Dana + Thomas’s Elopement at Loveland Ski Area

Dana and I met in a backcountry skiing course for women last winter, so when she reached out wondering if I was available to photograph her elopement to Thomas in one week, I dropped everything to make it happen. They had just heard something about Loveland Ski Area’s 33rd Annual Mountaintop Matrimony—one of those unique Colorado traditions that you kinda have to see to believe—and decided it would be the perfect way for them to elope.

We met up at Loveland on Valentine’s Day for the event, and headed up the lifts together. There were heart signs leading the way to Forest Meadow, the area where the group ceremony would take place at noon. In the past they’ve usually had around 50 couples attend, some eloping for the first time and others renewing their vows. This year (in 2024, if you’re reading this in the future) 115 couples said their “I do’s” together before skiing and snowboarding back down the mountain. It was so much fun to see all those stoked couples around us!

After an easy green run back down to the base area, Dana and Thomas layered up and added their helmets, and we headed up some higher lifts to get a couple of fun runs! Having enough time is such an important part of getting good action photos at ski elopements—it’s not natural to leap frog with your photographer going down the slopes, and I always want to make sure it feels fun and not forced. But we we’re all playing around with the biggest smiles as the snow kept coming down, and it really ended up being the perfect elopement for these two.