Your milage may vary.

You can wear sneakers the next time you go ridge hiking in Hawaii. I'll be the guy wearing boots.

The ridges there tend to have a rut the width of your foot down the middle of a shoulder wide ridge.

That is not to say that it can't be done. I did it once. The question is really one of risk tolerance - if you twist an ankle, the day won't end well.

This goes back to the point that you should scope your requirements carefully, and not be afraid to start at a low cost solution - remember, I started with sneakers and bought the boots to solve a problem.