Photo: Boyne Mountain
A skybridge decorated with holiday lights over a snowy mountain sounds like a picturesque place for a wedding proposal – as long as you manage to keep hold of the ring. Trevor Van Camp of Rochester Hills, Michigan, found that out the hard way on a recent trip to Boyne Mountain, a ski resort in the northern part of the state.
After a series of hints from his longtime girlfriend Danielle Jenkins, Trevor planned a trip to the resort, where he hoped to pop the question on a skybridge overlooking a ski slope. However, when the moment finally came, a case of shaky hands caused him to immediately drop the piece of jewelry. To both their horror, the ring went through the bridge’s grate and tumbled 118 feet onto the slope below.
“We panicked for a minute,” recounts Van Camp in an interview with Boyne Mountain. “We looked at each other and said ‘We gotta find it.'”
The pair went down the hill and searched for two hours with no success. However, even after they gave up the effort, resort employees were determined to find it. Night Shift Snowmaking Supervisor Pat Harper grabbed a metal detector he kept in his car and looked for another 30 minutes, after which he picked up a signal, and managed to find the ring buried below a snowy footprint.
“We were packing up and were going to head home to Kay Jewelers to get a new ring,” recalled Jenkins. “Sure enough, the guys at Boyne were fantastic and found my ring. We showed back up to the resort and Trevor finally got to put it on my hand. I give big props and kudos to Pat for doing that for us. He saved the day.”
