This year I found myself disappointed with how my Marathon Winters handled more than just a little snow, and bought some Nokian Extremes. I've used one only on the front so far, but even with just that change, I noticed a big improvement in capability. I even remembered once when I forgot to switch to low pressure for snow, and the performance was still comparable to what it was before I made the change. Most surprisingly of all, the rolling resistance increase is actually very little. I know this may seem to be hard to believe if you've compared the tread on the two tires, but I've still been able to handle my 7-mile commutes just fine. Now this should be taken with a grain of salt because I have yet to use both Nokians at once, but I think I'll be fine when I do exactly this next year. I have kept one of my MWs so I have a spare studded tire. Also, I do plan on getting a spare front wheel so I can easily swap in a smooth tire for days with clear roads, but I've made that decision partly because I want to preserve the studded tires and partly because I think there's a fair chance I'll need a spare eventually anyway.

The bottom line is, as far as I'm concerned, if you want to be able to ride as much as possible and have to deal with significant snow, get the Nokian Extremes and be done with it. And start looking in early fall, because studded tires generally speaking seem to go quickly and then be in short supply midseason.