In Flagstaff, Arizona, at 7,000 feet on the flanks of the San Francisco Peaks, a company grew up solving a specific winter problem: how to move safely across snow and ice without strapping on full mountaineering crampons. Kahtoola’s MICROspikes turned traction into something you could slip over a running shoe, and quietly became the default winter-hiking tool across America. This one is our neighbor: Kahtoola is a Flagstaff company, born in the same highlands our region guides describe.
The short version: Kahtoola, based in Flagstaff, Arizona, makes the best-known portable traction devices for winter hiking and trail running, the MICROspikes, plus NANOspikes and the KTS crampon. Buy it the moment your trails ice over. There is little to skip here; the brand does traction, does it exceptionally, and stays in its lane.
Where Kahtoola came from
Founded by a backcountry skier who wanted lightweight, versatile traction, Kahtoola stayed independent and stayed in Flagstaff, testing product on the very Ponderosa highlands and volcanic peaks that define northern Arizona winters. MICROspikes became a generic term the way few products do, the traction you slip on for icy switchbacks without committing to full crampons.
What they actually make well
Traction, across a precise range: NANOspikes for packed snow and ice on roads and runnable trail, MICROspikes for general winter hiking, and the KTS aluminum crampon for steeper alpine snow. Gaiters round it out. It pairs naturally with winter footwear from Salomon and layers from Smartwool.
Built to last?
Excellent durability and a strong warranty; MICROspikes routinely last many seasons of hard use, and Kahtoola supports repairs and replacement parts like elastomer harnesses. As an independent, focused company, it behaves like one that intends to be around.
The causes they actually fund
Kahtoola created its own giving vehicle, the 1000 Peaks Fund, directing support to clean-water and community projects, an unusually deliberate program for a company its size. Local Flagstaff stewardship rounds it out, close to the trails in our Colorado Plateau guide.
Where this gear comes from, and where it earns its place
Home ground is Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks, the highest country in Arizona, where north-facing switchbacks hold ice long after the desert below has warmed. That is exactly the shoulder-season hazard our region guides warn about, and Kahtoola is the fix. Find the high, shaded trails on the Trail Atlas.
The honest take
There is almost nothing to criticize because the scope is so disciplined: match the spike to the terrain (NANO for packed, MICRO for general, KTS for steep) and you are set. If you hike or run through winter anywhere trails ice up, this is one of the highest-value purchases in this entire series, from a company in our own backyard.
Flagstaff-born, made for the ice on our home trails. More makers in Brands We Love. Last verified July 2026.