Snowskate shoes

While at the Roundup, I made a mental note to ask people or look at what shoes they were wearing.  It turns out that at least half of the crew were wearing some form of normal skate shoes.  Some had adapted by wearing either wool socks, waterproof socks or just dealing with it.  Their were still lots of folks rocking the older Vans designs (Motley, Ico).  I'm still wearing the same Vans Motleys I got on clearance for $40 many years ago.  I've added Sno-seal on them to reduce water permeability.

BTW, Sno-seal is amazing stuff.  It really makes things waterproof.  And it's just a natural formulation of beeswax.  And it's been around for 80 years or something ridiculous. I recommend putting this on all your leather/pleather winter shoes - especially if you are adapting regular skate shoes.

What no snowskate shoe has really figured out well is how to reduce getting snow in your shoes.  The older vans had a built-in neoprene gaiter, but even that wasn't perfect.  I'm thinking these might do the trick:  Dirty Girl gaiters.  These were originally designed for trail runners trying to keep debris out of their shoes.  They are cheap, easy to install, and they come in lots of patterns (see skull version pic).  Although not waterproof, I think they will keep enough snow out and dry quick.

What have you done to adapt your shoes?

In case you are looking, the following shoes have been recommended by folks:
DVS Militia (water resistant version)
Nike ACG Woodside or Air Force 1 duckboot
Sorel Chesterman Chukka
North Face Back-to-Berkeley boot
Vans Mtn Edition
Keen Snow Rover (for pow)