mollmeister
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yep. I skied the Auras this weekend. Most of the day Friday, a few hours Saturday, all day Sunday.
General Overview =
:D 
Seriously. I am in the process of trying to break my husband down so that he will buy me some. If I can find any. Which is looking questionable.
Me:
35yo, been skiing for 26 years, I don't really buy into the *levels* beyond their usefulness for ski school. If we go by the descriptions, though, then I am a level 8-9, but I know lots of people who are much more beautiful skiers than I am in all conditions, so ??
5'2", about 114lbs right now.
Skis:
156cm Volkl Aura (I couldn't find the 163 to demo)
130-94-113
Radius 16.9
Marker speedpoint demo bindings. Even with a binding this heavy, though, you could tell the ski was light.
The terrain & conditions:
Vail. Pretty much all off-piste and bumps, except for the occasional groomer back to the lift. For those who know the mountain, Cow's Face, Apres Vous, Genghis, Ricky's Ridge, Rasputin's, Iron Mask, Lover's Leap, Resolution. Those areas. So steep-ish, very variable snow conditions (from terrific to terrible), mostly pushed around or bumped out snow, deep in a few spots.
Conditions were all over the map.
On Friday, the sun came out, on and off, and it had been warm the day previous, so on certain aspects and later in the day it was almost spring conditions. Not quite corn, but softened up refrozen snow. Very cruddy in some spots but not so bad and really kind of fun in others. As always, Iron Mask/Lover's Leap held very good snow. A bit heavy and pushed around, but chalky and softer where it was firm and chunky elsewhere.
On Saturday it was windy and snowing. The mountain as a whole didn't get a lot of snow, but it piled up relatively quickly in the wind (to 3"-4"+) on certain aspects. Visibility was very poor and I was skiing alone, so I stayed mostly in the bumps down in the trees in Blue Sky Basin.
On Sunday it was again windy and snowing. Not so much snow in the morning, but lots of snow and quite poor visibility in the afternoon. Skied a lot of Iron Mask/Lover's Leap and treed bump runs again and some bowls, when there was enough light to see.
The Good
The skis ROCK.
I think the thing that impressed me most was the utter aplomb with which they handled all conditions. I didn't get a chance to ski them in the deep stuff, but I knew they would float, so that didn't concern me much.
I did get to ski them in a lot of crud of all varieties, and man, do they shine in the difficult snow. I have read before that the Auras don't know the difference between crud and powder. . . and for the most part it's true. They're just stiff enough and have the perfect shovel to plow through almost anything like a hot knife through butter.
I was shocked at the smoothness with which I could just slice through heavy and chunky and pushed around conditions. No need to analyze the line. Just start turning and go. Big, arcing GS turns through most anything. (Refrozen bumps mixed with death cookies weren't silky smooth, but I wasn't expecting them to be. They were, however, very manageable and much more fun than they would be on most skis.) The skis are forgiving enough as well, however, to smear a turn or change turn shape quickly or slough speed when necessary. Really a smooth, very stable ride, even in tough snow conditions. This really is a big mountain ski, given the way it handles any kind of snow.
I took them into the bumps more than I'd planned to, and they did surprisingly well. Pretty quick edge-to-edge, surprisingly forgiving in troughed out bumps. Really much more than I had expected, even with a heavy, heavy, heavy demo binding. I skied bumps for close to three hours straight on Saturday and didn't feel like I had to work too hard.
I didn't expect the Auras to do all that well on the front side, but I was impressed by my occasional foray onto the groomers. They hold an edge pretty darn well, and were snappy and responsive for such a wide ski. They're more inclined to make big arcs, but were easily enough convinced to make some short, snappy turns. I had a smile on my face, carving big turns. I don't think they'd hold all that well on the worst of the eastern ice. . . or maybe it's just me that wouldn't hold all that well on eastern ice.
I really just had fun, fun, fun all day. I am not getting very technical here, but honestly I wasn't thinking that much. I didn't want to. I was enjoying the heck out of myself, even in conditions that got a little squirrely sometimes. These skis are a recipe for great fun and confidence if you like pitches that can hold all sorts of snow surprises. They take a bit more technique than my K2s (sometimes I find the Lotta Luvs a little too forgiving), but they really do some good work without an insane amount of skier effort.
The Bad
I'd really like to try the 163. Given my small size, the 156 was a pretty decent match. It certainly was quite stable and fun, and the short length was a plus in tight spots in the bumps and trees. But arcing big turns where it was steep, I think I might have liked the added stability of a few more cm. Not exactly a ski weakness, but an availability weakness.
I also would love to try these skis on the Aspen mountains as well. There aren't that many tight spots/chutes on Vail mountain, and I think these boards would perform really well in steep, tight spots. Again, not a ski weakness, but a weakness of location.
Um. . . what else was bad? The demo binding. The graphics. I don't really love a white powder ski. . . and I just found the topsheets a little washed out and uninspiring. Although I hear the black and pink ones for next year feature a lot of, er, *impressive cleavage* if you look closely, and I am not sure how I feel about that either. I thought cartoon character bodies on chicks were for men, not for women. Can you imagine a pair of men's skis with graphics of half naked, ripped guys?!
Yay for the Auras. Now if only I can find some. . . and convince my husband to open his wallet!
General Overview =
:D Seriously. I am in the process of trying to break my husband down so that he will buy me some. If I can find any. Which is looking questionable.
Me:
35yo, been skiing for 26 years, I don't really buy into the *levels* beyond their usefulness for ski school. If we go by the descriptions, though, then I am a level 8-9, but I know lots of people who are much more beautiful skiers than I am in all conditions, so ??
5'2", about 114lbs right now.
Skis:
156cm Volkl Aura (I couldn't find the 163 to demo)
130-94-113
Radius 16.9
Marker speedpoint demo bindings. Even with a binding this heavy, though, you could tell the ski was light.
The terrain & conditions:
Vail. Pretty much all off-piste and bumps, except for the occasional groomer back to the lift. For those who know the mountain, Cow's Face, Apres Vous, Genghis, Ricky's Ridge, Rasputin's, Iron Mask, Lover's Leap, Resolution. Those areas. So steep-ish, very variable snow conditions (from terrific to terrible), mostly pushed around or bumped out snow, deep in a few spots.
Conditions were all over the map.
On Friday, the sun came out, on and off, and it had been warm the day previous, so on certain aspects and later in the day it was almost spring conditions. Not quite corn, but softened up refrozen snow. Very cruddy in some spots but not so bad and really kind of fun in others. As always, Iron Mask/Lover's Leap held very good snow. A bit heavy and pushed around, but chalky and softer where it was firm and chunky elsewhere.
On Saturday it was windy and snowing. The mountain as a whole didn't get a lot of snow, but it piled up relatively quickly in the wind (to 3"-4"+) on certain aspects. Visibility was very poor and I was skiing alone, so I stayed mostly in the bumps down in the trees in Blue Sky Basin.
On Sunday it was again windy and snowing. Not so much snow in the morning, but lots of snow and quite poor visibility in the afternoon. Skied a lot of Iron Mask/Lover's Leap and treed bump runs again and some bowls, when there was enough light to see.
The Good
The skis ROCK.
I think the thing that impressed me most was the utter aplomb with which they handled all conditions. I didn't get a chance to ski them in the deep stuff, but I knew they would float, so that didn't concern me much.
I did get to ski them in a lot of crud of all varieties, and man, do they shine in the difficult snow. I have read before that the Auras don't know the difference between crud and powder. . . and for the most part it's true. They're just stiff enough and have the perfect shovel to plow through almost anything like a hot knife through butter.
I was shocked at the smoothness with which I could just slice through heavy and chunky and pushed around conditions. No need to analyze the line. Just start turning and go. Big, arcing GS turns through most anything. (Refrozen bumps mixed with death cookies weren't silky smooth, but I wasn't expecting them to be. They were, however, very manageable and much more fun than they would be on most skis.) The skis are forgiving enough as well, however, to smear a turn or change turn shape quickly or slough speed when necessary. Really a smooth, very stable ride, even in tough snow conditions. This really is a big mountain ski, given the way it handles any kind of snow.
I took them into the bumps more than I'd planned to, and they did surprisingly well. Pretty quick edge-to-edge, surprisingly forgiving in troughed out bumps. Really much more than I had expected, even with a heavy, heavy, heavy demo binding. I skied bumps for close to three hours straight on Saturday and didn't feel like I had to work too hard.
I didn't expect the Auras to do all that well on the front side, but I was impressed by my occasional foray onto the groomers. They hold an edge pretty darn well, and were snappy and responsive for such a wide ski. They're more inclined to make big arcs, but were easily enough convinced to make some short, snappy turns. I had a smile on my face, carving big turns. I don't think they'd hold all that well on the worst of the eastern ice. . . or maybe it's just me that wouldn't hold all that well on eastern ice.
I really just had fun, fun, fun all day. I am not getting very technical here, but honestly I wasn't thinking that much. I didn't want to. I was enjoying the heck out of myself, even in conditions that got a little squirrely sometimes. These skis are a recipe for great fun and confidence if you like pitches that can hold all sorts of snow surprises. They take a bit more technique than my K2s (sometimes I find the Lotta Luvs a little too forgiving), but they really do some good work without an insane amount of skier effort.
The Bad
I'd really like to try the 163. Given my small size, the 156 was a pretty decent match. It certainly was quite stable and fun, and the short length was a plus in tight spots in the bumps and trees. But arcing big turns where it was steep, I think I might have liked the added stability of a few more cm. Not exactly a ski weakness, but an availability weakness.
I also would love to try these skis on the Aspen mountains as well. There aren't that many tight spots/chutes on Vail mountain, and I think these boards would perform really well in steep, tight spots. Again, not a ski weakness, but a weakness of location.
Um. . . what else was bad? The demo binding. The graphics. I don't really love a white powder ski. . . and I just found the topsheets a little washed out and uninspiring. Although I hear the black and pink ones for next year feature a lot of, er, *impressive cleavage* if you look closely, and I am not sure how I feel about that either. I thought cartoon character bodies on chicks were for men, not for women. Can you imagine a pair of men's skis with graphics of half naked, ripped guys?!
Yay for the Auras. Now if only I can find some. . . and convince my husband to open his wallet!
I did find them and bindings I liked 25% off and that helped, but the bill hasn't come yet!
