Sam and Maya's paths first crossed in 2017 when she was working at Granite Peak and he was getting into skiing. Unfortunately, Sam has no recollection of this meeting, but Maya remembers it vividly! She can recall how, even though he was cranky about the lack of accessibility at the hill, she thought that he was still incredibly cute and wished she could have talked to him longer!

They wouldn't meet again until January of 2021 when they both swiped right on Tinder. Maya had just moved back to Wisconsin after living in Vermont, and Sam was back in Wisconsin in between ski trips out west. After talking online for just a day, they decided to meet up for a ski date at Granite Peak. That first date consisted of short conversations on the chairlift, but primarily consisted of each of them skiing as hard as possible to see if the other could keep up. The showing off worked because it led to more ski dates, and soon the two were inseparable.

After just over a year together, Sam proposed to Maya on March 22, 2022 (they think) on a beautiful spring day while skiing in Big Sky, Montana.

Shortly after getting engaged, they bought a house on a beautiful piece of land in Tilleda, Wisconsin. The house needed a lot of work, so they spent the next year completely renovating it together with the help of their friends and family. Once the house projects slowed down, they realized that it was finally time to start planning a wedding. They decided that it would be the most fitting to get married on their skis in a beautiful place.

Sam and Maya eloped on January 10th, 2024 in a blizzard at Palisades Resort in Lake Tahoe, California with only and officiant and photographer as witnesses.

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