Total wild guess here...But I wonder, why from the perspective of your SO do the bootskis seem fun, while skiing seems too dangerous?
Maybe because the snowfeet/skiskates/bootskis seem like skating, which you do on flats or very gentle terrain? Where skis automatically imply a big hill and downhill and speed? Might be a baked in vision of how they're used - which isn't necessarily correct.
Or another possibility - snowfeet/skiskates/bootskis probably seem like you have a lot of control, because they're like shoes - you can just walk, or stop at any point. (Stopping is a really big deal to new people on snow.) Where skis - even short ones - seem relatively unwieldy and difficult to control and stop.
But in reality, as pointed out above, unless it's perfect snow, the snowfeet could be really difficult - more akin to rollerblading on a slope with gravel strewn about or something. But it could be a lot of things I suppose.