Ben and Mallory first met through the geology program at the University of Utah. They started to get to know each other during Ben's field camp capstone project in 2016. Mallory was one of the camp managers in charge of ensuring that all of the students were well fed and taken care of when they came back from mapping which rocks were where. During breakfasts and dinners, Mallory and Ben just plain got to know each other, but she had a boyfriend at the time. A year later, Ben was working as a pedi-cab driver during a large event in downtown Salt Lake City and he recognized Mallory and her friends. Two of them were couples but Mallory said that she had "gotten rid of" her boyfriend. Ben thought she was cute, so invited her to go paragliding. For anybody wondering, paragliding is a terrible first date. If you actually want to spend time with somebody, plan to get coffee, or dinner, or a movie, or go hiking. Not something so weather dependent. Mallory showed up expecting a tandem flight, but the weather wasn't quite right. She did some ground handling and was told by another instructor to come back again the next day, so she did. Suddenly Mallory was a full fledged paragliding student, and Ben thought it wouldn't be the classiest move to try and date a student, so he put the idea off the table. Mallory kept asking to go rock climbing or do acro yoga after paragliding lessons. She even started to make Ben dinner after acro yoga at her house. For 4 months, Ben just couldn't take the hint that she was into him. She and Brix would carpool to paragliding lessons together and Brix kept telling Ben to finally get the hint. After Ben put some new batteries in the back of his van to run lights, ventilation, and some other accessories, he asked Mallory if she wanted to drive around and charge the batteries up. Honestly about a 20-30 minute activity if trying to be efficient. He figured that if she wanted to do a slightly unattractive activity with him, then she was probably really into spending time with him. She came right over and they drove up to Guardsman Pass to look at the first snow of the season. He was 99% sure that she was into him at this point. Once Mallory had her paragliding certificate, she was no longer a student. The following day the weather was perfect to take Mallory on her first hike and fly adventure. Ben, Riley, Jason, and Mallory hiked up Mt. Wire and flew off. Mallory left Ben with a BIG LONG hug. Ben was now 99.5% sure she was into him. Maybe a day or two after that, while doing acro yoga in a dog-hair covered basement, they kissed for the first time and had a conversation about wanting to grow a relationship together. At first, Mallory thought that Ben would be a great rebound after he picked her up on his pedi-cab months prior. Turns out, he's the best rebound she's ever had!

In 2018 Ben visited Chamonix and skied the Vallee Blanche for his first time. He figured that if he had a partner he wanted to propose to, it would be there. He and Mallory had been together for about 6 months at the time and Mallory thought that Ben would never come back from France. He ran out of money and came back to America much to her delight. In 2019, Ben and Mallory went to a paragliding festival in France and visited Annecy and Chamonix afterwards. She thought that maybe he would propose to her at the top of the Aiguille du Midi then, but Ben was still trying to get the hint. However, spending 2 weeks living in a van together in a foreign country was very telling. They could get through anything together. In Spring of 2020, COVID happened and they decided to move in together. They had loads of good adventures together, weathered a pandemic, moved in together, worked through injury and unemployment as a team, and decided to build a life together. Ben finally got the hint sometime in early 2021. In August 2021, two of their friends had just gotten engaged so Ben and Mallory went over to their house for high fives. Ben learned that a thin band, elegant, understated ring was the way to go. Ben also learned that plane tickets and a cool experience would be way better than a ring. From Christmas, Mallory and Ben bought tickets to ski for 6 weeks in Chamonix. Then Mallory tore her ACL while skiing less than 2 months before their trip! All of Ben's proposal plans were now up in the air. Luckily, Mallory was back to skiing groomers a month later, and quickly back in moguls and trees like the champion she is. Much to Ben’s relief, his skiing proposal plan was back on and Mallory would still be able to have a good time skiing in Chamonix. After a mishap with Ben’s Nana, Ben was still searching for a ring. Later on when relaying the story to his friend Lindsey in Chamonix, she told him not to worry. There are special mountain guides in Chamonix with crystal collecting licenses and a couple of local artists that make jewelry out of these stones. Ben would be able to propose with a ring made in Chamonix with a stone from Mt Blanc. It was a perfect scenario and a perfect ring. It was a thin snow year, so Ben got to work right away before more snow melted. He skied the Vallee Blanche first to send Mallory pictures she would feel confident going into it. It's a long ski run with no real way out, and with a torn ACL it was smart to be sure. She was. The weather looked great for Sunday, March 6th, so they made plans to ski it together on Sunday. She was sure he'd pop the question. On Friday, Ben met with a photographer named Olly to go over the plan. To try and throw her off, Ben told Mallory that his buddy Olly would be joining them that day. Mallory thought he wouldn't propose with a random friend there. But, once Ben tried to make dinner reservations on Saturday for Sunday evening, she knew that it would be happening Sunday. They took the tram to the top of the Aigulle du Midi, walked down the steps to the perfect spot Ben had scouted out a few days prior, and he dropped to one knee. Olly shot photos, and Mallory said yes. Then she proposed back with a ring she had brought, and they both skied down the greatest ski run in the world as a happily newly engaged couple.