Curated Snowboard Experts Victor Von Claus and Yuri Czmola tested the 2023 Lib Tech Dynamo this spring. Check out how it performed in the carving, freestyle, and freeride categories, but consider the fact that each and every snowboarder is different. If you have any questions about the Dynamo or need recommendations on which board would be best for you, reach out to a Snowboard Expert here on Curated.

One final point before we dive in: It's worth noting that Curated Experts are not sponsored by any brands. All of these reviews are completely unbiased.

Brand Claims

What does Lib Tech (Mervin) claim about this board? [Victor] Obviously, you're stacked with your traditional Mervin Magne-Traction. Also, it has the C3 profile that's going to be giving you just a bit more camber overall than your traditional “Banana Tech” or even the C2 profiles. So overall, they claim that this board gives you a bit more response, being a little bit more on the aggressive side.

[Yuri] Lib Tech claims this board to be a resort-ripping, backcountry-shredding, freeride option in their line. It runs a C3 Camber profile and is meant to deal with high speeds and tear up the whole mountain.

Overall Impressions

What is your overall impression of this snowboard? [Victor] Austen Sweetin is one of my favorite pro snowboarders, and he rides this in the same size. So to be on it, to ride the same board as someone who is kind of a hometown hero from Washington, it was cool to be able to get this out. I've been itching to ride it for a while, and I absolutely loved it. I typically tend to ride more big mountain stuff. So with this board being a bit on the mid-stiffer flex as well as the C3 camber being a bit more aggressive, it certainly felt extremely stable in just about anywhere that I took it. It also had plenty of load up to just pop it to the moon if you needed to. So I could certainly see, again, why Sweetin would take this out in Shuksan and drop the big lines that you can find in Washington. And I feel that this is even a resort board, just something that you can navigate anywhere you want.

[Yuri] My overall impression with this board was that I was intrigued by riding a 159 regular. I happened to be running a 13 boot and I was curious about towing and heeling out. It did not get in the way at all when ripping corduroy this morning. It was a little bit firm here at Powder Mountain, but these were great spring corduroy conditions, and I didn't really have to worry about booting out too much, and I had a blast on this thing. There was a ton of pop, and it was definitely a great at-home camber feel. I feel like this is a very underrated snowboard in Lib Tech's line. The 159 Dynamo had me thrilled and stoked to charge today, and I was pretty impressed by it.

What was your favorite thing about this board? [Yuri] My favorite feeling or my favorite thing about this board was that it created a nice locked-in feeling between the feet because of the camber profile. It’s a great one-stop shop, classic camber feel. Between that and the blend of Magne-Traction, it really allowed me to press very hard into the edge and have a great locked-in feeling for carving at high speeds. I think Magne-Traction is a fun time. It really allows for a serrated edge feel that enables people to explore their riding, especially if you are looking to dominate the expert riding category.

Carving

How is the carving? [Yuri] Sweet. Lib Tech runs this board in a C3 Camber profile, so it gives a great locked-in feeling when turning. Between that and Magne-Traction, I was able to enjoy corduroy and even just crush any ice that I was pretty much going through. I think this board is very underrated in their line for anyone looking for a great freeride and ripping snowboard.

What is C3? [Yuri] So C3 is a camber profile where there's camber at the tip and tail and predominantly camber between the feet with a touch of rocker for float. But it definitely gives a classic stiff feeling when riding this snowboard that allows you to really apply pressure for weight and dive into those turns. For me, myself, I happen to look for boards of this profile because I feel like it really helps me hold an edge with that locked-in feeling as I extend over the snowboard. I happen to be 6'6”. I was concerned about how this would feel at a 159, after normally riding like a 160 or a 162. It was not the case. I was able to charge early and often on this thing due to the camber profile and how stiff the snowboard was.

How does it feel at speed and how easy is it to control at speed? [Victor] At speed, it certainly felt like it was one of the boards that I could just fully throw the brick on the gas pedal and never really had much of an issue of losing an edge or even just feeling squirrely. That stiffness and the extra length ultimately just gave it a very grounded feel. It just didn't really feel like I was going fast. It felt like I could go quickly with no issues.

How is the edge hold and how does it turn? [Victor] If you were to take this on a big mountain line, especially after a nice storm cycle that's come through with a fresh layer of snow, carving through that is going to be probably a pretty heavenly experience. It would also carve good on wide open groomer days. You could go from just one end to another and have an absolutely phenomenal time. The edge hold with the Magne-Traction and that C3 profile really just dials your edge in, and you really don't feel like you're going to have anything compromise how that ride's going to look like.

Freestyle

How would it do in park? [Yuri] All in all, they have this labeled as a freeride machine. It definitely fits that bill. I was able to hit some hot side, and this snowboard is a great all-mountain option. It definitely fits the bill of a freeride snowboard. I do feel it would be a great time riding at bigger jumps just because of how stable it was. It has a slightly tapered shape. I didn't happen to feel too much of a difference when riding switch. It's definitely set back an inch, but it didn't really hold back. I feel like it would be a solid option for continuing to catch air, whether you're going off cliffs or jumps. The only thing that I would be a little bit hesitant about is this might not be the best option if you're looking for hitting rails or boxes.

How is the buttering and switch? [Victor] Again, with the bigger size, had I probably gone down to something closer to the 150 that I've had my eye on, I would say that buttering and riding switch might be a little easier. However, even at the bigger size, predominantly riding switch, there wasn't really too much of an issue. It definitely felt, even with this shorter tail, that it held in an edge pretty solid. It definitely had decent stability. I mean, I've had experience on directional boards, so that will certainly vary on the rider who's looking at this board. As far as buttering goes, it harkens back to the bigger size point I mentioned a second ago. With that mid-stiff flex and bigger size, it was a little tough to kind of get the nose or tail up off the ground, but it definitely is doable.

How is it on jumps? [Victor] There is lots of stability. If you’ve been following these reviews on Youtube, you might have seen the clip of me bomb holing on the RIDE Shadowban. I went back for redemption on it and landed in the same bomb hole with this Dynamo and blasted through it like it didn't even exist. I was expecting to get fully tomahawked again and that was not the case. I mean, if it's gnarly stuff that you're going through, this Dynamo is certainly made for that.

Freeride

How would this board do with powder? [Victor] For powder, I would wholeheartedly recommend this. I don't even think you would ever need to even set this back considering the semi-directional shape. If it's really deep, go for it. Set it back even further, and I bet it's going to perform even better than it already could, just without going beyond the reference stance.

[Yuri] All in all, the tapered shape, the wider nose and the piercing shape would be a great option for riding powder. I felt like riding spring conditions, it was able to plane through anything sticky or any crud, uneven terrain, and I feel like that would translate pretty well. The one thing to keep in mind is since there isn't a ton of rocker in this board, you'll have to lean back a little bit. But I feel like the nose shape that Lib Tech has put into the snowboard is a great fit to give you a camber board with some float.

How is it on an uneven terrain and chunder? [Victor] With uneven terrain and chunder, this felt super damp underneath. Not so much that I felt like I was losing all the board feel, but it was extremely stable. It was almost as if there was nothing really underneath. I feel that the size also accredited to that quite a bit, having a little bit more of a nose and tail versus something smaller that would fit my build a little better. But with that being said, I feel that the profile and the way that they have it set up all the way around, it's certainly designed to be an aggressive ripper, and it can handle that uneven train and chunder with not really any issues.

What terrain is it ideal for? [Victor] I would certainly say the terrain for the Dynamo is going to be more on the aggressive side. If you like to rip really tight tree runs or even if you hike into the backcountry, this is the go-to board. This is your weapon of choice for sure.

What terrain is it not ideal for? [Victor] Although I do have a buddy back in Salt Lake who's ripped this guy in the park, that would be a strictly rider-dependent option. I wouldn't really put this in the park if I were to personally ride it on a day where a park is available.

What location would this board be ideal for? [Victor] I would definitely take this to your big mountain locations. When Powder Country opens up here at Powder Mountain, take this board. Anywhere else here with the big mountain riding in Utah, you’re going to love it. Colorado is another good option. This would be the board for anywhere that you can really find that epic world-class terrain that really needs that extra bit of response versus your traditional all-mountain, do-it-all type of board.

This is going to be the option that you want to pull out of your quiver or start adding to your quiver. I don't really think that you're going to have too much fun with this board if you're just ripping general resort riding and sticking to the main trails, if you will.

Recommendations

Who would you recommend this board to?

[Yuri] This board is a better feel for expert riders who are looking to charge at high speeds, to ride in the backcountry.

Who would you not recommend this board to? [Yuri] I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend this for someone who's looking for low edge angle cruising. This is not a party board. It's definitely something that is ready to rip and stay in fourth gear.

[Victor] Depending on the rider if you're riding just mostly mellow terrain, this board might feel boring just because it's very aggressively set up. I would say it's certainly a very versatile board and can do just about anything you want it to. But for park and more mellow stuff, if you're looking for something to match that tempo, I wouldn't go for the Dynamo. Maybe look elsewhere.

Snowboards work differently for different types of riders. If you want help finding the best snowboard for your needs, reach out to Victor, Yuri, or any other Snowboard Expert here on Curated. They’ll help you find the right board for you. Note that the 2024 version of the Lib Tech Dynamo is linked below - same tech, just different graphic: