> At a Glance
> – Trevor Van Camp dropped the engagement ring 118 feet through SkyBridge Michigan’s metal grating
> – Resort snowmaker Pat Harper located the ring after a two-hour search with a metal detector
> – Couple plans to return to finish their interrupted bridge walk
> – Why it matters: A holiday mishap becomes a feel-good viral moment and free marketing for the resort
A romantic ski-trip proposal at Boyne Mountain Resort turned into a dramatic rescue mission when the ring plummeted from North America’s longest timber-towered suspension bridge.
The Fumble on SkyBridge Michigan
Van Camp had surprised Danielle Jenkins with a weekend getaway after she showed him TikTok clips of the 1,200-foot-long, illuminated SkyBridge. On the night of the stroll, he knelt on the bridge’s grating and opened the box-only to watch the band slip through the gaps.
> “We panicked for a minute, and then we looked at each other and said, ‘We need to find it,'” Van Camp recalled.
The couple spent more than two hours trudging through fresh snow beneath the bridge, sweeping a borrowed metal detector back and forth.
A Snowmaker to the Rescue
Night-shift snowmaking supervisor Pat Harper, along with two co-workers, refused to let the story end in defeat.
- Harper took over the search zone for roughly 20-30 minutes
- He followed fresh footprints and got a promising detector beep
- A few scoops of snow revealed the ring’s edge
> “I sat there for a minute and thought, ‘There’s no way you just found that,'” Harper said.
From Kay Jewelers Back to Cloud Nine
While the couple packed to leave-already planning a replacement purchase-Harper called with the good news.
> “We showed up at the resort, and Trevor finally got to put the ring on my hand,” Jenkins said.
Key Takeaways
- A dropped engagement ring can become priceless marketing content for a resort
- Staff determination turned a potential disaster into viral publicity
- The couple now has a proposal story-and a reason to return to Boyne Mountain Resort
Their interrupted bridge crossing is officially on the calendar for a future visit.
