These boots try to make me into a nock-kneed overpronator. I thought once I wore them a little, they'd change because they're fairly soft for boots, and also because they came with a tiny foldout touting Merrell's "QForm." They CLAIM QForm is their design to provide women-oriented support and cushioning--softer laterally and firmer medially, thus gently encouraging a neutral gait. Its like they started with a good concept and then did EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE. Mine FORCE me to overpronate. My left ankle bones feel crunched--something I've never felt before.

Thank heavens the cuffs are rounded and soft and short because they tend to dig into my ankles on the outsides, and pull away from the insides (the arch side) of my ankles. Its caused by the weird pronating of the boots. Im sure the gaps will let the snow in nicely.

Otherwise these Thermo Arcs may seem to run small, but after 20 minutes of wear they're magically true to size. and no blisters. They're cute. They grip rock (dont know about snow or ice yet). And if they didnt have the forced overpronation problem to them, theyd have a nice roll from heel to toe. I WANT to like them because they have good features, but my feet would be damaged if I spent much time in them.

I absolutely love these boots. They keep my feet so warm, that if I'm indoors, I have to take them off or wear different shoes because my feet get a little too warm. Sleek design, not too bulky, but sturdy enough to kick some snow! I love the faux fur around the ankele.

Bonus feature: Boots have small plastic loop at the bottom of the laces to hook onto snow pants for snow shoeing or hiking in the snow.

Only con about the boots is that the laces frequently come untied. Otherwise, these boots are a great investment.

Love these second-skin boots. I wear them all the time. I like to keep them loosely tied and slip them on for convenience (my ankles dont like to be bound anyway), and this has posed the only problem to these boots...the back is not stiff, so sometimes goes in the shoe with my foot. I love these boots, despite this user error problem. They are warm, look great, and feel great! They feel true to size, but next time I am going with a 1/2 size up for any winter boot I get, to fit big comfy socks better.

So stylish that I told the sales guy "this isn't what I'm looking for, I need something I can SNOWSHOE in". Then I gave them a try. They fit great, are warm, the fur keeps loose snow out when I walk the dog, and the loop lets me clip my gaiters down to snowshoe. Then I jsut keep them on and wear them out on the town (or at least to get a cuppa' joe after ice climbing). You can have fun outdoors, and ... well, they are pretty cute.

Downside is I just broke a lace loop so I"ll be looking for a replacement pair.

I bought these as a boot to wear at work up my ski area. I'm outside all day long, in all kinds of winter conditions. These boots are fantastic! I bought my usual size (8.5) and I have no trouble wearing any sock I want. I replaced the insole with my customs without any problem. If you don't have the need for a custom insole, the provided one is just fine. No leakage detected yet, either. If these ever wear out, I'm going to buy another pair!!