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 ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of March 24

From Lady Griz action Monday night against San Diego in the NWIT, to live music all over town. Check out everything that's happening this week!... more

Kathy Kallick Kicks Off 2014 Ruby Jewel Jamboree Bluegrass Concert Series on 4/7

Bluegrass season is here and the Ruby Jewel Jamboree kicks off the season on 4/7 with Kathy Kallick-- one of bluegrass’s most famous female singers and writers.... more

Where Does New Business Hide?

By MARK RIFFEY - Are you monitoring the sales thermometer? If you're not, how can you consistently produce new business from existing and new customers?... more

Lady Griz knock off Cougars, advance in WNIT (Photo Gallery)

Montana got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Jordan Sullivan and 22 points and nine assists from Kellie Cole and posted a 90-78 victory over WSU Wednesday night at Dahlberg Arena.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of March 17

Check out the St. Patrick's Day parties, the live music scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

North Dakota Knocks off Montana 72-55

By JOEL CARLSON - Senior Torry Hill, who had her best game scoring a game-high 21 points wasn't enough as the Lady Griz fall 72-55 to North Dakota in the championship game of the BSC Tournament. ... more

Lady Griz Stuns Southern Utah to Advance

By JOEL CARLSON - Montana overcame a 13-point deficit to post a 73-69 come-from-behind victory over Southern Utah Friday night in the semifinals of the BSC women’s basketball tournament. ... more

Lady Griz Advance With a 75-66 Victory Over the Bobcats

By JOEL CARLSON - Junior Kellie Cole scored a game-high 20 points to lead Montana to a 75-66 victory over Montana State Thurs. in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament.... more

Griz Lose 70-63 in First Round to PSU (Photo Gallery)

By DAVE GUFFEY- The Montana Grizzlies’ amazing streak of Big Sky Conference championships ended today, as PSU defeated them 70-63 Thursday evening in a first-round tournament game.... more

Prevent Lost Customers With These Five Words

By MARK RIFFEY - Small businesses are always interested in getting more new customers, but sometimes forget that keeping existing customers is less expensive than the cost of replacing them.... more

406 Mom: My Kids’ Obsession with FROZEN

By KIM S.- I might be the only parent out there who was sort of dreading the release of Disney’s Frozen on DVD. Now, my 4 and 5 year old's obsession has gone into overdrive.... more

Cole Named First-Team All Big Sky Conference (Photo Gallery)

Kellie Cole was voted first-team All-Big Sky Conference, Jordan Sullivan was named second-team, Torry Hill earned honorable-mention, and Carly Selvig was voted the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of March 10

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

At NAU 67, Montana 47

The Grizzlies struggled on both ends of the floor Saturday afternoon, losing 67-47 to the host Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in the final regular-season Big Sky Conference game.... more

Lady Griz Pick up Steam for Big Sky Tournament (Photo Gallery)

After two weeks of up-and-down performances that cost it a shot at a BSC regular-season championship, Montana appears to have things squared away at just the right time. (PHOTO GALLERY)... more

Montana 70, at Sac State 55

By DAVE GUFFEY- Montana had 10 players break into the scoring column, and Jordan Gregory was deadly from 3-point range, as the Grizzlies defeated the host Sacramento State Hornets 70-55. ... more

Lady Griz Shoot Their Way Past Hornets (Photo Gallery)

By JOEL CARLSON - The Lady Griz shot better than 51 percent in both halves to post an 87-76 win over Sac State Thurs. night and clinches at least the no. 3 seed in next week's tournament.... more

Does Your Wine Show Grape Restraint?

WINEGUYMIKE - It’s late at night and I’m sitting in my office drinking a very mediocre Argentinean Pinot Noir from the Patagonia region listening to the best of Bob Dylan.... more

Lady Griz Host Final Home Games This Week

By JOEL CARLSON - The Montana women’s basketball team will wrap up its regular-season schedule this week with home games against Sacramento State (Thurs. night) and NAU (Sat. night). ... more

Pivots Make Customer Service Personal

By MARK RIFFEY - In customer service, the pivot is that little thing you do to transform what could be a customer-losing experience into one that almost guarantees they'll be back.... more

Billings Landscaper Andrew Marble’s Brush with Oscar-Nominated “Nebraska”

By BRIAN D'AMBROSIO-Serendipity always compensates the prepared. And in the case of AJ Marble of Billings, it rewarded him with a brush with production on the set of the Oscar-nominated movie "Nebraska".... more

Lady Griz Use Big Second Half to Top Bobcats

By JOEL CARLSON - The Lady Griz scored 44 second-half points on its way to a 72-65 victory over Montana State Monday night at Worthington Arena in Bozeman.... more

Griz Edge Cats 53-50 (Photo Gallery)

By DAVE GUFFEY - It wasn’t pretty, but it was just enough, as the host Grizzlies edged Bobcats 53-50 Monday evening in a crucial BSC contest in front of a season-high crowd of 4,606. ... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of March 3

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

Win On Low Price, Lose On Low Price

By MARK RIFFEY-Do you depend on having the best price to win business? If so, are you sure that's really how you want people to choose your company? ... more

Mansfield Library Exhibit Documents History of Women in Montana

This year marks the 100th anniversary of woman suffrage in Montana, and the Mansfield Library at the University of Montana is showcasing exhibits documenting the history of women in Montana.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Feb 24

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

Your Business Culture is Embedded in Daily Conversation

By MARK RIFFEY - Here are a few commonly-used phrases in business conversation that raise the hair on my neck: 'Industry Norms', 'Best Practices', 'Human Capital' and 'Innovation'.... more

Monte Dolack: Magic Light

By MONTE DOLACK - Evening. Morning. In the gloaming when the light is soft and low. Magic light is painter’s light. It's known as the magic hour when the sun is near or below the horizon.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Feb 17

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

Lady Griz hold off Bears, win 61-55 (Photo Gallery)

By JOEL CARLSON - Montana withstood a Northern Colorado rally that cut what had been a 15-point, second-half lead to zero to emerge with a 61-55 victory Thursday night in Missoula.... more

Deming to be Remembered at Saturday’s Lady Griz Game

Julie Deming will be remembered Saturday when second-place Montana hosts first-place North Dakota at 2 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena. Deming was killed in a car accident last spring in Vancouver, Wash.... more

World Premier of DRYLAND film at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Feb 22

Dryland offers a portrait of rural America in transition through the eyes of a young man pursuing his dream. The film screens Sat. Feb 22, 2 at 10:00 a.m. at the historic Wilma Theater.... more

Grizzlies Defeat Eagles 82-77 and Win Fourth Game in a Row (Photo Gallery)

By DAVE GUFFEY - Senior forward Kareem Jamar tallied a team-high 23 points to lead the Grizzlies to an 82-77 BSC win over the visiting Eastern Washington Eagles Saturday evening.... more

Grizzlies Edge Vikings 82-76 in Hard-Fought Overtime Contest (Photo Gallery)

By DAVE GUFFEY - Junior guard Keron DeShields scored 11 of his 19 points in overtime to lead the Grizzlies to an emotional 82-76 win over Portland State Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena.... more

Griz Begin Second Half of Big Sky Slate at Home Against PSU Thurs, Feb 6

By DAVE GUFFEY - The Montana Grizzlies start the second half of their BSC schedule at home, hosting the red-hot Portland State Vikings, Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7:05 p.m. in UM’s Dahlberg Arena.... more

What if You Actually Followed Up?

By MARK RIFFEY -Does your business follow up with your clients and prospects like you should? Consider what "like you should" means, before deciding whether you follow up properly or not.... more

Griz Make It Seven Straight Over Bobcats With 70-66 Victory

By BRENT RESER - Kareem Jamar registered his third double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, to lead the Montana Grizzlies to a 70-66 BSC victory over the host Montana State Bobca... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Feb 3

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

UM’s Gregory Named to All-District Academic Team

By DAVE GUFFEY - UM's Jordan Gregory has been named to the College Sports Information Director’s of America (Co-SIDA) Capital One Academic All-District NCAA Division 1 basketball team.... more

WineGuyMike: What’s Your Wine Style?

WINEGUYMIKE - Welcome to 2014. Today I’m going to talk about style, your wine style preference is what I’m referring to - Do you prefer an Old World or a New World wine?... more

They Really Aren’t Very Good At Marketing

By MARK RIFFEY - One of the most common marketing mistakes I see is focusing solely on new clients and doing so in a way that annoys everyone else who has (or had) a relationship with your business.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Jan 27

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

Montana Men Begin Four-Game Road Trip Starting with ISU

By DAVE GUFFEY - The Montana Grizzlies begin a four-game Big Sky Conference road trip, starting with the Idaho State Bengals, Thurs. Jan. 23, and at Weber State on Sat. Jan. 25.... more

Habit Forming: What Do You Do Every Day?

By MARK RIFFEY - Having a routine, a ritual or habit is a good way to start the day. Not only does it go well with coffee, it signals your mind that it's time to switch to "work mode". ... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Jan 20

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

MISA Offers Toddler Time Soccer Basics

By KIM S. - Since moving to Missoula am still trying to learn all the new “places” to take my kids. This week I was excited to find MISA - the Missoula Indoor Soccer Arena.... more

The Roving Diner Bitterroot Edition: The Wild Mare and The Catered Table Restaurants

By BOB ZIMORINO - The 'Roving Diner' serves up a restaurant review on The Wild Mare and The Catered Table in the beautiful Bitterroot Valley.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Jan 13

Check out the Live Music Scene as well as theater and fundraisers in various venues all over town.... more

Everyone is Someone’s Hero

By MARK RIFFEY -What if you could leap tall buildings, throw balls of fire or swing from webbing that shoots out of your wrist? What's your superpower? Does anyone know about it?... more