A couple from San Diego, California used the mountain ranges of Revelstoke as the backdrop for one of the most important moments of their lives.
Shawn Lee and his partner Michael were on day three of their four-day trip in Revelstoke with Canadian Mountain Holidays, a trip they’d done twice before.
They reached a scenic clearing in the mountains when their guide turned to their group and told them to stop for a break. Lee thought they were setting up to take pictures of the mountains, given the awe-inspiring scene that was laid out before them.
What happened next took him by complete surprise.
His partner Michael got down on one knee amongst the mountains and proposed.
He said yes.
“The thought of being a married man never crossed my mind,” Lee says. “Trying to powder snowboard after that was pretty difficult.”
READ MORE: COVID cancelled their wedding plans, so they married on a BC mountaintop
Before his first visit to Revelstoke in 2019, Lee says he had no idea what or where the community was. After his first visit, he immediately fell in love with the place.
“You get this overwhelming sense of how grand and powerful and beautiful nature is,” Lee says.
He felt humbled by the natural beauty of the community and the landscape that surrounds it. “I’d never been in a place like that.”
Lee grew up going to Mammoth Mountain in California, skiing and snowboarding his whole life. His now-fiancé Michael, who is a little more extreme, according to Lee, is an avid biker as well as skier.
During his first trip to Revelstoke, Lee saw a group of locals ski touring up a mountain and was in awe of the feat.
“What is wrong with these Canadians? They’re freaking crazy!” he says with a laugh, adding that Canada opened his eyes to what is possible for the human body.
“I would love to have a Canada wedding up in the mountains,” he says.
READ MORE: Surprise mountaintop proposal shocks Abbotsford woman and Chilliwack photographer
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