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How to love a ski after the 2012 Kikus?

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
I stopped demo-ing once I bought 2012 Volkl Kikus and love them for all conditions. I ski Squaw Valley and since then have (like all of us) gotten older. Now 73 years young (old), still skiing groomed blacks, although less of the time, like Granite Chief and the groomed run on Silverado when it's open, after having one hip replaced in 2017. Think I should look into new skis, since the Kikus are from 2012. Nothing looks like their gorgeous graphics -- and from reading reviews, everything is either narrower or else sounds tougher to turn.
I find it super-easy to initiate turns whenever I want with the Kikus, whereas when I get back on my older Volkl Auras or Rossi B3s, they seem much harder to turn when I wish. They get in a turn and want to keep going, whereas with the Kikus, I can switch directions, turn, do what I want when I want!
I know they are powder skis, and I ski light powder, but find deep powder rare and a bit risky with my older knees and bones....
What skis should I try that might possibly have a similar feel to the Kikus?
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
What skis should I try that might possibly have a similar feel to the Kikus?
Glad to hear you're still having fun on the slopes! Can't help with any recommendations since Volkl isn't a brand I happen to like, but here are a couple threads that might give you some ideas. @volklgirl may not be checking in that often this late in the spring. Fair to say that ski design and materials have changed continuously since you bought the Kikus.

Needing to replace my Kiku powder skis - 2017

2015/2016 All Mountains/Powder 92-112 waists
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Was at Squaw a couple weeks ago skiing Siberia, Granite Chief, Emigrant, KT 22 Saddle on my Black Crows Camox Birdie. Certainly not in the category of your Volkl Kikus but was very fun in the kind of heavy spring snow..... Nothing was particularly groomed by the time we got out though but may have been earlier.
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have the original, fully cambered Kiku and the 106, fully rockered version (the cherry blossom graphic), and love them both. Hubby hated his 107 Gotama, so I stashed those for when my Kikus finally die. I've tried a lot of other skis, but I just keep coming back to them, regardless of conditions.

The only thing I've found that would be a decent replacement for them are the Coalition Snow SoS - 105 and cambered underfoot, substantial rocker tip and tail. I don't like them <quite> as much, but they really are the closest thing I've found. I highly recommend getting on a pair, if you can. If you want to stay with Volkl, check out the 100Eight.
 

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
Thanks so much volklgirl!
Skied this week at Squaw for the first time this season--again loved my kikus! Went and looked at the Coalition Snow SOS at their store in Truckee. Didn't know about them and hopefully will be able to demo them next week. ALso checked all other options that were for sale on the mountain at Squaw.
Have you skied the Volkl Secret 102? If so, how would you compare that and the Volkl 100Eight? with the 2012 rockered Kiku? I read that the Secret is very stiff, which made it sound more like the 2009 Auras that I used to love and now find too stiff to turn easily under some conditions. (I couldn't understand how women could write that here, and now I do! Just not as strong as I was then is my guess.)
I find it easy to ski the kiku long hours on fairly hard packed older snow, love them on freshly groomed recent snow and ungroomed 3-8 inches of new snow (I'm not so skilled at deep powder or really chopped-up crud). Perhaps I no longer want skis with metal...?
Have now looked at and read about all the possible alternatives! Have you skied any others that are comparable, aside from the Volkl and Coalition Snow skis that i should try?
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
It sounds as if you're still enjoying the Kiku's, so they're not worn out. Consider skiing them until you truly want new skis?
 

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
Lmk92: Thinking about getting a new pair so that these can be my back-up pair, rather than my older Rossi B-3 or the Auras, to ease a new pair in--since the Kikus (my newest) are already 7 years old with roughly 175 days or so on them. I don't want to "need" new skis and not have time to move thoughtfully.
 

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Black Pearl 98 or Kore 93 W, if not Volkl Secrets?
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Since you're in Utah you might be able to find these at a good price. They are made in Ogden. https://store.goode.com/carbon-opus-82mm/ My local shop had them on sale and they are a fun and lively ski. I'm not a Volkl fan so I can't tell you how they compare. I demoed the Volkl Secret last season and felt they skied me more than I skied them. Could be due to my petite size.
My wider, more powder oriented ski is the Black Crow Camox Birdie. It's my soft snow ski but works well on groomers. If I didn't already have the Goode Opus I would look at the Black Crow Captis Birdie.
BTW, I'm 71 and don't feel that either of these skis are hard to manage.
 

lisamamot

Angel Diva
Perhaps I no longer want skis with metal...?

I have never been on the Kiku, but reading about it, it sounds like something I would love. I prefer a ski commensurate with my height but without much metal; at 5’9”/140ish, I seem to have a length issue with most Volkls (163 feels short, but 170 feels like it would be too much work in the long run). I recently took a few runs on the Volkl 90eight 163 and although it was short it was much more my kind of ski then the Kenja or the Secret. I am a huge Blizzard Sheeva fan though - I own the Sheeva 9 172 and have skied a day on the Sheeva 10 172 at Big Sky. If you want something stable but still super fun try something in the Sheeva line
 

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
Was planning to demo the Coalition Snow SOS as volklgirl suggested last spring and even went to look at them at their store last week. However, was told by the person in the store that they'd be on the mountain at Alpine in a demo weekend both days, and when I went there intentionally to demo them: no Coalition Snow booth. So I couldn't -- and really had wanted to!
So I demoed what I could. Demoed DPS Zelda, Elan ripstick 102, Scott slight 93 and scott scrapper 95.
Conditions: No recent snow but well-groomed and not scraped off or icy.
Skis:
1] Elan Ripstick 102. Held the snow well, easy to handle, but felt 'heavy'. Maybe that's what is called 'damp'? Don't know. Could get used to it, but not excited about the feel.
2] DPS Zelda. For some reason, they looked like skis I'd love, and I really liked that they were also referred to as "alchemists" and were purple. However, felt harder to initiate turns, to my great surprise, and wasn't wild about them, nor about what I later learned they cost ($1200?)
3] Didn't like the Scott Slight 93 at all. Not my kind of ski. Felt like no ski there to me, but I believe many people like them.
4] Was about to give up and decided to try the Scott Scrapper 95... and loved them! Felt like they were part of me and I could trust them to let them go, much more than the others. It felt somehow completely natural to ski them.
I know nothing about Scott Skiis, and they aren't sold at Squaw. I think they are intended to be touring skis.
So may demo more, but I was surprised at how much I liked them after trying the others. Maybe even more than the kikus!
 

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
Well... I did it! I again stopped demoing after I tried a ski I loved. Bought the Scott Scrapper 95 Women's at 168 length. Wasn't easy to find: when I demoed them, assumed I could easily pick them up from the group that organized the demo day, but that was inaccurate. Happily, I located one pair in my size online. Never purchased skis online before but I did this time and they arrived undamaged, one day late, but faster than any other option. And it may be that they were the last pair of these in the US at this size! They seem to be sold much more in Europe.
They are very lightweight, easy to ski under all conditions I've found (but only three days skiing so far). Turn as I wish, when I wish. Stable for running straight. Simply a delight!
Here are the specs, in case this interests you!
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Turn radius:
- 17 m for the 160 cm size
- 18 m for the 168 cm size
Construction:
SSCL Carbon 2/Aramid E: award-winning elliptic sandwich construction with sloping sidewalls in carbon fibre/aramid, for lightness and performance. It has a revolutionary carbon fibre matrix for a lively flex and an aramid bottom layer for increased dampening of the ski on the snow.
Core:
Wood: full-length wooden core, giving the ski a more uniform flex and creating a more fluid transition between the centre of the ski and the rocker geometry of the tip and the tail.
3 Dimensional Sidecut:
The 3D sidecut has two radiuses and a straight edge line underfoot. The radiuses of the tip and the tail allow you to move into a turn, while the flat centre brings stability, power and precision. Designed in collaboration with athletes from the Freeski team, the 3D sidecuts give the ski great versatility, balance and power underfoot, responding to the demands of the best skiers in the world.
Rocker:
S Twin-Tip Rocker: ensures maximum lift in deep snow for fun skiing, while the classic camber underfoot guarantees balanced edges and flawless stability:
- Good lift on heavy powder
- Sturdy and fun skis
- High-performance and versatility are retained
Factory finished:
Scott skis come straight from the factory and have an edge angle of 88°, coming from a 3° lateral angle and a 1° sole angle, for excellent performance.So you can get your skis on and hurtle down the slopes with no adjustment needed.
 

aurafan

Certified Ski Diva
Well THAT season got cut short! Was ready to ski a month later (check the date) after the biggest snow of that season... and you know what happened. Spent a month in the mountains, surrounded by gorgeous untouched snow, but no skiing, before heading back into what some call "civilization".
Still loving my Scott Scrapper 95W skis from the 2020 season! At 78 years old, I can't ski as many hours; my legs wear out faster, particularly on something like Red Dog face. Still love easy, groomed wide black runs! So happy I got these lightweight skis! Anyone else have them?
 

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