SO WHAT'S THE BACKDROP... that typically accompanies a Fourth of July fireworks spectacular? Honest? There's probably no "usual" about it, but a lot of spectators can expect to see a lake or a park or a high school football field or a boat-filled harbor on the evening of Independence Day. Less likely to be seen? A snowy peak, of mountain-big proportions, the sort of sight that one expects to encounter in the heart of wintertime. But visitors to Mammoth Mountain will spy a dazzling sky show over the slopes, slopes that, yes, still have snow. The ski resort is, in fact, staying open into August, a rare (but not unheard-of) occurrence. So this enduring skiing season won't even be close to completion when the pyrotechnics extravaganza known as Freedom Bash pops off on the Saturday, July 6. The show is also being billed as the...
"HIGHEST FIREWORKS IN THE COUNTRY," if you're into superlatives, and you'd like to check that one off your particular bucket list. The launch site for the fireworks sits at over 11,000 feet, if you're also into the numbers aspect, and fireworks have only ever happened once before, on July 4, 2017, if you're into trivia. That particular Fourth of July also fell near the end of an especially snowy season, like the one that recently wrapped up at the Sierra Nevada destination (Mammoth enjoyed its "snowiest May on record" by May 24 of this year). For sure, there are other firework shows in the region, and there have been fireworks at Mammoth Mountain in the fall and winter, but Fourth of July fireworks can only happen "when there is enough snow" on the massive peak.
THAT'S 2019, so best get to the Eastern Sierra resort if you'd like to witness this not-very-often show of fireworks for our country's birthday. It's not known when there'll next be such a snow-packed season, of course, meaning it could be years before there are fireworks in July over Mammoth Mountain. How to go up, up, up to Freedom Bash, after you arrive at Mammoth? On the Panoramic Gondola, of course. Details are here. And here are some of the red, white, and blue to-dos popping at Crowley Lake and around the Village from July 4-7, 2019.
