These shoes are great. Here in the Northwest it can get icy. With MSR shoes no worries. My friends keep falling. I'm still standin.
we bought this as an all family gift. Within 20 minutes of heading outside we all had them on and were on our way. Our kids even raced in theirs! It takes a little bit to get the rubber "laces" to hold, but that should get a bit easier over time. We hiked down some pretty steep hills and the traction was good. They are user freindly.