New skis for nonpowder daze

[Col]

After many years of skiing the same ski, Black Diamond Havoc, 163cm, 120/88/113, (I also have BD Mira but I mostly ski the Havoc). I want a new ski for non powder days. I am 5'3" and 135lbs. I live next to two ski resorts (Brighton and Solitude) in Utah and I ski at least 2 days a week. I have been skiing for about 13 years. I am an advanced/expert powder skier (will ski whatever in powder and feel great- I love steep trees), but as conditions get icier my skiing suffers. I still ski black diamond in icy and firm conditions, but not as well. And it is just not nearly as fun.

I am looking for a ski for variable conditions. Yesterday conditions ranged from firm and icy groomers and moguls, to refrozen tracks to wind and sun crusted "powder".

I plan to demo whatever I can find nearby. I hear great things about the Volkl Aura and Head monster skis (im88?), but I am not sure if these are the best skis for firm and variable conditions (yes, powder and crud, but what about focusing on icy groomers, firm moguls, and variable snow).

Any thoughts???

 

[ski now work later]

I am an East Coast skier who wanted a ski to do everything and I think I've found it with the Aura. I demoed it at Big Sky in Feb. where it excelled in varied conditions, and last week, I took it to Stratton and ripped down groomers. I have been surprised by how versatile this ski is. I initially thought it would be too much ski for me and just demoed it because I wanted to see what all the hype was about, then fell in love with it and was lucky enough to find it on sale 25% off.

I'm in Northern VT today and will ski them at Smuggler's Notch tomorrow and continue to test them in varied conditions, including plenty of groomers. One of the things I really like about the Aura is how easy it is to ski flat which is a nice tool when you hit some very icy steeps and don't want too much speed as you head down. It's more appealing to me than a strict groomer ski because it's useful for a day when you get to the icy, windblown traverse and need your groomer skis but then want to float down the bowl through 12" of fresh, along with days when conditions change so fast that you don't have time to change skis. From what I have read about the Auras and from my limited experience so far, I think this is the "do-all" ski for Western conditions. The men's version (Mantra) is similar and there are a couple of Divas on this site who owns that ski and love them so you may want to check that ski out too.

And welcome to the forum!