I am a winter 46r and did more then half of my peaks as 3 day backpacks. I don't know how far you have to travel, but I came from NYC. Travel time to and from the Mountains certainly will cut into your hiking time. About half of my winter peaks were done with a partner or as part of a group, the other half...
There are many great weekend trips- most of them I did as base camp style in and out trips. I have hiked with the RWMS and they tend to hump full loads up and over the peaks. It's another style and great training, but I like to save the energy and go fast and light out of base camp. Alot of my friends from that time would "base camp" in the parking lot and sleep in their vehicles, get up early and hit the peaks and go home after just one night. But I like to sleep out in the back country.
One great trip that I did was Grey with a traverse over to Marcy and then down to 4-corners and up Skylight. We based out of the uphill leanto- using tents. On the way out the next day we hit Cliff (unscheduled extra peak- the weather was that fine). We were a small group of not very experienced winter climbers and it was a great trip. That was 3 days. A stronger and faster team can do in less time- but I didn't want to.
One trip that is easy to do is the Colvin Range- approach from Ausable Clubs tote road and set up camp in Elk Pass. The lake makes for a nice flat surface to pitch the tent on-as long as it is frozen completely. ( I heard stories from friends of their tents sinking as the lake thawed during a warm spell)
We did Colvin and Blake with day packs and then packed out over Nipple top, etc on the way out. Didn't see another person the whole trip.
Trails out of upper works provide easy access to flowed lands or Indian pass- lots of options there. If you have two cars you can do a beautiful traverse of Giant and Rocky Ridge.
Of course- always carry enough stuff in your day pack to deal with the hike and emergencies. For my winter day pack I usually had a thermarest, bivy sack and stove (don't forget a pot and the hot chocolate
!) as well as extra clothing, food, water, maps ((at least two) compass, snow shoes and crampons (used more on the trails), etc.
Remember- the best tool in your kit is your brain- always exercise good judgement and be honest about your ability. Know when to bail out and establish reasonable turnaround times for these short winter days (ok- I never actually did that, but I heard that reasonable hikers do
).
I would also say that if you are part of a group (even a group of two) then your first loyalty is to the group and the individual members and not to your own personal goals. It can be a compromise to do so, but it is also part of the price we pay for being part of the group. Don't separate- don't leave a member behind- especially if they are inexperienced or ill. Hypotherma affects your brain and your ablity to think rationally. The few times that we ever had to turn around, well I never regreted it. I was also not afraid to be gutsy when it was called for. I would like to say that all the groups that I have been in were up to these standards- but not always. The RWMS has been a shining example of "good leadership" in my opinion. I tried to exercise the same on the trips that I led. Mostly I go it alone.