Haven't got to wear the shoes as they are meant to, live in Texas and we are currently at 105 degrees. I need to wait until I get to the slopes next year. The shoes look high quality and I expect them to last for a long time. There is no doubt that you should absolutely get a few sizes bigger, I normally wear 10 1/2 and the ones I got are 12 and they still feel a little tight at the front, I'm hoping that they will break down a little as I wear them. Note that these are truly snow shoes, the padding is super warm and I start sweating really fast when I wear them inside the house, so if you are getting this as an option to go hiking on semi cold weather this will be a total overkill.