Each fall, incoming freshmen carry a 10-pound rock, picked from their hometown, from campus to the M on Mt. Zion. The M, the nation’s second-oldest mountainside monument, is then coated in fresh whitewash; the freshmen often get in on the action and whitewash each other. Graduating seniors are invited to return to the M and retrieve their rocks, officially closing their career at Mines.

 

See what this tradition looked like in 2016 in this video shot by Billy Ciccone, an electrical engineering student set to graduate in 2018. The 2016 M Climb activities were supported by donors.