Deep Snow on Hidden Peak

Snow levels dropped considerably earlier than forecasted today and resulted in significantly more snow than predicted.  Precipitation rates remained high throughout the day and winds were surprisingly calm.  On our arrival at the trailhead for Hidden Peak we found ~25cm of heavy wet snow at 6,600' at 10:00am.  As snow fall continued and we gained elevation snow depth increased and snow density decreased.  We dug a quick pit near 8,300' on a NE aspect that showed 65cm of right side up storm snow.  HS was 202cm and below our new storm snow was 50cm of rain soaked snow.  An ECTP5 at 186cm showed storm snow instability on 4mm needle crystals.  We noted needles falling at all elevations during our tour.  As we continued to gain elevation we experienced increased storm slab instability.  Breaking trail was producing cracks and micro terrain was consistently fracturing within the storm slab.  Digging into these cracks showed that the storm slab was fracturing down to the rain soaked layer at the old snow / storm snow interface.  We avoided terrain steeper than 35°.  On return to our vehicle we found an addtional 20cm of fresh snow that accumulated during our 3 hour tour.