Do these work well with the climbing heel posts in the up position? Enough penetration?

I took a 100 ft slide on the coleman-deming glacier with them attached to the slider plate with the riser up. so from my experience, keep them attached to the board if you're going steep. the extra effort is worth it!

The heel riser will work with these crampons in either mode; fixed to your slider plate when touring so they raise when you skin, or fixed to the ski. When they are fixed to your slider plate and the heel riser is up, you are limiting the contact of the crampon to only the first 1 or 2 toe teeth. When they are fixed to the ski, you get the entire crampon in contact with the snow.

yes. but only if you fix them to the boards, which is easy. they work fixed to the board if you need your heel lifter, or hinged, for lower-angle, less scary skinning.