Mesquite, Nev. • Most folks take offense when told to “go pound sand,” but for Pete Karns, it’s just another day at the office — and he’s perfectly happy to bring his own bucket.

Not only does the 80-year-old part-time Mesquite resident like pounding sand, he enjoys scraping, smoothing and shaping it as well. And at an age where many opt to decline in the recliner and channel surf, the retired real-estate broker and former Olympic athlete likes nothing better than digging in the sand and dirt under a warm Nevada sun.

“It’s my happy place,” Karns said while working at his outdoor plein-air site on Mesquite’s Lower Flat Top Drive.

Turns out, Karns’ “happy place” is a joy for more than just him. A steady stream of cars parade down the half-mile stretch of sandstone sculptures on the east side of the road each day, discharging grinning and gawking passengers eager to take in the spectacle.

“That’s one of my motivations for doing this,” he said. “I want to give people something to smile about.”

Among Karns’ sculptures are plenty of crowd-pleasers. There’s sand-sculpted replicas of Mount Rushmore, Stonehenge, and the Statue of Liberty. Smaller and more whimsical emojis and Peanuts and Disney characters also vie for visitors’ attention.

“The jailbird,” a three-dimensional piece of a man staring out the slatted window of his jail cell, was Bunkerville resident Jerilee Smith’s favorite. Others flocked to the imposing Moai figures, a nod to the monolithic stone statues on faraway Easter Island.

Karns’ current hobby is far removed from his past pursuits. The Jackson, Wyoming native skied for the University of Utah in the mid-1960s and is a member of the Crimson Club Hall of Fame. As an American Olympian, Karns was a member of the men’s biathlon relay team that finished sixth in the 1972 Winter Olympics.

He also finished 14th in the individual biathlon at the Games, the best Olympic showing by an American biathlete at the time. He later coached the U.S. Olympic biathlon team and served on the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Drawn to art

In 2008, Karns and his wife, Jeanine, became snowbirds, summering in Jackson and wintering in Mesquite, Nevada. He wasn’t drawn to art until about 10 years ago when he was riding his bike out on Lower Flat Top Drive and saw the sandstone walls.

“I decided to stop one day and try carving something,” he said.

At first, his sculptures were largely two-dimensional carvings on flat surfaces, such as Steamboat, the legendary Wyoming bucking bronc featured on that state’s license plates. He progressed to carving more elaborate three-dimensional sculptures, including Lady Liberty and her torch. His most recent project is sculpting a replica of the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.

While he doesn’t court controversy, the Utah alum muses that the Ute logo with the shield and feather he fashioned some time ago made someone, possibly a BYU Cougar fan, see red.

“It lasted one day before somebody tore it down,” he lamented.

Generally, Karns artwork receives much more positive reviews, though Mesquite city officials were initially skeptical of his hobby when someone reported there was man defacing municipal land. That led to a meeting between the artist and the mayor, council and other city officials.

Instead of ordering him to cease and desist, they invited him to persist with a few caveats: He had to sign a waiver releasing the city from liability should he get injured and he needs approval before starting on a new sculpture. Once he gets the green light, the city issues him a no-cost permit.

“He’s a great artist,” said Travis Anderson, Mesquite’s public works director. “He has really carved out a nice little legacy for himself.”

If his initial artwork raised eyebrows, it prompted eyerolls from Jeanine, his wife of 56 years. “At first I didn’t know what he was doing,” she confessed. “But it has become a wonderful hobby, and he loves it so much. It gets him out of the house.”

A losing battle

These days, Karns wages an ongoing battle against vandalism as well as the searing Nevada sun and squalling winds. When he isn’t using his trademark ladder, shovel, pickaxe and nail puller to create new pieces, he tools around with the implements and a bucket filled with a water-sand mixture to repair old ones.

Karns knows it’s a fight he is destined to lose. The land is zoned for residential use and his sculptures will one day be replaced by another extension of Mesquite’s Sun City.

“All my sculptures will eventually go away,” he said. “Whether it’s because of the weather, vandalism or bulldozers, everything here is temporary — and I’m fine with that.”