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Red, blue and a whole lot of white: Snowbird opened for skiing on the Fourth of July for only the fifth time in 48 years

Related Topics: Snowbird, Utah

Snowbird • For Paul Fejte, getting to ski on Independence Day captures the holiday’s meaning: a celebration of freedom.

Fjete and his wife, Denise, drove an hour-and-a-half from Eden to experience their first Fourth of July ski experience, marking their 102nd day on the slopes this season.

Fejte combined his love for skiing and patriotism by wearing a tall red-and-white striped hat, atop his red-white-and-blue curly wig. He also wore a red-white-and-blue coat with his father’s “professional ski instructor” pin, to honor his father’s 50 years as a ski instructor.

He joined about 3,500 other skiers and snowboarders to spend the holiday on the slopes of Snowbird, and it was a rare treat.