I do.
I tried Volkl's new Secret today -- it replaces the Aura -- and I was impressed. It's much more like the old Aura that so many women here loved years ago, and less like the rockered version that replaced it.
For starters, it's narrower in the waist: only 92 underfoot, instead of 100. They've also brought back the traditional camber underfoot, while keeping rocker in the tip and tail. Volkl's new manufacturing process concentrates Titanal sheets in varying thicknesses only where it's needed. So there's metal underfoot and in U-shaped forks in the tip and tail (the company calls that the Titanal frame), as well as a full sheet of metal below a full wood core. If you think this makes it heavy, well, it's heavier than the 90Eight, which I also tried today (boy, that baby floats!), but not nearly as heavy as the Kenja, which is quite a bit stiffer. There's carbon in the tip of the shovel, which adds a level of torsional rigidity and makes it snappy from turn to turn.
Did I like it? Yes! We had a foot of new snow, and though I didn't get to ski it in untracked powder, it was great when the snow got piled up into choppy stuff. Verdict: A lively, stable, fun ski that can take you all over the mountain in all sorts of conditions.
And I even like the graphics:
I tried Volkl's new Secret today -- it replaces the Aura -- and I was impressed. It's much more like the old Aura that so many women here loved years ago, and less like the rockered version that replaced it.
For starters, it's narrower in the waist: only 92 underfoot, instead of 100. They've also brought back the traditional camber underfoot, while keeping rocker in the tip and tail. Volkl's new manufacturing process concentrates Titanal sheets in varying thicknesses only where it's needed. So there's metal underfoot and in U-shaped forks in the tip and tail (the company calls that the Titanal frame), as well as a full sheet of metal below a full wood core. If you think this makes it heavy, well, it's heavier than the 90Eight, which I also tried today (boy, that baby floats!), but not nearly as heavy as the Kenja, which is quite a bit stiffer. There's carbon in the tip of the shovel, which adds a level of torsional rigidity and makes it snappy from turn to turn.
Did I like it? Yes! We had a foot of new snow, and though I didn't get to ski it in untracked powder, it was great when the snow got piled up into choppy stuff. Verdict: A lively, stable, fun ski that can take you all over the mountain in all sorts of conditions.
And I even like the graphics: