"Kicking Steps":
Basically, the climbers in the front of the line kick a platform into hard packed snow (or find existing frozen footprints and improve them).  As each successive climber uses the same footprints, the platform becomes bigger and more solid, thereby making it easier for the other climbers to ascend.
 
This technique works well on snow that is not too icy but not too soft either.  It is also more common to see kick stepping at higher elevations with moderately steep slopes.
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