power’ baseline, with a sintered base rather than extruded, but generally it’s the shape that’s the star here. That’s to take nothing away from the OP blend, either; with a mix of Aspen and paulownia woods, as well as triax and biax fibreglass, it’s got a lightweight lay-up with all the strength hope for.

Despite its unusual design, the Lib Tech Orca could be the most accessible board yet to come out of the Lib/Travis partnership.

“This board was getting lots of attention at the board tests. It looks good, has a great story and the conditions when we first tried it were just perfect for a board like this. It was good, held its edge well, floated up with easy and in the trees it seemed to just keep jumping out of the snow as you cranked the turns, much like its namesake.

“In the trees it seemed to just keep jumping out of the snow as you cranked the turns”

But… there was something about it that just didn’t click with me. It seemed almost sluggish when you compared it to, say, the Jones Mind Expander or even the much cheaper Bataleon CT.

My second go on it was on a firmer day and once again it was good; the shape seemed to still work well even when you were not waist deep in snow.”

[monetizer101 search=’lib tech orca’]