Kat + Forrest’s Splitboarding Elopement in Steamboat Springs

When Kat and Forrest first reached out to me about photographing their elopement, they told me about their plan to go splitboarding in the backcountry in Steamboat Springs, and asked if what they were planning was even doable. As experienced splitboarders who have spent countless hours exploring the backcountry together on their snowmobiles, I had no doubt in their ability to pull this off, and we set out planning their elopement.

When you’re planning a ski or snowboard elopement, there are so many variables that you have to plan for compared to other, less extreme, winter elopements. The day before this elopement, it was snowing heavily, and you couldn’t see ten feet in front of you. The morning of their elopement, it was 0° outside, but with the kind of clear sky that always means a good time. Their main priority for their elopement day was to have fun in the snow, and that’s exactly what we did.

The couple headed out early in the morning with their friends, and were rewarded with fresh powder and tracks. I met up with them at noon and joined them on a snowmobile tour so we could get photos of them in action. We had so much fun playing around in the deep snow that it was easy to forget we still had a whole ceremony to get to! But we got back late in the afternoon, Kat changed into her wedding dress in a friend’s van, and we all skinned up to an overlook with the most beautiful views looking out over the Yampa Valley.

Kat and Forrest exchanged their vows as the sun was setting behind them, and afterwards we got the most beautiful winter alpenglow. As we were driving around earlier in the day, Kat excitedly told me how much she loved the light up here, and I was so excited that it showed up on their wedding day!