volklgirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The Tester: 190+ lbs, 5'5", 42 Years old, PSIA Level II, Platinum/Gold level Nastar and 2x/week league racer. I prefer stiffer skis with lots of pop that can handle my preference for high speed ripping.
The Conditions: Started with 2-6" heavy, wet, packy freshies over a groomed "slush puppy" base (like well-packed drier spring corn). As the day wore on, the freshies either piled up into huge moguls or packed down into very slippery wet hardpack or soft ice.
The Test Runs: 1 run down a long mild blue groomer making high speed carves of various turn radii. 1 run down a steeper blue/black making medium and high speed carves through piled up glop and cut up powder. 1 run down a black starting with slow speed smeary turns and ending with medium speed carves through cut up crud.
The Skis (in waist width order):
Nordica Hot Rod Hellcat XBi 170cm (132-90-118, 17m): Wow, Wow, and Wow! A superbly versatile and confident ski. It was equally at home skidding slow speed turns through thick crud and glob on the steeps as it was ripping it up in high speed arcs on the groomed. It ripped off surprisingly short carved turns for the size of its waist. I only wished they had a women's version of this ski as it felt the tiniest bit too stiff and too long for all day cruising. This is a demanding, very high energy ski for experts only (at least at this length). Short Turns, Forgiveness 4. All Else 5.
Volkl Mantra 170cm (133-96-113, 18.2m): Hubby and I both tried this one - I like his description best; "2x8 with a binding, leaves you feeling like you could ski over kids, dogs, and small cars and have to look back to be sure that's not what you just did...Wow!!!" He thought the 170cm length felt too short, I felt it was either too long or just too stiff in general for me to be able to play on it all day long - I kept getting tossed around on the stutter bumps at the bottom of the hill. This length would probably be fine for "out west" use, but was just too much for our measly 450'. It made surprisingly nice short turns for the size of its waist. Not as adept at carving as the Hellcat, but certainly no slouch. Short Turns, Rebound, Forgiveness 4. All Else 5.
Volkl Aura 163cm (133-96-113, 19m):
That pretty much says it all for me. The Aura performed as well as the Mantra in all areas without making me feel worn out at the end and was much less demanding than the Hellcat. This shorter length has an even greater turning radius than the 170 Mantra which totally surprised me. The tested length felt great for our midwest hills. It had the same stability and playfulness I've found in the Karma and actually carves even better and with less effort. There didn't seem to be the same hesitation during edge changes that I've experienced with the Karma. While the Karma likes to cruise just under the surface in powder, the Aura popped right up on top and floated over it like skiing on a cloud. Short Turns, Rebound 4. All Else 5. Again...
In a Nutshell: All three were exceptional performers for advanced and expert skiers on any terrain and at any speed. None of them had any speed limit what-so-ever! Only a skiers' preference for specific characteristics (forgiveness, rebound, stiffness, and carving ability) would differentiate these skis.
Special Thanks to: the guys at Nub's Nob Technology Center and Mike at Pro Sports Enterprises at Schuss Mountain - without whose unending patience, time, and attention all this would not have been possible.
The Conditions: Started with 2-6" heavy, wet, packy freshies over a groomed "slush puppy" base (like well-packed drier spring corn). As the day wore on, the freshies either piled up into huge moguls or packed down into very slippery wet hardpack or soft ice.
The Test Runs: 1 run down a long mild blue groomer making high speed carves of various turn radii. 1 run down a steeper blue/black making medium and high speed carves through piled up glop and cut up powder. 1 run down a black starting with slow speed smeary turns and ending with medium speed carves through cut up crud.
The Skis (in waist width order):
Nordica Hot Rod Hellcat XBi 170cm (132-90-118, 17m): Wow, Wow, and Wow! A superbly versatile and confident ski. It was equally at home skidding slow speed turns through thick crud and glob on the steeps as it was ripping it up in high speed arcs on the groomed. It ripped off surprisingly short carved turns for the size of its waist. I only wished they had a women's version of this ski as it felt the tiniest bit too stiff and too long for all day cruising. This is a demanding, very high energy ski for experts only (at least at this length). Short Turns, Forgiveness 4. All Else 5.
Volkl Mantra 170cm (133-96-113, 18.2m): Hubby and I both tried this one - I like his description best; "2x8 with a binding, leaves you feeling like you could ski over kids, dogs, and small cars and have to look back to be sure that's not what you just did...Wow!!!" He thought the 170cm length felt too short, I felt it was either too long or just too stiff in general for me to be able to play on it all day long - I kept getting tossed around on the stutter bumps at the bottom of the hill. This length would probably be fine for "out west" use, but was just too much for our measly 450'. It made surprisingly nice short turns for the size of its waist. Not as adept at carving as the Hellcat, but certainly no slouch. Short Turns, Rebound, Forgiveness 4. All Else 5.
Volkl Aura 163cm (133-96-113, 19m):
That pretty much says it all for me. The Aura performed as well as the Mantra in all areas without making me feel worn out at the end and was much less demanding than the Hellcat. This shorter length has an even greater turning radius than the 170 Mantra which totally surprised me. The tested length felt great for our midwest hills. It had the same stability and playfulness I've found in the Karma and actually carves even better and with less effort. There didn't seem to be the same hesitation during edge changes that I've experienced with the Karma. While the Karma likes to cruise just under the surface in powder, the Aura popped right up on top and floated over it like skiing on a cloud. Short Turns, Rebound 4. All Else 5. Again... In a Nutshell: All three were exceptional performers for advanced and expert skiers on any terrain and at any speed. None of them had any speed limit what-so-ever! Only a skiers' preference for specific characteristics (forgiveness, rebound, stiffness, and carving ability) would differentiate these skis.
Special Thanks to: the guys at Nub's Nob Technology Center and Mike at Pro Sports Enterprises at Schuss Mountain - without whose unending patience, time, and attention all this would not have been possible.
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! In general, I much prefer the power and stability of longer and stiffer skis. Maybe I was just pooped from skiing flat-out, all-day for 4 days straight (plus racing at night on 2 of those days)? It got really tiring trying to slow the big beasts down as I came into the lift line over and over and over again . If I was to ski somewhere with much more vertical, I think I would go with the longer/stiffer ski. But for our little bumps, that length in the Aura gained a lot of tractability without losing any of the good qualities of the big boys. 
