my daughter is a 17 yr old strong all mtn skier here in Jackson, and she loves the Aura as an all mountain everyday ski. The Kiku is new this year for Volkl so no one other than ski testers have been on it. Check out the Sept back country ski review of womens skis, which includes the Kiku (Aura was not reviewed). The review was very positive, though it is a little heavy for a back country ski. It sounded like aggressive women skiers really liked it. I think it was reviewed in Ski magazine too and was the #1 ski according to their female testers. The ski is 10mm wider than the Aura so will obviously have more floatation than the Aura. If you live/ski regularly in powder/crud and are a strong skier, I would go with the Kiku. I am planning to buy the kiku for my wife as her everyday ski here in Jackson. You can get dimensions and weight for each ski from Volkl's website. I know the Kiku's are 133-105-124 (plenty of sidecut) and weigh 8lbs 9oz in their 176. I own the Volkl Mantra (men's Aura) and the Katana (115 under foot and no camber) and was on the Katana almost all season last year. While it was an epic snow year, I just enjoy being on a wider ski regardless of how much if any new snow there is. Hope that helps a bit.