sprocket, we can agree to disagree at this point. I see that you are a no-compromise person when it comes to winter driving, you had bad experiences with all seasons, or both. There's no problems with wanting the best traction for winter driving. I prefer snows myself.

regarding snow and tires, you WANT snow in the tread. The best surface for traction in snow is....snow. Have you tried shearing a snowball (take the halves of a snowball and shear it apart)? That is the whole principle behind snow tires. They have evolved from the past where they don't have large blocks with huge spaces in the middle to fling snow (like a mud tire). They often use all season like patterns, and they add siping and change the compounds to allow flexability of the sipes/blocks in colder weather. These sipes 1. create many edges for braking in ice, as the best traction in ice is by concentrated pressure on edges, and 2. capture snow to increase snow/snow traction. The softer compounds allow grip in cold non-snow conditions and flexibility in the sipes.

All the tire rack consumers have also rated the HTS tire surprisingly good in snow. you know what? it's also #1 in consumer ratings. I think that says a lot, considering these are actual owners of the tires, not a magazine with who knows what kind of test abilities. It's pretty obvious when a tire sucks in snow, I would have expected to see this in the reviews. With all the #1 reviews from a 4 wheeler magazine, a "trusted" source like CR, and great subjective reviews from people on Tire Rack, it does show that all-season tires are improving in all categories, including snow.

you can go on and on about on all seasons vs. snow and which publications say what. tire manufacturers, car companies, tire sellers, etc... all make more money selling winter tires. definitely more than selling consumers one tire for all seasons. it would be safe to say any company in the market to sell tires would try to push winter tires. I would expect more bashing of all seasons to sell dedicated summer and winter tires.

your ignorance does not come from the benefit of a dedicated winter tire. that's a no-brainer. it's from your no-season mentality, unable to understand that all-seasons are always improving, including in the snow category. alas, keep bashing "no-seasons" as good for nothing. not all ailments are curable.