Skye Stoury
Garrett Arnold
When two climbers who met in the mountains get married, it only makes sense to tie the knot in the alpine. Last August, I eloped with my now husband Garrett on the summit of Liberty Bell in the North Cascades for an intimate, sunrise ceremony. Eloping in the mountains where we fell in love was an exciting and special way to celebrate our love, our relationship, and our commitment to each other.
Garrett and I met in 2017 as students in The Mountaineers Basic Alpine Climbing course during a climb of Sahale Peak. We didn’t talk much during the climb, but continued seeing each other at events, and then matched on a dating app. Months later, we connected at The Mountaineers Seattle Leadership Conference. After chatting for an hour, we decided to go on a date and, being us, had to do something more than just coffee. We settled on snowshoeing at Artist Point.
As our relationship grew, our mutual passion for remote peaks and long trails deepened our connection. Sharing the emotional highs and lows of alpine climbing pushed us to reveal our true selves and learn how dependable we could be as partners, both in adventure and in life. Managing fear and long days in the mountains taught us more about each other and the type of people we wanted to be – it was a level of intimacy neither of us had experienced before.
During our first year of dating, we tackled numerous basic-level alpine climbs together and advanced our adventures through the Intermediate Alpine Climbing course. Each section of the course honed our skills as a team, providing a foundation that strengthened our trust in one another.
As our relationship grew, so did the trips we planned. All our favorite memories together happened in the mountains, from backpacking off-trail routes to running aquatic canyons to having date nights at the climbing gym when we couldn’t get outside. We became more than a “belationship.” We were true partners with a deep trust in one another built through climbing.
After years of hiking, climbing, traveling, and moving into our van together, we got engaged on a backpacking trip to Mt. Assiniboine in British Columbia and started planning a wedding that would reflect our love for each other and the outdoors.
Skye's bouquet of cams. Instead of flowers, we used climbing gear.
Planning a technical climbing elopement
We both knew from the beginning that we didn’t want a traditional wedding. Our love was formed in the mountains, so we wanted our commitment to each other to be made there. Liberty Bell in the North Cascades was an easy choice. An iconic peak, combined with its manageable 5.6 trad rating on the Beckey Route, large summit, and stunning views, made it the perfect location. Plus, it was also the first intermediate level climb Garrett and I did together.
When planning an alpine elopement, it helps to have a community of fellow Mountaineers adventure enthusiasts. To bring our plan to life, we asked Rob Busack and Jessica Dyer, two Mountaineers and close friends, to join. Seasoned alpinists, Rob and Jessica had the climbing skills necessary to complete an alpine climb and support our summit ceremony goals. Rob, a climb leader who conveniently happened to be an officiant, agreed to marry us and Jessica served as a witness.
Jessica and Rob with us the morning of our ceremony. Rob is holding his mini Freedom of the Hills officiant book.
The next challenge was finding elopement photographers capable of climbing a technical route. We knew of Traci Edwards and Bill Young of Adventure and Vow, an elopement photography team, through social media and reached out. Not only were they thrilled about our idea, they suggested we bivy (sleep in open air) on the summit and get married the next morning at sunrise.
The climb
The adventure began on Saturday, August 3, at the Blue Lake parking lot. To avoid crowding the route during peak hours, we waited for climbing traffic to ease while organizing gear and dividing group weight. We formed three rope teams: Rob and Jessica as the haul team, me and Garrett, and Traci and Bill as the photographers. Rob and Jessica went first to account for their anticipated slower pace (given their gear load) and allow the rest of us to pitch in if needed. Our primary goal was to get everyone up safely, so not many photos were taken during the climb to minimize risk. We all stayed close to one another during the ascent and kept our radios accessible to communicate progress or issues.
What is usually a two- to four-hour climb to the summit took the six of us a lot longer to complete. Climbing with overnight packs, which included trad climbing gear, camera equipment, overnight sleep systems, food and water for six people, and wedding clothes, added a unique challenge. (If you’re wondering about the wedding rings, they were clipped on a spare carabiner in Garrett’s backpack.) An ideal climb for hauling bags is a clean vertical or overhung face, whereas our approach, the Becky Route, featured a blocky chimney section, as well as tricky slab climbing near the top. Rob and Jessica carried a 50-pound pack with a haul system for the tougher pitches (Rob even followed the first pitch with the pack on). We dragged the haul bag up the route and, with amazing teamwork, summited before sunset.
Liberty Bell not only has stunning panoramic views of the North Cascades, but ample flat spots for an overnight stay. After summiting, we picked our sleeping spots and made a quick dinner of freeze-dried Mountain House meals. With the ascent complete and the summit clear of other climbers, we could finally focus on our elopement.
Our first look at sunset on the summit of Liberty Bell, the night before we got married.
The first look
We decided before the climb to do a first look (the moment when the bride and groom see each other for the first time in their wedding attire) on the summit the night before our wedding, so we could get sunset and sunrise photos. Yes, we wore a wedding dress and suit, and yes, it was a lot to carry. But the extra weight was worth it. I packed a flowy, white dress that I kept neatly rolled in a garment bag and draped over the top of my pack during the climb. Being made mostly of tulle, it thankfully wasn’t too heavy and didn’t wrinkle. Garrett wore suit pants, a button up shirt, and a yellow bowtie and suspenders to match his yellow approach shoes. Our outfits were elegantly traditional for such an untraditional wedding.
Just after dinner, Jessica helped me and Garrett into our wedding clothes. Garrett positioned himself on a rock outcropping, facing away from the group. I walked toward him, my dress sticking to the surrounding rocks with each step I took toward my soon-to-be-husband. I tapped Garrett on the shoulder, took his hand, and turned him around to face me. Seeing each other in our wedding attire for the first time, surrounded by the beauty of the orange sky and towering Cascades, was almost more special than the actual ceremony. We watched the sun set over the mountains while our photographers captured the special moment.
Rob officiating the ceremony on the summit.
Post-wedding smiles in our climbing and wedding attire.
Sleeping with a view
After sunset, we settled in for a night of restless sleep. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to sleep on the summit of an alpine peak, it’s both amazing and uncomfortable. Most of the group slept with just sleeping pads and bags or quilts, but a couple of us used lightweight bivies to keep out the bugs (the bride can’t wake up on her wedding day with a face covered in mosquito bites). We enjoyed clear views of the stars, and the aurora even put on a show.
Not every part of sleeping in open air is as romantic as it sounds. Sleeping the night before your wedding is already challenging, but add loud sleeping pads, wind, and bushy-tailed woodrats scampering around your site, and you’re lucky to fall asleep at all. Regardless, being together beneath the open air and twinkling aurora felt like a promise of what adventures we had to look forward to.
We “awoke” just before sunrise on the morning of the wedding. True to our style, the formality of the day didn’t prevent us from enjoying routine alpine moments, like pooping in wag bags, before proceeding to get ready for our ceremony.
Since every ounce of weight mattered, I brought only the essentials, which meant that getting ready consisted of washing my face, dabbing on a little concealer and mascara, and undoing my hair which had been curled with a bandana overnight.
Our photographers picked the perfect spot for our ceremony: a rocky outcropping near the edge of a cliff that provided a dramatic backdrop for photos. Rob officiated with his speech written in a mini printout of Freedom of the Hills (the “bible” of alpine climbing and a book Garrett and I both read in our climbing courses). Surrounding us were numerous peaks we had climbed together over the years. We said our vows at sunrise on August 4.
Post ceremony, we enjoyed more dehydrated meals, soaked in our last views, and prepared for the rappel. We changed back into our climbing clothes, this time with rings on our fingers and my wedding veil glued to my helmet.
Celebrating our marriage with our favorite Mountain House meal.
Sharing a brief kiss at the base of the climb.
Key takeaways from a technical elopement
Having a weekend dedicated to each other and our shared passion for the outdoors was the best decision we could have made. If you’re contemplating an alpine elopement, we can’t recommend it enough for outdoorsy couples and climbers. Here are some things to consider as you plan the perfect day:
Find the right photographers. They need to be technically skilled enough to get up the climb safely while also focusing on photos. We were so thankful that Adventure and Vow were involved in our planning and scouted the route and summit in advance. We could not have taken photos on our own and are so happy we hired this team.
Find the right support team. You’ll need help on the climb, not just to haul gear up but to provide supportive attitudes and a willingness to adapt to anything that may happen.
Be flexible and have a backup plan. If you hire professional photographers, you must be ready rain or shine on the date you’ve secured. We lucked out with good weather, but we were prepared to pivot to a hike if it rained. Keep in mind that during summer, wildfire smoke can impact plans.
Do your research. Investigate your location, route, summit, and whether permits are necessary for the ceremony and photographers. All national parks and some national forest lands require permits. Depending on location, some permits are easy to acquire. Liberty Bell is outside of North Cascades National Park, which made permit planning a lot easier. If you hire an elopement photographer, they’ll help you understand the permit process for your location.
Plan ahead with your team. Distributing weight and setting clear expectations is key to making alpine elopements work. Have group meetings in advance to go over logistics and packing lists, and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Prioritize safety. We wanted photos on the summit but weren’t worried about getting photos during the climb because we knew summiting would take longer if we posed for photos during the ascent. Traci and Bill still got photos of us organically, but we didn’t stop or stage any while climbing. We also wanted rappel photos, but after learning how much my dress stuck to the rock, I knew repelling in my dress would add unnecessary risk.
Consider one day versus two. Bivying on the summit was a special experience, but it also added more difficulty to the climb. Hauling overnight gear, food and water for six people, and wedding attire was a lot of work. A single-day elopement would have been easier, but wouldn’t have given us as much control over what time we’d reach the summit to say our vows.
Follow Skye and Garrett's adventures on Instagram at @skyestoury and @theadventurearnolds. And find more of Adventure and Vow's (@adventureandvow) work at adventureandvow.com.
This article originally appeared in our spring 2025 issue of Mountaineer magazine. To view the original article in magazine form and read more stories from our publication, visit our magazine archive.
