T.Rice Orca II

I can tell you right now that when the Queen dies it will not be Prince Charles that takes over the throne, it will be THIS BOARD! This is hands down the KING of every board there ever has been and ever will be. From sunrise to sunset it sits on a throne atop a 50cm pow-day covered mountain and all other boards bow down to it! Every other board is a peasant ploughing the fields compared to this king reigning in the castle! Don't believe me? Then let me tell you a little story.. One night I'm kicking back by the fire eating smores and drinking hot chocolate when I decide to check the forecast. The forecast says no snow which is disappointing but even so I put my head on the pillow excited that tomorrow morning I'll bomb some groomers on my Burton Trick Pilot, the biggest sender-board anyone has ever known. You want tricks? This board does it. Just strap in and point yourself towards a kicker and this board does the rest. This board is the pilot and you are the passenger. Strap in and prepare to be sent. Spins, grabs, flips, it does it all. Sorry, I'm getting distracted by visions of all the big sends I've done in the past. This one time I even did a 180 and landed it. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, king of boards. So I go to bed ready for a day laying out turns on fresh corduroy but you'll never believe what happens next. Something jolts me awake at 6am. I look out the window and my head literally explodes. It's dumping. Not just scabby little snowflakes, I'm talking pow for days. It's an absolute powderfest out there! An absolute powderfest! There's gotta be 45cms outside with more to come. No way on planet earth I'm going back to sleep. And suddenly it hits me. Today's the day. Today is the day every other day of my life has been leading up to. Today is the day I get to experience things only a few of us on this earth are lucky enough to enjoy. I open my closest and there it is. Shining like a bright light in the darkness. Bringing hope to the world. I'm in awe. It's been sitting there waiting for a chance. Waiting quietly and humbly. It's the king of boards. It's the ORCA. I get organised, enjoy a huge pancake breakfast and then jump in my mini van and head for the resort. My local mountain is literally shaking at the sound of me coming. Avalanches are exploding everywhere. The fear of the mountain is causing earthquakes all through the rocky mountains. Why? Because the mountain knows. It can hear the low growl of my van as I drive towards it, it knows today is the day it will experience the wrath of the ORCA. I didn't expect what happened next. As I'm walking towards the lift line people start to step out of my way. People are pointing with gaping mouths and almost creating a tunnel for me. They all spread out and literally wave me to the front of the lift line. I wonder what is happening and then I realize. It's the ORCA. It's leading the way and I am its humble servant. There's practically red carpet laid out for it. Next thing I know the liftie puts a cape over me and declares me prince. ORCA is king and I am prince. And that's how it went that day. I floated. I soared. I reached heights not yet experienced by another human being. I slayed more fresh pow than has ever been slayed before. And I did it all before lunchtime. Then I ate a giant hotdog for lunch and reflected on my day. Afterwards they even gave me the keys to the resort and said come back anytime. So tomorrow I will. There's no snow in the forecast though so it's back to the Trick Pilot. Except this time I wont send, I'll just dig trenches. Trenches deep enough to go to war in.

I finally got to ride "the best all mountain snowboard for everything ever made". According to most reviews, that's what it is! I didn't get to ride it in pow. It's obvious that it will be good in powder in terms of float and maneuverability. It's fat, short, tapered, rockered. It'll float! A true snowboard test happens in variable and/or hard conditions, though. Will it be stable at higher speeds in the recommended lengths? Not so much! I'm around 5'10" and weigh under 140lbs. According to Travis's video advice I should probably be on the 150. 150cm of snowboard are not stable at speed, it's just too short! If the board was actually stiff, it might be more stable. But it isn't stiff by any means. I'd even go this far and assume that there's no way that Travis rides the production model in a 153 in the stiffness the shop shelf board has. On hard snow the tail is simply not there. It's too soft and too short. It's poppier than some banana boards, but it's not snappy poppy. The lack of camber in the centre makes for sluggish edge changes. You have to lift the board out of a turn, off its edge, onto the new edge... It's the deadest hard pack ride I've tried in a while. But, of course that's not what it's made for, which makes me wonder about the hype.... It's a quiver board for quick turns at low to moderate speeds in deeper/softer snow. Anybody can ride it. Experts might find it to be just not enough. It's not worth the 10% price increase this year. It rides like many other short fats that are about 20 to 30% cheaper. Take a K2 Party Platter, and you'll have a better all mountain board that floats equally well in powder. I just don't understand the hype... It's too washy, skiddy and lifeless to fill an experienced rider with confidence. Travis, what are you really on? You need to tell us one day!

5'11 / 190lbs - 2019 156 This board is sick. There is no other way to describe the ride. Never have I rolled up to a resort and had lifties rave the board - at every resort. The hype is real on so many levels. I usually bring 2 boards with me on every ride; a swallow tail and a groomer - this board is both, and it doesn't even make sense. From never-ending powder manuals, to popping off the sickest scopes - it holds. The board can handle tapping trees and rocks (no popped edges), all kinds of powder (chop, champaign, wet, butter), to hard pack. It doesn't lose an edge like so many other boards have. This board is just amazing. I feel like every line turns into a T-RICE signature line and the board handles whatever you throw at it. The short tail has allowed stability and recoveries from hits that should have had me KO'd - I can't explain a lot of it. All I know is my wife knows her place. I have mounted the 156 above my bed as a reminder of what sex can be like. Cold wax and gummy the edges every session - this board deserves to be treated well.

Best board Ever! I’m 200lb on the 156 and it’s perfect. This is my daily driver that I’ve been ripping in New Zealand (which doesn’t have powder days) and is a ‘dream’ to ride! Super stable base, easy quick edge change and turns yet can still charge and carve! I have size 12us feet and I never catch an edge. I have the falcors, DC TR boots and it’s the perfect combination! Thank you Lib Tech and T.rice for making Amazing boards!

Amazing board, however both my friend and I had the 2020 model and we both had topsheet and sidewall delamination happening within first few days of riding. Very strange. My friend even got his board replace from lib tech because is was recognized as a manufacture default. Upon arrival of new board it wasn't even 1 month of riding until that board also start to delaminated. Not sure if this was happening with the 2019 model, but I have some preservations about buying again unless this gets recognized as a recurring issue and fixed