{"id":142808,"date":"2020-02-21T08:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T16:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=142808"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:03:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:03:16","slug":"these-couples-got-married-on-skis-atop-a-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/these-couples-got-married-on-skis-atop-a-mountain","title":{"rendered":"These Couples Got Married on Skis Atop a Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 12,050 feet on the Continental Divide, a crowd grows. It\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day in Colorado, and\u00a0 <\/span>skiers don wedding dresses and tuxedos beneath the bright February sun<\/span>. Elvis Presley croons \u201cI can\u2019t help falling in love\u201d from speakers bolted to Loveland Ski Area\u2019s Ptarmigan Roost Cabin, while couples slow dance around the deck.<\/span><\/p>\n

About eight of the 80 couples will actually be married today. The rest are here to renew their vows at Loveland\u2019s <\/span>29<\/span>th<\/span> annual Mountaintop Matrimony mass-wedding service<\/span><\/a>. Most have lift tickets hanging from their jackets that say, \u201cI DO!\u201d\u2014part of a 2-for-1 promotion that Loveland offers to participants. A woman double fists a pair of hard seltzers and glances at her watch. The ceremony was slated to start at noon, sharp. It\u2019s 12:07. Then someone gasps. \u201cHarry has entered the building.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The crowd parts as Harry Heilmann, the 73-year-old registered minister for today\u2019s service, strolls across the deck to a picnic table atop which he will stand. He is wearing a black leather jacket over a blue button-down shirt and navy tie with roses on it. Also: ski pants.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Loveland!\u201d Heilmann bellows into his microphone. \u201cIt is about the love, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Officiant Harry Heilmann speaks to the crowd of couples getting married atop Loveland Ski Area. (Photo Credit: Liam Doran)<\/p><\/div>\n

No one knows this event better than Heilmann, who has presided over 28 of its 29 editions and is more popular here than St. Valentine. At registration this morning, he\u2019d barely sat down to start signing marriage certificates when the first couple approached. \u201cYou married us two years ago!\u201d the man almost shouted. \u201cOh, so you\u2019re here for a tune-up?\u201d Heilmann quipped with a smile. His buddy Vinny, a food and beverage supervisor at Loveland, where Heilmann spent a decade shoveling snow, parking cars and taking out the trash, came over to greet his old friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Heilmann!\u201d Vinny deadpanned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBaileys and coffee, and I mean <\/span>right now<\/span><\/i>,\u201d Harry replied, still grinning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vinny obliged, and then Harry started telling stories. \u201cThe first year, it was a raffle for one couple to get married. The next year, Loveland opened it up for everybody to get married.\u201d Heilmann made a perfect officiant. In 1974, he\u2019d mailed a postcard to the Universal Life Church because a friend told him he could fly for half price if he were a member of the clergy. The promise never materialized, but he\u2019s been a registered minister for the past 46 years (as well as a teacher and, lately, a bailiff).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do this because they give me a free ski pass,\u201d chuckles Heilmann, who lives in a neighboring mining town that dates back to the 1800s. \u201cIt\u2019s my favorite day of the year, period.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the event\u2019s three-decade history, roughly 2,500 people have taken part. They come from across Colorado and beyond. While Heilmann signed his certificates, beaming couples strolled through the doors to collect their free picture frames and lift tickets. Jim Creek, 54, and Tana Bowen, 56, had driven up from Durango, six hours away. They\u2019d been talking about getting married for two years when they heard about Loveland\u2019s mass ceremony. \u201cWe started YouTubing it and saw what an awesome job the pastor does, so we were like, \u2018let\u2019s do this,\u2019\u201d said Creek, a 6-foot-9 snowplow driver. He and Bowen, who made her own dress, were honeymooning in Leadville, Colorado, the highest-elevation town in America.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Tricia and Raj Ashtaputre renewed their vows after getting married three years ago. (Photo Credit: Liam Doran)<\/p><\/div>\n

Fort Collins residents Raj and Tricia Ashtaputre, 49 and 46, had gotten married three years earlier in a temple in Mumbai, India, where he\u2019s from. But Loveland was the first place they skied as a couple, hence their decision to renew their vows here. \u201cWe have an emotional bond to this place,\u201d Raj explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

The attendees spanned all ages, including two couples celebrating their 50<\/span>th<\/span> anniversaries. One was from Texas. The other was from Idaho Springs, just down the road off Interstate 70: Lyn and Linda Darrell, who are 72 and 70, respectively. They brought eight family members to support them, including twin, 2-year-old flower girls. \u201cIt\u2019s a really big deal to us,\u201d said Lyn, a retired high school teacher and football coach. \u201cFor 50 years we\u2019ve been saying, \u2018We\u2019re so lucky we found each other.\u2019 And Linda finally said, \u2018Why aren\u2019t we celebrating?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An hour later, the crowd assembles on the Ptarmigan Roost deck to do just that. Heilmann, twice married himself, speaks from experience as well as his heart, keeping it light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI never really thought that I\u2019d be on skis with a tie on, just like you never thought you\u2019d be getting married in safety helmets,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSometimes you have to work hard, sometimes you have to sacrifice. I once heard a minister say, \u2018Sometimes you have to put it in four-wheel drive.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He mentions the couples who are celebrating 50 years of marriage. \u201cI highly recommend you follow in their tracks,\u201d he adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Near the end, Heilmann reminds his crowd, \u201cDon\u2019t lose sight of what brought you here today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Daryl and Lynette Lipham traveled from Atlanta to renew their vows after 45 years of marriage. (Photo Credit: Liam Doran)<\/p><\/div>\n

Whether it was skiing or their vows or a combination of the two, everyone seems happy when the ceremony ends. \u201cIt was more touching than I thought it would be,\u201d says Daryl Lipham, 67, who traveled from Atlanta to renew his vows after 45 years of marriage to Lynette. \u201cMy wife is someone I admire more deeply than I can express, and to do this is very meaningful.\u201d (The Liphams, grandparents of 36, went on to win the Best Dressed prize, determined by audience applause.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Heilmann struck a cord for other couples, too. Mary Mohn, 59, and Mary Mackenburg-Mohn, 61, met online in 1997\u2014\u201cbefore Tinder,\u201d Mohn jokes\u2014and wed in 2009 in Iowa when same-sex marriages became legal there. Mackenburg-Mohn works part time as a ski patroller at Loveland and thought they\u2019d enjoy participating but didn\u2019t expect the ceremony\u2014or Heilmann\u2014to have such a powerful impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he said renewing couples often get teary, I got teary,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s easy to take your partner for granted, but Harry helped me remember what I love about Mary and why we\u2019re together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was all downhill from there\u2014on skis, of course.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Mary Mohn and Mary Mackenburg-Mohn wed in 2009 and renewed their vows on the mountain. (Photo Credit: Liam Doran)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 12,050 feet on the Continental Divide, a crowd grows. It\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day in Colorado, and\u00a0 skiers don wedding dresses and tuxedos beneath the bright February sun. Elvis Presley croons \u201cI can\u2019t help falling in love\u201d from speakers bolted to Loveland Ski Area\u2019s Ptarmigan Roost Cabin, while couples slow dance around the deck. About eight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":152073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[727,692,364],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-142808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-snowsports","tag-latest-posts","tag-news","tag-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/these-couples-got-married-on-skis-atop-a-mountain","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"These Couples Got Married on Skis Atop a Mountain","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/these-couples-got-married-on-skis-atop-a-mountain","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/these-couples-got-married-on-skis-atop-a-mountain"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/Couples-Mountain_Hero_Updated_Liam-Doran-4809-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/Couples-Mountain_Hero_Updated_Liam-Doran-4809-1.jpg?fit=2000%2C1200"},"articleSection":"Snowsports","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","news","snowsports"],"dateCreated":"2020-02-21T16:23:00Z","datePublished":"2020-02-21T16:23:00Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T20:03:16Z"},"rendered":"