Great photos. That kind of terrain would have me bringing my backcountry touring sikis and skins and not my snowshoes. With their speed I'd have been skiing ahead and back to the group all the time.

I see MSR 'shoes are prevalent among your group. All MSR 'shoes are nearly bombproof. I just got a pair of 30" MSR Lightning Ascent 'shoes. They grip laterally far better than my 30" Atlas 800 series 'shoes.

BTW, if you are interested in winter camping ger "Mike and Allen's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book". It is about 25% on skiing and the rest on winter camping. As a former Army ROTC winter survival instructor I feel this book is the best on the subject.