For Trevor Van Camp and Danielle Jenkins, a winter proposal at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls, MI, became an unforgettable test of nerves, love and human kindness when an engagement ring slipped through a groom-to-be's trembling fingers and plunged 118 feet from SkyBridge Michigan into the snow below.
Van Camp had planned an aerial proposal because his girlfriend had been sending him TikTok videos of the resort’s SkyBridge — an illuminated, 1,200-foot-long pedestrian suspension bridge strung with more than 200,000 twinkling lights. Though Van Camp admits he’s “not a big heights guy,” he booked a surprise weekend getaway just for her.
After taking the chairlift to the top, the couple began their walk across the bridge, suspended between two mountain peaks. Van Camp stopped midway, suggesting they take a photo. Then he dropped to one knee.
“She said yes,” he recalled. “And when I went to get the ring out of the box — mind you, I’m shaking — I looked down. Not a good idea.”
The ring slipped free, falling through the bridge’s open grating and vanishing into the snowy ski slope below.
“We panicked for a minute,” Van Camp said. “Then we looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to find it.’”
What followed was a two-and-a-half-hour search beneath the bridge, aided by Boyne Mountain’s night shift snowmaking supervisor, Pat Harper, who arrived with two metal detectors. As night deepened and hope began to fade, the couple prepared to leave around 10 pm.
But Harper and his associates weren't done.
“They promised us they were going to find my ring,” Jenkins said. “There were no ands, ifs or buts about that.”
After the couple departed, Harper continued alone, sweeping the snow-covered terrain. When his detector sounded near a set of footprints, he began digging. At first, nothing. Then, with one last scoop of snow, the edge of the ring appeared.
“I kind of sat there for a minute,” Harper said. “There was no way I just found that.”
The next day, as the couple packed up and prepared to visit a local jeweler to start over, they received confirmation that the ring had been found. The couple returned to Boyne Mountain, where Van Camp finally placed it on Jenkins’ finger.
“I give big props and kudos to Pat,” Jenkins said. “He saved the day."
"We now have a story to tell of our engagement," she added. "It's our story to share. We will probably come back in the wintertime to finish our journey across the bridge with the lights and enjoy the full experience that we cut short to find my ring."
Credits: Video screen captures and promotional images courtesy of Boyne Mountain Resort.