If you’re looking to escape the Sundance crowds in Park City this week, the Heber Valley is hosting a snowy high-flying adventure.
Country Gardens and Nursery will co-host the second annual Heber Valley Airport Snowfest Jan. 20 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Coordinator Courtney Christensen said the event
“We've got food trucks, music and hopefully we'll have some snow," she said. "So we can do some scheduling ebike setup so that people can go through these tasks and ride those, again with snow permitted, will hopefully have some sledding hills that are made as well. And then at night, we'll have hot air balloons glowing and doing some really cool stuff as well.”
That other cool stuff includes firepits, s’mores, paper and wooden airplane crafts and snow art. Cost is $5 per person if you pre-registeror $10 at the door.
“They have a big giant blue aircraft that's been parked there for about five years," said Christensen. "It is an unfortunate story–the pilot passed away and there is a group of pilots who are actually getting together to completely restore this plane for this man who's no longer with us, unfortunately. And so you get to come and see and go through these planes and the museum.”
Airport Manager Travis Biggs said the airport’s Commemorative Air Force Utah Wing Museum is a little-known treasure in the valley.
“They've got a lot of mostly World War II stuff, but they also have other wars. So there's, there's uniforms and actual aircraft from World War II that actually fly, they take people up in them," he said. "There are a lot of glass cases full of items that all have stories behind them. We try to keep it local. So any, any local people that have been involved in the military, they have little memorabilia, journals, recordings, paintings and all sorts of stuff.”
In 2023, the Heber City Council approved the Heber Airport master plan which received criticism from some residents. Through events like Snowfest, Christensen said the airport hopes to educate locals and share information about the changes.
“They would love for people to come because we're family and let's do this together," she said. "So it's just one of those things that they went 'Hey, see a need, fill a need and January's kind of boring anyways. So, let's bring the valley together to get to know each other, as well as create a forum and a place where people's curiosities can actually have a place to get answers.’”
And at Snowfest those answers can be found both on and above ground.
