The sole is specially made for snow. If you use it on bare ground, the sole will wear prematurely (in the same way that driving around on snow tires without snow on the ground wears them down prematurely). But I disagree with Kerry about support for a hike. I have gone winter backpacking in Alaska with these boots with a 50-60 pound pack and had no trouble whatsoever. They obviously don't have the support of a technical mountaineering boot, but for non-technical hiking and backpacking at lower altitudes, these things are fine.

I wouldn't use them as hiking boots. They're good for walking around town, shoveling snow, and small adventures. They definitely don't have the support you'd want for a real hike.

They could be used as hiking boots for normal, non-snow conditions, but with 400g of insulation (designed to keep your feet warm down to -40*F), your feet would probably overheat unless it was still winter-like temperatures. Thus, they're pretty much limited to use during the winter, although not necessarily with snow, just colder conditions.