SNAPPED: “Flying Giant pumpkin” in Heber City travels north for state-wide competition

The Masons' 711 pound pumpkin needed to be lifted over their house by a crane. Photo: TownLift // Randi Sidman-Moore

Heber City, Utah — A Heber family’s harvest turned heads this weekend as their 711-pound pumpkin was hoisted out of their backyard by crane and hauled to Logan for Utah’s third annual Giant Pumpkin Festival.

The grower, Trenton Mason, is part of Utah’s Giant Pumpkin Growers Club, a group of pumpkin enthusiasts across the state who grow giant Atlantic pumpkins to compete at the pumpkin weigh-in every year. “I’ve been growing giant pumpkins for 3 years now,” said Mason. “This was the first year I had one that I felt was worthy of the weigh off event.”

Giant Atlantic pumpkins grow extremely fast. At it’s peak in August, Mason said their family’s pumpkin was growing 25 pounds each day.

By the time it was ready to harvest, Mason’s original plan of getting a few guys to lift it onto a pallet was woefully unrealistic. They settled on using a crane to lift it up and over the house.

“It was a fun day to lift the pumpkin out of the backyard with a crane,” said Mason. “Friends and family showed up to see the flying giant pumpkin. I even had neighbors come by a few hours later to ask what was flying over the house after they had seen it from a distance.”

As big as the Mason’s pumpkin was, it is was on the smaller end of the Giants that arrived at the weigh-off. The winner of the event was Alan Gebert with a pumpkin over 1900 pounds.

Ralph & Juana Laub hold the Utah State record for a Giant pumpkin for their 2289 pound pumpkin grown in Vernal during the 2024 season.

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