Mountain People Episode 7

Nate and Natalie have been married now for almost 2 years, and still spend every Saturday they can at the halfway house - remembering the days they spent growing up on Boyne Mountain's slopes, up until the day they met on those very same slopes.

Natalie: 'We both had been coming up to Boyne since we were really little. We had a mutual friend who told me, "Come out to the Snowflake tonight! And dress up, you're about to meet your future husband.' So I got dressed up for the Snowflake, which is like...not what you do, ya know? But he told me I was going to marry this guy, so I did it.

And then I met Nate.

And we just fell in love right away.We ended up hanging out the next day, having our first official date in a way - snowboarding here. But my entire family was here...my mom, my dad, even my grandpa - all of them. So poor Nate had to meet all 20 of my family members here at Boyne on our first date. When we moved in together, we adopted a cat and named him Victor after the run that we had ridden so many times together here."

Nate: "Even in the summer, we come up here to Boyne as much as possible, just because it holds so much meaning to us. Coming to the halfway house and spending time with old friends, making new ones...it's this atmosphere that keeps us coming back, making more memories every time."

As people got moved around, moved out, I'd go in an set up their phone, so I've always one of the first people everyone meets when they start. That's how I met a lot of people, and what makes it feel like family here.

You know, when I first started, the Mountain Grand Lodge wasn't here, that was the parking lot. Not too many people were allowed to park here - only the important people - but when they hired me, I just pulled right up and parked right here. I'd come in from my parking spot, and they said, "Don't let Everett see you park out there!"

Everett was a nice guy with incredible vision, but he ran a tight ship around here. Well, one day, Everett and I pulled in at the same time. We were walking in together, and since I knew he was an avid fly fisherman just like me, I said, "Hi Mr. Kircher, how's the fishing been for you?" He just lit up, beaming from ear-to-ear chatting about what he loved. Meanwhile, back inside, all the guys are watching Everett talking to me in the parking lot for half an hour, wondering what the heck I'm talking about with the big boss man. I left that one as a mystery for a long while after that.

It's been a great place to work. Especially for an old guy, I mean, I was an old guy when I started here... and that was 24 years ago!"