The Story Behind the "M"

The "M" is 620 feet above the Missoula Valley floor. It is 125' feet long and 100' feet wide. University of Montana forestry students cut the switchbacks into the side of the hill in the early 1900's. The first "M" was assembled out of whitewashed rocks in 1909, and given a fresh coat of paint by freshmen every year, until 1968, when all those rocks were cemented together with concrete.

Photo by Nelson Kenter, kenterphotography.com

Archive for the ‘All Sports & Recreation’ Category

FWP Reminds Recreators to Keep Safe Around Water

By JOLEEN TADEJ - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials want to remind families who are enjoying Montana’s waterways to keep safety in mind. ... more

Montana Football: Griz Greats Return for Football Fundraiser

By ERIC TABER-A who's who of former Grizzly football greats are confirmed for the annual Gene Brosovich Golf Invitational and Celebrity Gala, set to kick off this Thursday, June 29.... more

10 Heavenly Montana Hikes West of the Continental Divide

By BRIAN D'AMBROSIO - Nothing inspires like a heart-pounding hike into Montana's high country. Put these ten picks for memorable hikes on your Montana bucket list!... more

Mountain Biking in Grizzly Country, Be Prepared

By GREG LEMON - Imagine you’re riding hard down a mountain trail. As the trail you’re on weaves around a thicket of alder and huckleberries there’s a sow grizzly and two small cubs.... more

Registration Open for Griz Basketball Summer Camps

Montana head basketball coach Travis DeCuire has announced the Grizzlies lineup of 2017 boys summer camps. Sign-up now!... more

Enjoy Memorial Day on the Water, But be Safe, Know the Rules and Clean Drain Dry

By JOLEEN TADEJ - Enjoy Memorial Day on the water, but keep in mind the new rules aimed at limiting and preventing aquatic invasive species. ... more

Montana-Washington Tickets on Sale Starting May 1

By ERIC TABER - Single-game tickets for the University of Montana's 2017 football game at the University of Washington are set to go on sale next week.... more

Montana To Play Home-And-Home Series With South Dakota

By ERIC TABER - The Montana Grizzlies have agreed to a future home-and-home football series with the South Dakota Coyotes of the Missouri Valley Football Conference beginning in 2019 and concluding in 2022.... more

Montana Football: Griz Cap Spring Drills in Butte on Saturday

By ERIC TABER - After more than a month of practice, the Montana Grizzlies will finish the spring football season at 1 p.m. on Saturday at historic Naranche Stadium in Butte, America.... more

Bright spots on both sides of the ball at first Griz scrimmage

By ERIC TABER - After nearly a month of practice, the Montana Grizzlies got their first taste of live football in the team's first scrimmage of the spring.... more

Hall Too Much as Cats Rally to Beat Griz

By ERIC TABER-The Montana men's basketball team missed out on a chance to make history, falling to a hot-shooting Montana State Bobcat team 78-69 in Bozeman on Saturday.... more

Cats Grind Out Win Over Griz on the Ground

By ERIC TABER- The Montana Grizzlies' (6-5, 3-5 BSC) season came to a close on Saturday in Missoula, as the Montana State Bobcats (4-7, 2-6) pulled off an improbable 24-17 win.... more

Griz Start Slow, Fall to Northern Colorado 28-25

By ERIC TABER- The road woes that have plagued the Montana football team all season continued on Saturday. The Griz fell to Northern Colorado in Greeley 28-25.... more

Record-Setting Griz Roll Past Idaho State

By ERIC TABER- Backup quarterback, Chad Chalich re-wrote Montana's record books on Saturday, passing for seven touchdowns and rushing for another in a 62-44 win over Idaho State.... more

Lumberjacks Run Past Grizzlies 45-34

By ERIC TABER- Northern Arizona scored on its first play of the game, a 74-yard pass play, and the Lumberjacks never looked back in posting a 45-34 victory over Montana Saturday in Flagstaff.... more

Griz Train Rolls 68-7 Over Scramento State

By ERIC TABER-In 100-plus years of Griz football, Montana has never posted back-to-back games of 60 points or more. It did just that against the Hornets, winning 68-7 in front of 25,351 fans on Saturday.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Oct 3

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - Once again the Grizzly defense is among the top in FCS. Among Big Sky teams the Griz has given the fewest first downs and are the top defense against third and fourth conversions.... more

Griz Beat Thunderbirds 43-20 on Homecoming

By ERIC TABER-The No. 11. Montana Grizzlies offense racked up 600 yards of offense and the defense threw a clutch third quarter shutout to win a 43-20 in a homecoming victory over Southern Utah on Saturday.... more

Fall Into Fun With Parks and Recreation

Join Missoula Parks and Recreation for these exciting recreation and aquatics programs. Call 721-PARK to register or stop by Currents Aquatics Center in McCormick Park. ... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Sept 26

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - The Montana Grizzlies got single game record performances out of Jerry Louie McGee and Brady Gustafson, but it wasn't enough for the Griz to get the win at Cal Poly.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Sept 19

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - The Montana Grizzly football team is off to its seventh 2-0 start since 2000 and in the previous six, the Griz have gone on to average 12 wins a season.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Sept 12

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - The Montana Grizzly football team is off to its seventh 2-0 start since 2000 and in the previous six, the Griz have gone on to average 12 wins a season.... more

Defense Leads Way in Upset at No. 3 Northern Iowa

By ERIC TABER-Montana failed to score in the second half, but it didn't matter. A dominating defensive performance led No. 14 Montana to a 20-14 upset win on the road against No. 3 Northern Iowa. ... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Sept 5

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - The last time a UM team played at the UNI-Dome was when the Griz basketball team played there in November of 2001--and things went really bad for the Griz in the first half of that gam... more

Griz Score 35 Second-Half Points to Beat Saint Francis

By ERIC TABER-It was a tale of two halves for the Montana offense on Saturday, as they scored 35 of their 41 points in the second half, overcoming a 10-6 Saint Francis halftime lead to win 41-31.... more

Hunters Must Expect to See Bears

By GREG LEMON - With hunting season upon us, it is important to remember that slow moving, quiet and camouflaged hunters are sharing the landscape with the state's even stealthier bears.... more

Griz Running Backs Set to Play Key Role in 2016

By ERIC TABER - Upon first glance of the Montana Grizzlies' pass-happy offense under head coach Bob Stitt, it might be easy for fans to forget about the running backs.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Aug 22

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - When Robin Selvig took over the University of Montana women's basketball program it had won 32 games combined in the previous 4 years.... more

Fishing Restrictions Lifted on Smith and Sun Rivers

By BRUCE AUCHLY - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has lifted fishing restrictions on two central Montana rivers in the wake of recent cooler weather.... more

Baker Returning to Lady Griz

By JOEL CARLSON - Katie Baker is returning to Montana as the program's director of basketball administration, a new position on first-year coach Shannon Schweyen's staff.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Aug 15

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - When Robin Selvig took over the University of Montana women's basketball program it had won 32 games combined in the previous 4 years.... more

Schweyen Named New Lady Griz Coach

By ERIC TABER -In an announcement that lacks any of the surprise of Robin Selvig’s retirement two weeks ago, Shannon Cate-Schweyen has been chosen to take over the league’s flagship program.... more

Griz Open Camp Ranked No. 13

By ERIC TABER - On the eve of the 2016 fall camp opening practice, the Montana Grizzlies will take the field ranked as the No. 13 team in the nation.... more

Kidder Named Preseason All-American

By ERIC TABER -Caleb Kidder, the Big Sky Conference preseason Defensive Player of the Year, was recently named to the STATS FCS preseason All-America second team.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of Aug 1

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - It's hard to imagine going to game and not seeing Robin Selvig on the sidelines. The last time UM played a women's basketball game without Selvig was March 4, 1978.... more

Get Your Football Tickets Early at First-Ever Ticket Pickup Party

By ERIC TABER: Season Ticket Holders: Jump on the fall season at the first-ever Griz football ticket pickup party, from 3-6 p.m. on Aug. 10 at the Adams Center ticket office.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of July 25

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - For the first time in recent memories the Lumberjacks of NAU are picked as the pre-season favorite to win the Big Sky Title, a choice made both by both sports writers and coaches.... more

That First Gun

By BRUCE AUCHLY - Just the other week, I gave my granddaughter and grandson their first firearms; a .22 rifle and .410 shotgun.... more

Griz Tabbed as Big Sky Runner-Up

By ERIC TABER - The University of Montana Grizzlies have been picked to finish second in the 2016 Big Sky Conference preseason polls by both the media and the league coaches.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of July 18

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - For the first time in over half a century the Griz will face the USC Trojans in basketball.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of July 11

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - The College World Series title won by Coastal Carolina in June marked the sixth time a school that has faced the Montana Grizzlies football team ( since 1960) has won the College Base... more

Montana Calls Jordan Sullivan Home

By JOEL CARLSON - Sometimes it takes being away from home, a long way from home, for a girl to get some clarity on what’s important in life. And what she needs to do about it.... more

Marathon Training Tips – Post Marathon Recovery

By DAN LYNE-Completing a 26 mile race is an extreme test of endurance that takes a lot out of your body. Your best strategy for full recovery starts in the first 30 minutes after the race. ... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of June 27

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - I was delighted with the news last week that former Griz coach and playe,r Blaine Taylor, had gotten back into coaching.... more

Breunig to Play Pro Basketball in His Native Germany

By ERIC TABER - Former Grizzly basketball standout, Martin Breunig has signed a two-year contract to play professional basketball in his native Germany for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of June 20

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - Missoula Osprey manager Joe Mather is doing something this season that none of the other three managers to guide the O's to a title did, come back the next year.... more

Working Dogs Help in the Fight Against AIS

By JOLEEN TADEJ - A unique partnership between Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Flathead Basin Commission is helping promote the use of new weapons in the war against aquatic invasive species.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of June 13

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - Hockey fans everywhere were saddened by the news of the passing of Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey, to more than a generation.... more

Reminder for Boaters: Stop at AIS Inspection Stations

By JOLEEN TADEJ - As the summer recreation season gets underway, water enthusiasts around the state need to remember to do their part in keeping Montana’s waters free from aquatic invasive species.... more

UM Sports Trivia | Week of June 6

By CHRIS WALTERSKIRCHEN - It's hard to believe that it was 40 years ago this week that the first Wyoming-Montana all-star games were played.... more