The aisle was nine days long
Contextual landscape photograph. This image does not show Ashley, James or their ceremony.
PEOPLE / TRAVEL
REAL EXPERIENCE
After months of preparation and nine days of hiking, Ashley Schmieder and James Sissom exchanged vows at Everest Base Camp.
A different way to get to the vows
Ashley contacted adventure photographer Charleton Churchill about a wedding. Churchill suggested Everest Base Camp. Ashley and James chose the mountain setting, then spent months preparing for the journey it would take to reach it.
They began hiking from Lukla. Nine days later, at base camp, they changed into wedding clothes. On March 16, 2017, they exchanged vows and rings with the Khumbu Icefall and Nuptse behind them.
The journey to the ceremony was part of the ceremony’s story.
The distinction matters: this was at Everest Base Camp, not on the summit. It was an exchange of vows and rings, not a legal marriage performed on the mountain. The remarkable part needs no extra altitude added to it. They made a plan, prepared for months and walked nine days to the place where they wanted to say the words.
Where this account comes from
This is a FIBI editorial retelling of publicly reported events, based on photographer Charleton Churchill’s eyewitness account and supporting coverage. It is not a FIBI interview or an endorsement by Ashley, James or Churchill.
EYEWITNESS SOURCE / CHARLETON CHURCHILL Everest Base Camp adventure wedding Read the photographer’s account SUPPORTING SOURCE / PEOPLE Weddings at landmarks around the world Read the supporting coverage