Tail inspiration from an old Avalanche Bumps
A Jamie Lynn Rattail for inspiration
Gnu swallow tail is always nice
The crew getting jiggy with it
Here’s something you don’t see everyday
Looking good, but now comes the good part, riding them!
David roosting the mini tail of The Chundernator
Justing roosting toe edge
Griffin coming in hot
Robert carve grab, no metal edges needed
Trey get’s extra time in solitary confinement thanks to his Prison Shank
Heel edge on groomer on the Space Rat 157 with Chris Sato
The man with the plan, Warren. Easy Rider boss and ultimate froth puppy of shred.
Every board rider at one point or another dreams of shaping their own stick. Whether it be a hand shaped surfboard, an early plywood skateboard or even the brief snowboard “nubbing” phase of the early ’90s. To ride something of your own creation is part of the dream. These days a snowboard isn’t just a pair of high tops duct taped to a sled. It’s a high tech process involving layer upon layer of performance materials excruciatingly tested and tweaked for optimal good times. Unfortunately this doesn’t leave much room for the DIY shaping experience in snowboarding.
Enter the Lib Tech Blank. DIY has always been alive and well at Lib Tech, after all that’s all Lib is, Pete and Mike’s desire to make dream boards for themselves and their friends. Now with the Blank you can be part of the Dream Board Process that has helped us carefully craft the World’s Best for three decades. Imagine. Shape. Test. Tweak. Imagine. Repeat. Long time Lib Ripper and shape pioneer Matt Cummins was an avid early adapter to the Blank concept, immediately using it to bring board shape ideas to life without having to rely on the factory for a proof of concept. This immediate loop of creative expression has brought us the all new MC Coho. Inspired by years of Japanese trees and the board shaping movement happening there Matt decided to add his touches to a short wide powder piranha, or Coho as it were. The result is a simple clean design and look focused on: enjoying deep snow, hunting for secret lines, riding hard at high speeds and blowing pow high in the sky.
Our good friends to the North (in the more alluring by the day American Top Hat) at Easy Rider are one of the crews to jump on the Blank phenomena. As a season ender they shaped and shredded seven Lib Tech Blanks, each one a different expression and unique ride. Check out the pics and notes on shape inspiration from Warren and the boys and then get out there and make your own. Who knows you might just create the world’s best powder board on your front porch!
1)
Griffin Currie
“The Jerry Slayer”
This board combines many different bits and pieces from various shapes. The nose comes from an old Look Trick Stick with slight changes at the end, where as the tail is my modified version of the Rat Tail. With tons of side cut and a killer profile to match this board will tear up the spring slush or the deep pow; it may also slay a couple of Jerrys out there too.
2)
Chris Sato
“Space Rat 157”
The side cut of a regular Zoid so I could carve it hard, The nose of a space out for some float, and the tail of the Jamie Lynn Rat Tail… For obvious reasons. On the hill the edgeless board preformed surprisingly well in the slushy conditions we were given. Thanks to the Magne-Traction I put into the side cut it even held through some ice patches. It carved hard and let me surf it all the way down the hill.
3)
Trey Currie
“Prison Shank”
The main idea behind the board is to have a short board that can haul through tight trees and still float a bigger guy. Mostly inspired by retro surfboard shapes and ideas, the minimal sidecut forces you to turn off your back foot, like a surfboard.
4)
David Derejko
“The Chundernator”
Inspired from showing up late on a pow day, but still wanting to charge through tracked out chunder. The tail is ultra stiff, giving you tons of power to manhandle it through spring resort pow, while the nose is huge giving you ease of ride when you finally find the untouched. Surf it.
5)
Justin Newman
“La Blanko Grande”
The board I made is surprisingly great at carving for a board without metal edges. I wanted something with a decent amount of side cut but also something that is a bit wider to help float in powder so I used the La Nina in a 161 with a bit of tweaking. The tail is take on the GNU’s OG carver. The swallow tail helps in the powder and just looks cool. The nose was the hardest part. I free handed the nose to be as big as possible but still fit the board. Over all the board rides awesome and is tons of fun for slushy days at the hill. Can’t wait to try it next winter in some powder.
6)
Robert McLeod-Bara
“The Smart Potato”
Skunk ape side cut / Burton fish nose / Libtech Round Nose Mayhem tail. This board absolutely ripped and is the perfect slush slasher, I even got to spin it off of some jumps and put it through its paces.
7)
Warren Currie
“Big Speed Carver”
Wanting a board that would float like crazy in pow – I mimicked the shape of the Original Swallow Tail Carver – but added length / width and additional taper to it. After an initial test ride at the local hill, I decided that the board needed some additional “sink” in the tail – so I added some “Speed Holes”.
