A & C

We’re Claire & Adam—though most of our friends and family just call us Cladam. Our story starts back in high school, where we met during alpine ski team practice in 2016. We stayed good friends, but our real adventure begins in 2020. Both of our families coincidentally decided to vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado that spring, right as the world shut down. The ski lifts stopped, quarantine hit, and naturally, we decided to make the most of being stuck in the mountains together. When we got home, we realized we might be a bit more than friends, and in April 2020—we officially started dating! That first summer was full of hiking, dockhand shifts on White Bear Lake, late-night woodfired pizzas, bonfires, and lots of driving around Minnesota and Wisconsin with no real destination. Soon enough, Adam had to head off to UW–Madison for his freshman year as a computer science major. We decided to give long distance a try, and many adventures later, we survived our first year apart—filled with weekend visits, more mountains, and lots of memories made in Madison. That summer, Adam moved home, and we picked up right where we left off—dockhands again, hiking in northern MN, lake days, and making the most of every moment. Then came another school year: Adam back to Madison for his sophomore year, Claire starting her senior year of high school. Visits continued with ski races, birthdays, and a few surprise trips that made the goodbyes a little easier. Claire decided to head west for college at the University of Utah, so we leveled up our long distance game. 1,100 miles. Different time zones. Flights instead of car rides. We soon realized that Cladam was built for mountain time (literally and emotionally). From then on, reunions meant airport hugs, hiking in the Wasatch, skiing every chance we got, and football Saturdays in both Salt Lake and Madison. Claire always offered to visit Madison, but Adam very generously insisted he’d come to Utah—completely unrelated to the fact that Utah had its snowiest season on record, right? We may never know. Adam decided that after graduation, he’d make the move out west. His final year at UW–Madison and Claire’s sophomore year were full of “lasts” for long distance: concerts at USANA, college formals, game days, spring skiing, and more flights than we could count. In May 2024, Adam graduated from UW-Madison. Claire flew out and we packed up all of his belongings into the trusty 2013 Ford Escape and began the 1,300-mile drive to Salt Lake City, with only a few mechanical hiccups along the way. Suddenly, we lived five minutes apart for the first time in four years. We spent every day soaking in all of the moments—dinner after work, mountain biking, backpacking, hiking, and yes... more skiing. Everything was different, but also somehow exactly the same. Claire finished her final year at Utah and graduated with a degree in health and kinesiology. Now, after five years of dating... what was next? We were back in Breckenridge, and on the second night, Adam planned a surprise sunset picnic on top of a mountain and popped the question. Claire (very enthusiastically) said yes, and as we hiked back down, both of our families were waiting to surprise us and celebrate. Cue all the happy tears. Now we’re engaged, still skiing, still adventuring, and counting down the days until our wedding. We can’t wait to celebrate with all of you, and thank you for being part of our story! Love, Claire & Adam (aka Cladam)