A long overdue update 👋🏼

Ski season recap, the Tucson Gem Show, + changes coming to The Traveling Silversmith!

Apr 02, 2024

Hello! 👋🏼

It has been a very long time since I wrote and sent out a letter on here. And there’s a few reasons why, but it mostly comes down to this: winter camping kind of sucked.

It didn’t suck suck. But it was really hard, mostly because my expectations didn’t align with reality and I struggle without consistent routine. There were some really high highs this winter and it was a once in a lifetime experience — I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I would have prepared myself differently!

There were a lot of nights in RV parks, truck stops, behind motels, in ski area parking lots, and sno parks. Other than our time skiing, there wasn’t a lot of time spent outdoors (or working) because it was so cold. Photos weren’t taken as often, inspiration was few and far between, and I was struggling with balancing my work expectations with the reality of the weather. It didn’t feel like I had much more to share than “We skied here, I had one day of work in 30°F weather, and we drove a lot.” so I opted not to share.

Underlying stressors beyond work and weather also didn’t put me in the best headspace to write the way I like to! All around, I wasn’t having the best time in-between ski days, and it’s hard to share when things don’t feel exciting.

BUT all of this is to say — sorry for ghosting you. Spring is here and I’m finally feeling inspired to create in this space again! So let’s get into the spark notes of where we’ve been this winter ❄️

The route

A quick recap of the loop we’ve taken from the PNW since the beginning of 2024 ~

If you read the last letter there will be a bit of overlap, but I figure we may as well do a full recap of this winter (cause the route is a little insane to see in it’s entirety).

So…the route:

Washington 🎿 → Oregon 🎿→ Washington 🎿→ Oregon → Idaho 🎿→ Utah 🎿→ Arizona 🎿→ Utah 🎿→ Idaho → Montana → Idaho 🎿🎿 → Washington → Idaho 🎿 → Montana 🎿 → Idaho → Washington 🎿🎿🎿 → Oregon 🎿 (next up!) 🎿🎿

There was a lot of driving this winter, but there was also a lot of skiing. We have skied a total of 12 mountains so far (one of which was both in Idaho and Montana) and skied many of the areas on their best days of the season. We visited + met up with friends + family, experienced blizzards + negative temperatures, traveled to the Tucson Gem show, I created + launched a collection of work, we got Covid (me for the first time 🥴), and we’ve added a handful of new stories to tell!

Ski areas 🎿

We loved using the Indy Pass this year and have found it a lot easier to camp around these ski areas than the larger resorts! Most have camping in the parking lots, and range from free to ~$40 a night (a steal when you compare to larger mountains!). You can also be much more spontaneous with the camping — some of the larger areas require reservations several weeks or months in advance, which doesn’t work for us (we tend to know our route a week in advance, maximum).

So, camping is a huge plus to the Indy Pass ski areas. Another huge plus: the lines. Most of the mountains we skied had no lines, even on a powder day! Lines truly never got longer than 5 minutes.

Two days at each area was the perfect amount of time to explore the smaller areas and not grow tired of the limited terrain. We also were pleasantly surprised with the quality of terrain at the ski areas we visited, even the extra small ones. And the charm?! Iconic. Many of the areas are locals hills that are family owned, which is a whole other ski culture I adore and want to support!

The only downside: you’ll likely have to pay for resort specific RFID cards. Your Indy Pass card CAN be loaded though, so if you push the ticket people they may allow you to load the pass on your Indy RFID and not pay the $5 😉

At only $380 to buy the pass early with no blackout dates, the Indy Pass was truly perfect for us. We bought it again for next year — it can’t be beat! We highly recommend.

ANYWAY, onto the spark notes of our time at each ski area we visited this 2023-2024 season!

Crystal Mountain, WA

(not on the Indy Pass!)

We bought these tickets ahead of time, and it was early-ish season (mid-December) so we knew it would be a bit variable conditions-wise. It was probably the lowest coverage skiing I have ever experienced 🫣 Not the best ski day, but it was so fun to be with family in the mountains!

Mount Hood Meadows, OR: Round 1

We (I) misread the blackout dates on our Indy Pass, so we had to pay for the day. Oops. We hit the first good snow storm of the season!

Bluewood, WA

A super small mountain but the terrain was surprisingly diverse! The vibe: the lodge hasn’t been updated since opening and the first time our passes were scanned by a liftie was at 11am. A locals hill, very relaxed, and a great spot to learn!

Pomerelle, ID

Some extreme wind chill when we were here and lots of fresh snow fall. Surprisingly large and a really fun mountain! Honestly was so long ago I don’t remember much more than that 🫠

But, I do remember the heavy winds and negative temperatures 🫣 Our frozen truck for proof ⤵️

Beaver Mountain, UT

Our first experience in Utah snow was…. not Utah snow. It had just dumped a foot and we were stoked to ski some powder buuuut it turns out the liquid ratio on that snow was more equivalent to PNW powder rather than the light + fluffy powder typical of Utah. So we had a blast, but we overheard locals say how sh*tty the snow was 💀

We really loved this little mountain though — it felt like a small version of Mt. Bachelor (the mountain I grew up on!) and was truly a locals hill.

Beaver mountain didn’t have on-site camping, so we set up at a sno park for the night. Sacha was a bit cold 🫣

Sunrise Park, AZ

🏆 Biggest Surprise

This hill was so much fun and it was *the best* snow we had skied up until that point. A foot of fresh high ratio snow had us in shock. My partner and I are used to PNW concrete and very dense powder. We had never experienced powder that made us feel like we were floating — and our first time experiencing it was in Arizona.

While we were there, they opened up a section of the ski area that hadn’t been open in 3 years. We had a bit of hiking to do, but first turns on multiple feet of untouched snow was more than worth it!

My favorite part about this hill was that it’s on the Fort Apache reservation and owned + run by the Apache tribe. If you’re looking for a place to ski in Arizona — Sunrise Park is it. And it’s only $68 for a day pass.

Powder Mountain, UT

🏆 Best Skiing

Our first introduction to true Utah snow. We hit another storm perfectly and missed all of the crowds over President’s Day weekend. Powder Mountain has a cap on day lift tickets, so the resort is never too crowded!

A foot of fresh Utah snow and a blue bird day had us so stoked 🙌🏼 Our only complaint about the resort is how spread out it was — to get back to the parking lot you’d have to take up to three chair lifts. Our plan for the first day was to ride the snow cat up one of the ridge lines in the afternoon, but we took a wrong turn and ended up on an hour and a half detour trying to get back to the right side of the mountain. By the time we would have been able to get up, our legs were shot and we were ready to go home. So we took the first ride up the next morning!

It was totally socked in and snowing, so we had missed our opportunity to see the incredible views, but the snow was still superb. Neither my partner or I had ridden on a snow cat before, nor had we ever had the opportunity, so we really wanted to have the experience! The best part: we only paid for one ride, but they didn’t have a scanner our first trip up. Sooo we hopped on a second time 🤭

Unfortunately Powder Mountain won’t be on the Indy Pass next year. Our two days here more than paid for our Indy Pass (literally), so we’re bummed it won’t be an option next year.

Brundage, ID

One of the better camping options of the season! There was pretty low coverage and not a whole not of snow, so we didn’t have the best time. Although I overheard a few people say it was one of the better days of the season 🫣 My partner and I agree that this hill would be really fun on a full coverage year with some fresh snow!

Tamarack, ID

I had Covid while we were at Tamarack, so I stayed in the camper while my partner skied a half day without me. His assessment: fun groomers with limited off piste and the lower mountain was a bit boring. I think it’d be a great hill to learn on!

Lookout, ID + MT

(not on the Indy Pass!)

We were visiting some friends in Spokane and my partner hopped on the bandwagon for a day trip to Lookout! I stayed behind to catch up with one of my closest friends and get some work done. His assessment: a great family mountain and easy to navigate but not very diverse terrain.

49 degrees North, WA

🏆 Best Camping

By FAR the #1 camping of any area we’ve skied! We were camped as close (or closer) than the cars coming for a day trip. They also had electrical hookups, so we decided to work here for a good chunk of the week and ski a few half days in-between!

The first day was midweek and incredible. There were a few inches of fresh + very light snow that made for some great powder turns. The second day it had been pretty skied out and it was starting to warm up, so the new snow was pretty dense. All around though it was a really fun mountain!

We had a bit of a scare that round two of the Sawtooths was happening (if you haven’t read that story, you can read it here. It’s a good one). But turns out the car not opening was “just” some dead batteries! What exactly happened, I don’t know. What it meant though: my partner had to hitch a ride down to the local Napa to pick up some new batteries. We installed them in the 49°N parking lot and now our batteries don’t charge when we drive? The parts are on their way to fully fix it, but idling to charge batteries is no more (for now). My personal Bob the Builder is on the job 🔨🫡 👏🏼

Fun fact: this is where I finished up my collection + took all the product photos (in the midst of the dead batteries)! 🤭

Mission Ridge, WA

We rolled in to camp the night before we wanted to ski and woke up to a steady stream of cars at 6:30 in the morning. Turns out we arrived on one of the biggest days of the year for Mission Ridge: the Apple Cup 🍎

A youth ski racing meet that had us waking up in a panic because we hadn’t reserved our tickets 💀 Fortunately everyone there for the meet stayed on one side of the mountain so there weren’t any lift lines!

These were the first official days of spring skiing that had us shedding our jackets + gloves. The views were absolutely gorgeous of the Enchantments, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Baker!

White Pass, WA

Holy ☀️ Spring Skiing ☀️

We had made plans ahead of time to ski White Pass, and weren’t able to plan around weather, so we ended up skiing in direct sun and 50°F temperatures. Some friends of ours came out for a few days to camp + ski with us (four people + two dogs in one very small camper was… cramped 🫣), so the purpose was mostly to spend time with them! After a few hours of skiing in the morning we started up the campfire and pulled out the beers 🍻

This area was absolutely stunning with incredible views of Mount Tahoma! My partner and I agree that this mountain would be so fun with some fresh snow! We will be back next year.

Mount Hood Meadows, OR: Round 2!

First round we came on a blackout date (oops), so we still had two days on our passes! Spring skiing conditions had us ripping groomers with blue bird skies. Thankfully it was a bit colder than White Pass, so we could get some full ski days in ☀️

We also met a crew of locals who frequent the RV camping at meadows! We spent our two nights there with them, playing music and talking around the smudge pot —

Next up?

→ Hoodoo, OR

→ Mt. Bachelor, OR (not on the Indy Pass)

We’ll see if it happens! We’re at the end of the ski season, so it’s really weather dependent on if we’ll end up skiing.

All things ~ business ~

The last few months — if you haven’t already gathered this — have been difficult on the work side of things. My wardrobe consisted of Carhartt overalls, puffy jackets, and wool; this is what I looked like 95% of the time this winter:

Creating in cold weather is not easy, but I am so proud to say I did it and still produced + launched a gorgeous collection of work!

The Mountain Collection

The points of inspiration this winter were few and far between, but there was one source that led to new designs for MEA. The snow tipped and ice crusted trees we’ve been constantly surrounded by this winter led to the new Snow Drop design — a sculptural combination of turquoise, silver, and fresh water pearls.

Simple, elegant, and incredibly unique, the Snow Drop design is where my limited creative energy went over the last few months. The design started by combining turquoise and fresh water pearls, and it morphed into adding handcrafted silver beads made from silver scraps. The combination of greens + blues with pearls imitates the contrast of blue bird skies + tree branches to snow and ice, the asymmetrical + lanky designs reflect the haphazard nature of ice crusted alpine trees, and the silver beads lend the reflective element of snow in the sun ✨

This design is so playful + authentic to my artistic style and was a true highlight of this winter. I had so much fun making them!

The collection I released was small, but I am so proud of how it turned out. You can check out what’s left of it here 💛

The Mountain Collection

The Tucson Gem Show

Another huge update from the business this winter was attending the Tucson Gem Show! This is the second year I’ve attended and it’s where I source all of my stones for the entire year.

As you can imagine, the price tag for this weekend is a *little* high, but I planned ahead. I’ve been squirreling away a percent of every sale since March 2023 for this trip and I’m happy to say it covered all the material costs (and I stayed within budget) 🎉

There are so many reasons I love going to the Tucson Gem Show, but these are my top four:

I get introduced to new stones! I love some gorgeous turquoise, but I also love trying out new stones to mix into my designs. This year I found some dentric agate and I am absolutely obsessed with it. I purchased only my favorite pieces — stay tuned for a small *extremely* one-of-a-kind collection this year (with gold 👀)!
I get to meet the people selling. It’s really hard to get information from a seller when buying online. In-person it’s a lot easier to learn where they source the material, who cuts it, how it was stabilized, if it's dyed, etc. It helps me confirm the quality of the material, the ethics of its production, and I get to meet some pretty cool people in the process. I love it, all around.
I can confirm the quality of the stone. When I buy stones online, it’s really hard to determine their quality by one photo. When in-person I can check there isn't any pitting in the stone, irregularities in the cut, cracks in the stone, or chips in the backings. This ultimately saves me money too because I’m not buying stones I won’t use!
Wholesale pricing! Buying large quantities at one time = discount galore. The shows I attend are also often wholesale shows, so the marked prices are wholesale (50%) pricing to retail. Big savings on my end = savings on the customer’s too!

Anyway — that’s the spark notes version of the show. The fun snippet of our travels in Tucson: the downpour of rain that had us nearly stuck in the BLM campsite outside of the city. So. Much. Rain. Fell overnight (my bad, I was on weather watch) and we were camped in silty dirt. We created some pretty deep ruts out of that campsite and were slipping and sliding at a steady 30 mph the 30 feet to the main road 🫠

If you’d like to read about out time in Tucson last year, one of my first Substack posts was on it! You can read it here:

Our time in Tucson!

Meghan Elisabeth

February 21, 2023

Read full story

Changes coming to The Traveling Silversmith

After this winter, it’s pretty clear to me that I have more on my plate than is sustainable. I’ve decided to reduce the frequency of posting to The Traveling Silversmith to once a month, without a “deadline”. I’ll write when I’m inspired to and share in approximately one month durations.

Beyond running my business, I have started taking online courses so my time is more strained than last year. These letters take about a day of brain space to create, and I need to allocate some of that time to school moving forward! We will also be starting our travels to Alaska soon, and I want to soak up as much of that experience as possible (don’t worry — allll the photos and stories will be shared, just at a lower frequency).

If you want to get weekly updates, I share a few updates/ things on my mind to my Coffee Date newsletter every Thursday. It’s a fun space, and it’s a lot easier for me to be consistent with (writing 5 bullet points takes a lot less time than writing a blog post)! You can sign up to get Coffee Date newsletters here:

Join here ☕️

Otherwise, I highly recommend you subscribe to The Traveling Silversmith if you haven’t. You’ll be notified via email when new letters go live! You can subscribe here:

And if you’re a paid subscriber, I completely understand if you would like to cancel your subscription moving forward! No offense taken 💛