Lib Tech Orca - Review: Travis Rice's Short and Wide Board

Lib Tech Orca is Travis Rice's short and wide deep-snow board: a directional C2X with a long floating nose, a short tail and a 7 m turn radius, for deep snow, trees and steeps. Who it is for: a rider who already has an everyday board and wants a second one for the days when the big snow falls. Here is Doychin's opinion from his videos, the history of the model and the comparison with the Golden Orca, Apex Orca and MC Wayfinder II.

The Orca is your second snowboard, and we say it out loud

Mervin writes that the Orca is narrow enough to be your everyday board for the whole season. We disagree. In his video for the 2026/27 season Doychin says it straight: the Orca is not your only snowboard, remember that. He has sold many of them, but he has also turned away quite a few people who wanted it to cover all their riding. If you come to the shop with that idea, we will argue with you.

Not because it is weak. It is the flagship of Travis's series and sells out every year at our shop. But it is made for specific conditions: the days when the big snow falls. For the rest there is the Golden Orca.

The shape has been the same since 2019, and the orca on the top sheet is new every year

The Orca appeared on the Lib Tech site in summer 2019 in three sizes, 147, 153 and 159, with artwork by Mark Dunstan. Mervin describes it as Travis's board for sharp turns on the runs of Jackson Hole, turned into an all-terrain machine, and presents it with "Not your spineless fish" and "A mammal that eats all the fish".

Since then the profile, the 7 m turn radius and the Whale Tail have stayed the same, the range has grown to eight sizes, from 138 to 162, and the artwork is new every year. We carry two generations: 2024/25 with artwork by Jessica Lichtenstein and 2025/26 with artwork by Toby Grubb, an underwater scene in blue and green. The construction on both is HP: a wood core of 60% Aspen and 40% Paulownia, triaxial and biaxial fiberglass with basalt.

Orca is the Latin name for the killer whale, and every Orca carries one. Travis and Mervin donate part of the Orca sales to Orca Conservancy, the organization working to keep killer whales from disappearing from the Salish Sea.

Doychin knows two or three people in Bulgaria who buy every new Orca just for the design. He himself rides the Orca in the splitboard version. In the Orca Split video he says that way he has an Orca and maybe the best splitboard in the world for the days without a lift. We carry the Lib Tech Orca Split.

Short and wide: the Orca is measured in area, not length

Doychin calls the Orca a prime example of the trend toward short and wide boards. A shorter, wider board has as much area as a longer classic one, and even better float in deep snow than the long freeride boards we knew until recently.

Here is an example with Mervin's numbers for 2025/26: the Orca 156 has 675 square inches of area, almost as much as the Golden Orca 159 with 678. The waist on the 153 and 156 is 26.7 cm, enough to lay the board on edge on hardpack without the boot catching the snow. Mervin lists it as a volume-shifted board (shorter and wider for the same volume) and advises a board 3-6 cm shorter than your usual.

Directional C2X and a short tail: the nose floats, the back foot rests

By Mervin's diagram the profile is the Orca's directional C2X: a shortened rocker between the feet and extended camber zones toward both ends. The rocker gives float and an easy exit from deep snow. Doychin is firm that for deep snow the rocker shape is absolutely irreplaceable, and he advises that one of the boards in your quiver should definitely be one: a pure Banana or C2 rocker, like the Orca.

The tail is very short, Mervin's Whale Tail. The load on the back foot is much smaller and in deep snow you do not have to stay back all the time. The setback is 2.5". And a 7 m turn radius is small for a board with this much area: the Orca turns quickly and precisely, and according to Doychin it takes good care of you on the steepest sections and maneuvers well in thick trees.

Magne-Traction on the edge keeps the grip when you come out of soft snow onto a hard, wind-blown section. The base is the black graphite sintered base (faster, holds wax) Knife Cut. In Doychin's words it is faster, easy to repair and holds wax much better.

Snowboard Science ep. 5: Magne-Traction - the edge that bites hardpack

• Travis Rice
• directional
• the Orca's C2X
• setback 2.5"
• Whale Tail
• 7 m turn radius
• volume shifted, 3-6 cm shorter
• Magne-Traction
• HP construction
• 60% Aspen / 40% Paulownia
• sintered Knife Cut base
• flex 7
• deep snow / freeride / groomers

Size: 3-6 cm shorter than your usual

If you ride a 159-160, on the Orca you will most often look at the 153 or 156. The flex is 7 on all sizes. Watch out at the 147 and 150: the waist is 25.2 and 25.5 cm, and from the 153 it jumps to 26.7 cm, so for a boot over size 44 look at the 153 and up. The 2024/25 Orca also comes in a 159 at our shop. Enter your weight and boot size and we will mark the size in the table.

Orca vs Golden Orca, Apex Orca and MC Wayfinder II: which for which day

The Lib Tech Golden Orca is the Orca for every day: an 8 m turn radius, 1" setback and a kicked tail for riding switch (with the other foot forward); see the Golden Orca review. The Lib Tech Apex Orca is the same shape in Mike Olson's Techno Pop carbon construction: lighter, for an advanced rider. The Lib Tech MC Wayfinder II by Matt Cummins is the closest relative outside Travis's series: narrower, less aggressive and, in our view, better suited to all kinds of terrain (see the Wayfinder II review).

The table compares the Orca with its three closest relatives by profile, shape, waist, construction and role. The yellow column is the board from the article. On a phone, swipe right →

Frequently asked questions

How to choose and where to see it

If you already have an everyday board and want a weapon for big snow and trees, the Orca is the choice. If you want one Orca for everything, the Golden Orca. If you want the lightest, carbon version, the Apex Orca. If you want a surf feel and more groomer riding, the MC Wayfinder II. Come to our shop at Golo Bardo 6A in Sofia or call us at +359 887 800 575. We will show you both generations of the Orca side by side and choose the size together.