“I imagine the ranch as a snow globe. Totally safe and quiet. I arrived with the snowglobe all shaken up, and when I was at the ranch, I could lay still in perfect quiet, watching the snowflakes fall gently upon me.”
~ Therese W., 2025 retreat participant
Dear Friends,
Thank you all for being a part of this Feathered Pipe dream, manifesting love and purpose. The 50th anniversary season was not only a celebration and culmination of the past 5 decades of this labor of love, but also a showcase for measures of true success — in happiness, ongoing deep connections, meaningful teaching and learning, pristine nature and forest bathing, synergy of an amazing team, and being a part of something that stimulates
personal growth. (Perhaps a natural consequence of those successes, the attendance and fundraising have been pretty great in 2025 too!)
We had the opportunity to welcome home many old and new friends, from first timers to those who never left, and everything in between. Countless people remarked, “I’m grateful this place exists and that I can experience it.” This mirrors India’s interview about how the Ranch changed people’s lives and the world.
Some people thought their return to the Ranch would be fun for nostalgia—and it was—but they were also excited to see that not only has Feathered Pipe purely continued (against many odds), but it has continued to improve while still maintaining its authenticity and familiar vibe.
The next generations are already stepping up to make it possible through teaching in new ways, working and using their talents, and being their unique selves. Reminiscing with cohorts of my generation, we are happy to see our children/next generation taking on the challenge and thankfully they are smarter, better looking, and more talented than us. There is hope.
Feathered Pipe Milestones
2025 marked several milestones for the Feathered Pipe community.
 -- Feathered Pipe’s 50th Anniversary celebrations and commemorations. Andy Vantrease’s article Coming Home: Celebrating a Half Century of Magic
recounts the 50th celebration and captures the mystique of what makes the Ranch unique. And for a deep dive, we produced a book 50 years of Feathered Pipe. View the “teaser” flipbook of the first seven pages. Get a full hardcopy by donating $25+ (paperback) or $250+ (hardcover) to our Feathered Pipe Forever Fund.
-- The 50th anniversary of Real Food Store, started by Feathered Pipe founders India Supera and Laughing Water more or less concurrently with the Ranch to provide healthy food for Helena and the Ranch.
-- The 30th anniversary of the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation, which started under the auspices of Feathered Pipe Foundation.
We aim to continue this meaningful endeavor into the next 50 years to provide a loving and comfortable place, surrounded by nature, where we and the next generations may come to find inner peace, consciousness, belonging, and direction.
On that note, we are thrilled to announce registration for Feathered Pipe’s 2026 Retreats will open Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 12 noon Mountain Time.
We look forward to warmly welcoming you back home to Feathered Pipe Ranch.
With love and gratitude,
Crystal Water
Executive Director of Feathered Pipe Foundation
*Special thanks to Melina Meza for the images!
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