Some months ago, I wrote explaining how three friends and I had written a huge sign on Mont Ripley to celebrate Tech winning the NCAA hockey tournament. I claimed to have an article from the Daily Mining Gazette to prove it.

Cleaning out the basement on Saturday, I found the article, Xeroxed from the Gazette a long time ago, scanned, and attached here.

The project was masterminded by Karl Stuebenvoll, one of the sharpest and cleverest engineering students I’ve ever known. He added “RIT” clothing dye to water and we headed out to Mont Ripley before midnight.

After climbing up the ski hill by foot in the late spring snow (not quite “mashed potatoes”) hauling jug after jug of purple water, we carefully sprayed out “Tech is No 1” in letters about 30 feet high on a slope facing the campus. My girlfriend (and future bride) Meg Fohey and one of my apartment mates (whom I cannot remember the name of) hauled water for us, then stayed in the car down in the parking lot, where a curious Hancock patrolman stopped by to ask if they needed help. I think they told him they were just studying. Meanwhile, Karl and I were traipsing across the hill spraying dye with a garden sprayer. I think we left the hill about 2 a.m. thoroughly exhausted but proud of pulling the stunt off.

I remember having a hard time getting up the next morning, but looking across the Portage on my way to campus late that morning I could see the sign – fading but still readable. To our surprise, the article showed up in the Gazette that day!

Tech Toots are always up to something and the more clever and daring it is, the more likely they are to try and pull it off! This actually pays off big time when they are out in the work world – many businesses have enjoyed the benefit of the “we can figure it out, we can do it!” attitude.

Dave Plumeau
Geological Engineering, November 1975