Mammoth has characters

Two big birthdays happen in early January. There's Martin Luther King, of course. And there's "Caveman" Dave Fitzpatrick, who on Monday, Jan. 8 turned 51. In spite of not a whole lot of snow on the ski hill, he notched his 55th day on the slopes.

We wished him a happy birthday last year, too, and this is what we wrote. It still stands up.

From time to time, Dave puts fur leggings over his snowboard boots, dons a furry type of jacket thing and, turning his fully bearded face to the sun, turns into Caveman Dave.

It's hard to miss the Caveman when he's boarding on Mammoth Mountain.

In point of fact, it's hard to miss Caveman Dave even when he's out of uniform. On the day we first caught up with him, he was wearing his Captain America helmet, a bright red flap hung from under his helmet across the back of his neck, and he was in full tie-dye regalia.

When Dave rides a chairlift or rides down the hill on his snowboard, more than likely he will howl: a great, throaty kind of howl. Children -- and baffled adults -- frequently get out of his way.

Not to worry.

Caveman Dave is on a mission: he carves snow angels next to the groomed runs on Mammoth Mountain.

Struck with Parkinson's disease four years ago, the former local carpenter now considers snow sculpting his full-time job.

"This is what I do all day," he said. "I call them Snow Angels for Peace."

Fitzpatrick is disabled because of the disease, he spends most of his day on the ski hill, snowboarding.

"It's the funnest thing I've ever done in my life," he said.

Two years ago, Caveman Dave logged 189 days on the hill. The year before that, he logged 204 days. Last year, with the early October snow, and the ski hill open until July 4, Fitzpatrick shattered his old record.

By Sunday, Caveman Dave had left clues of his presence all over the middle of the mountain. There were snow angels carved among the trees under Chair 2/Stump Alley Express. There were angels along the groomed runs off Chair 1 and along lower St. Anton.

"I make them because they make people smile," he said. "There are 3,500 acres of terrain on Mammoth Mountain, and if you can't find a smile, it just means you didn't find your right acre!"

On the day Little Eagle and Canyon lodges opened in 2004, Fitzpatrick was on the first chair at Chair 15/Eagle Express.

"I've got one whole side of a mountain," he exclaimed as the chair whisked him up the empty hillside. With that, he was off, looking for more good spots to carve.

As the chair disappeared over the first lip of the hill you could hear his throaty, joyful howl, piercing the quiet of the forest.

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